Environment: A Model for Healing the Planet

April-May 1995

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by David Suzuki

When my father-in-law developed heart disease some 10 years ago, the family took a course in CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation), just in case. The 1990s, designated the "turnaround decade" by Worldwatch Institute, are now half over and, like my father-in-law, the planet is exhibiting increasingly troubling signs of stress. But what is the best strategy for action?

Famed American environmentalist David Brower has called for a program of CPR for the planet. Brower's CPR stands for "Conservation, Protection and Restoration." He told me last year that restoration must be our major priority and I agree.

But how? Science provides tiny, fragmented insights into the natural world. We know next to nothing about the biological makeup of the Earth's life forms or about the physical features and complexity of the atmosphere, land mass and oceans.

Extinction, of course, is irreversible. And even heroic measures to keep an endangered species going don't stand much of a chance without profound changes in human behavior and genuine protection of its habitat.

Remarkably, if we pull back and decrease or halt our assault on a given environment, nature can be unbelievably forgiving and resilient. We've seen it in the recovery of Lake Erie, increased vegetation around Sudbury, Ontario, and the return of fish and dolphins to England's River Thames.

Even though we don't possess the ability to recreate the likes of what once existed, there are things we can do to stimulate the natural process of regeneration.

First, we must rein in our destructive activity and then provide conditions that might encourage the return and regrowth of life. We can liberate land and creeks from rubbish, concrete or asphalt, cultivate specific vegetation and even reintroduce plant or animal species that were once present. But mainly, we must give the Earth's restorative powers time to act.

There is a project that could be an inspirational model for beginning to heal the planet. Tasmania is a fabled island state south of the Australian mainland. In the remote mountain heartland of Tasmania's wilderness was Lake Pedder. Only 9.7 square kilometres in area, the lake was surrounded by high sand dunes and featured a long beach with a unique pattern of sand ripples. The lake was famous for its exquisite beauty and the pink beach sand and was the centrepiece of Lake Pedder National Park, established in 1955.

Yet in 1967, the Tasmanian government approved a hydro-electric commission proposal to build a series of dams that would flood Lake Pedder. The premier, Eric Reece, admitted there would be "some modification to the Lake Pedder National Park."

An uproar followed and in 1972, the world's first Green party, the United Tasmania Group, was formed to oppose the flooding. A massive 'Save Lake Pedder' campaign attracted national support but, in the absence of legislation enabling the federal government to override the state, the dams were built.

Even as the flooding began in 1972, a small group vowed to keep alive the hopes of taking the dams down and restoring Lake Pedder. In 1992, I received a letter asking for support to examine the feasibility of removing two of the dams and allowing Lake Pedder to return. The David Suzuki Foundation funded a study that demonstrated that economically, geologically and biologically, it is feasible to try to restore the lake.

The Lake Pedder dam generates 60 megawatts and Tasmania has a surplus of 130 megawatts. In 1994, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature called on the Australian government to back the restoration of Lake Pedder "as a symbol of hope that humanity can recover some of the global heritage lost over the last century."

The Australian government has set up an official inquiry into the lake's future. Australia, host of the Olympics in 2000, would be a shining symbol of a new direction for an ecological millennium if it restored Lake Pedder.

For information, write Lake Pedder Project, The David Suzuki Foundation, Suite 219, 2211 W. 4th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. V6K 4S2.