It seems the intent of the annual marathon on Lewa is to raise awareness and funds, and thus I will contribute what I can to spread the word of this special place.
But it comes with a heavy heart.
As with any human activity, the effects can be negative as we have not yet perfected a means of treating the environment around us without consequence. The juxtaposition is clear, in this case, of wildlife conservation versus human desire, and I’m not yet convinced there is not much we can do about it.
In brief, we, the Crew, worked day in and day out on ground preparations for the marathon. Our time consisted of 6 long days of pre-marathon and 2 long days of post-marathon work, all for the purposes of a half-day event. And we were just a nano fraction of what else occurs to run an internationally popular event. We really were just a tiny part of it all, but we were lucky to be in a position where we could feel the impact of the arrival and departure of 5,000+ humans over a few days. Lewa is a 160 km2 conservancy, only a fraction of which people were allowed to run on, and an even lesser space people were allowed to drive, dwell, and drink.
Many teams of rangers, two helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft were dependent upon for wildlife monitoring, actually wildlife managing, well, mostly wildlife shooing. For human safety, this was necessary. One of our Crew members, Sean, ran the full marathon, and imagining what a rhino or buffalo could do out of fright (for example), its hard not to agree with this means of human protection.
I am unaware of the actual funds raised, but I can guess at the informational broadcast of wildlife and Lewa, and you reading this certainly contributes to the diffusion of knowledge. Using a basic equation from the entertainment industry, a negative experience for one person usually translates to 11 people simply due to the fact that humans are social beings and involve shared experiences. A positive experience doesn’t translate to as many (typical!), and sits around 4. Considering the assumption that the Lewa marathon is generally a positive experience for runners, spectators, and locals who come to trade goods and services, but also considering the advertising, blogging, and anticipation of the major event, I am guessing the number of people reached from just one person is closer to the 11 of the broadcast spectrum. Actually the number is likely way more than that given that it is an annual event and the only marathon to occur on a wildlife conservancy. Going conservatively, I will stick with 11.
Thus, the presence of 5,000+ people over the course of 2 days, may translate to 55,000+ people actually knowing about the event and possibly being aware of wildlife and their issues in conservation. Hmm that would be nice….but I wonder how much wildlife conservation may be brought up in chit chats about the Lewa marathon.
And so the purpose of raising awareness may be achieved to a fairly decent level. But what of the wildlife itself? The animals have virtually disappeared. I haven’t seen impala, zebras, or giraffes near our campsite in a long time. A few weeks ago, we used to fall asleep to the grunts and moans of lions across the swamp next to our tents. We used to nervously walk the 20 ft to our bathrooms to brush our teeth in the dark, and now we don’t even remember to take our flashlights to guide our eyes on the grassy path. We used to spastically jump at every odd sound thinking it might be a demonic predator after us in the night. Ok I may be exaggerating a little, but I do miss the wild watchful eyes that glimmer in the night and the guessing game we played to figure out where and who was lurking around us.
I know the animals will return as the peace and quiet settles in once the post-marathon work is all finished. The irony of it all is ever present and in my talks with some rangers and other Lewa personnel, it seems that most people are quite aware of it. The footprint of noise, smells, and sights of humans upon wildlife and their habitat is undeniable – I took these photos below from one of three large garbage pits created just for materials from the marathon alone - despite that sometimes we would like to remember that we are or ought to be considered part of the natural world. Some agree, some disagree with this; a debate with no clear answer.
No matter how you put it, ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’, or ‘every angle of incidence equals an angle of refraction’, the message is evident. There was a gathering of all the animals in the kingdom, but one was missing…..can you guess which one? I think our species may have lost the invitation.
No comments:
Post a Comment