TEDxCSU 2012 Shermin de Silva
The speaker argues that the inherent challenge of human development is balancing our massive expanding population with the declining biodiversity, citing Asian elephants as a model for complex, vulnerable societies. She details how conservation requires working with local communities on sustainable practices, acknowledging that individual actions and collective political support are necessary to preserve the ecological balance. The ultimate call to action is for the audience to find their personal passion and act consciously, recognizing that even daily consumption has an impact on the planet.
## Speakers & Context
- Speaker has spent the last seven years studying the Asian elephant (Palaeoloxodon muticaudatus), a large, endangered land mammal.
- The presentation context is an academic setting, where the talk echoes previous presentations.
- The speaker works in Sri Lanka, having moved there for research opportunities related to elephants.
## Theses & Positions
- Asian elephants are not domesticated, despite misconceptions; they have an ancient, but distinct, association with people (5,000 years).
- Asian elephants exhibit highly structured, matriarchal societies that are distinct from African elephant societies.
- Population growth and expansion into wild habitats create unavoidable conflict, primarily over agriculture.
- The key to managing human-wildlife conflict is establishing ecological barriers (buffer zones) with commercially valuable, non-subsistence crops.
- Conservation requires deeply understanding and working with local people, rather than imposing external solutions.
- The fundamental challenge is determining if there is enough space for humanity and all other species on Earth.
- The speaker posits that the most important contributions to solving global problems are not technological, but involve understanding, deep empathy, and individual, passionate action.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Wild Asian Elephant:** A rare, wary animal species not domesticated.
- **Matriarchal Society:** The social structure observed in Asian elephant family groups, based on females.
- **Buffer/Barrier:** A necessary ecological zone planted with non-subsistence, commercially valuable crops to shield wildlife and provide habitat.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Elephant Social Structure:** Females and calves form tightly knit family groups; males form separate relationships; overall society is highly structured and complex.
- **Studying Elephants:** Initial method involved learning to identify individuals by unique ear characteristics; later established understanding of dynamic social networks.
- **Conflict Dynamics:** Human settlement and agriculture push into elephant ranges, creating tension over food sources.
- **Conservation Approach:** Must involve working with local farmers to implement barriers, rather than imposing outside ideas.
- **Elephant Ecology:** Elephants function as central components in a dynamic ecological "machine" that maintains life.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **6 million years ago:** Divergence point between Asian and African elephants, alongside woolly mammoths.
- **5,000 years:** Period of association between Asian elephants and people in the East.
- **~30 years ago:** Period when the ivory trade was driven by demand from the West.
- **Last year:** Human global population reached 7 billion, and continues to grow.
## Named Entities
- **Asian elephant:** The subject species, largest land mammal in Asia, highly endangered.
- **African Savannah elephant:** Species used as a comparative model for social complexity.
- **Sri Lanka:** Location where the speaker established her field site.
- **Raja Raja:** Specific male elephant in the Sri Lankan park, noted for his tusks.
- **Ganesh:** Hindu figure associated with the removal of obstacles, to which a broken tusk reminded the speaker.
- **Madagascar:** Mentioned in relation to tropical rainforests/biodiversity comparison.
- **Nature (journal):** Source cited regarding deforestation statistics.
## Numbers & Data
- Asian elephant population estimate: less than **100,000** in the world.
- Population comparison: More people in just **Florida** than there are Asian elephants worldwide.
- Population comparison: More people in just a few villages surrounding UD National Park than elephants in all of Sri Lanka.
- Forest coverage: **80%** of deforestation in East Asia is due to conversion into agriculture.
- Greenhouse gas contribution: **30%** of GHG emissions are due to agriculture.
## Examples & Cases
- **Asian Elephant Observation:** Finding seven elephants in a single photo reference.
- **Sri Lankan Park Study:** Discovering over **800** animals in a small national park, double prior estimates.
- **Elephant Behavior:** Demonstrating concern over dead or dying individuals, even if unrelated to them.
- **Raja's Decline:** Raja suffered from an addiction to human food crops, leading to his disappearance after a gunshot wound in 2009.
- **Ivory Trade Cycle:** Historical cycle where demand (West $\rightarrow$ East) drives poaching, which was once stopped by publicity, but can resume until elements or demand cease.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- None specifically used for research/description, though electricity running down a fence is mentioned as a modern divider.
## References Cited
- **Nature (journal):** Article cited pointing out that **80%** of deforestation in East Asia is due to conversion into agriculture.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Conflict Resolution:** Instead of confronting farmers, the alternative is planting non-subsistence, commercially valuable crops to create a buffer zone.
- **Conservation Scope:** Shifting focus from merely saving charismatic megafauna (elephants) to recognizing the critical roles of all species in maintaining the ecosystem ("it's not just about the cute charismatic animals").
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker counters the idea that the focus should only be on the 'cute' or charismatic animals; the complexity of the ecosystem must be addressed.
- The initial assumption that all Asian elephants behave identically was proven false by observing variation in social groups.
- The idea of an easy solution (like planting non-subsistence crops) is difficult to implement practically due to the farmers' very tight financial margins.
## Methodology
- Field observation in a specific national park in Sri Lanka.
- Intensive, long-term study of social behavior, using ear morphology and tracking movements to map social networks.
- Comparative analysis across multiple species and over time.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- **Immediate Action:** Communication and advocacy are needed, particularly for Asians and Asian-Americans, to combat the status symbol perception of ivory.
- **Sustainable Practice:** Work must be done *with* local people to implement buffers.
- **Individual Empowerment:** Citizens must "exercise your power" by being informed, engaging in passion-driven activities, and ensuring legislation supports research bodies (like the multinational species conservation fund).
- **Personal Accountability:** Every individual must think carefully about how they spend their waking moments.
## Implications & Consequences
- Loss of biodiversity is systemic; species like elephants are critical ecological engineers, not just objects of preservation.
- If ecological networks collapse, technological brilliance cannot replace the intricate biological interactions required for life as currently known.
- Continued inaction means the loss of complex, non-human societies before full understanding is achieved.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"there is such a thing as a wild Asian elant"*
- *"civilizations and empires have risen and fallen on the backs of elephants"*
- *"Asian offers are so shy and wary of humans that they come out only at night"*
- *"they form a highly structured society that is matriarch based"*
- *"Raja Raja means king in zing"*
- *"he reminded me immediately of Ganesh in the Hindu tradition Ganesh is known as a remover of obstacles"*
- *"we found that there were over 800 animals using this one tiny little Park"*
- *"we are quite literally running out of space for wildlife"*
- *"what we need instead is a buffer a barrier with trees to provide a shield and habitat for other wildlife and an understory that also provides a barrier in habitat"*
- *"this is history repeating all of this happened 30 years ago"*
- *"they're seedlings sprouting out of Elephant D"*
- *"all this may seem a bit overwhelming so I'd like to share with you some principles I came up with for myself first think clearly learn about your world inform yourself understand and most importantly learn to think for yourself and then feel deeply let yourself be moved by the things you learn and then act on it"*
- *"you the individual you the person you're powerful exercise your power"*
- *"The Challenger is going to be greater the younger you are"*