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International conventions and organizations tend to define “wildlife” as including all animals, plants and fungi living in the wild. More simply, living things, especially mammals, birds, and fishes are neither human nor domesticated. With global warming, many species are threatened and struggling to survive. Wildlife sanctuaries are protected areas that provide a safe haven for animals and their habitats. They help conserve biodiversity and prevent species extinction. 

Curated by mokiethecat

What can owls teach us about humanity? | Carl Safina | TEDxBoston

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Spoiler alert: a lot. A scruffy orphan owlet was rescued and tended to by an award-winning nature author, Carl Safina. He named her Alfie. Their unlikely friendship was the beginning of a beautiful story.

Winning Alfie's trust paid dividends with rare glimpses into the inner world of owl family life--a remarkable recovery, a tender courtship, a transition into motherhood, the successful fledging of three owlets... Watching life unfold for this individual made it impossible for Carl to deny that owls are relational beings. He would come to learn how owls say "I love you".

What has made us forget our connection to all other living things? Carl argues Western culture has divorced humans from our humanity--that is to say our inherent connection to and responsibility for the natural world. His stance is that no global talks, no legislation, no new-fangled tech can solve our climate problem without a fundamental moral revolution.

"Real human progress is always driven by changes in values." He envisions a world where those values drastically shift towards recognizing nature is full of complex relationships and beings with stories to tell. As society evolves and aligns with these values, everything we make and do could be with the whole living world in mind. Carl Safina’s lyrical non-fiction writing explores how humans are changing the living world, and what the changes mean for non-human beings and for us all. His work fuses scientific understanding, emotional connection, and a moral call to action. His writing has won a MacArthur “geniusâ€ย prize; Pew, Guggenheim, and National Science Foundation Fellowships; book awards from Lannan, Orion, and the National Academies; and the John Burroughs, James Beard, and George Rabb medals.

Safina is the author of ten books including the classic Song for the Blue Ocean, and his writing appears in The New York Times, TIME, The Guardian, Audubon, Yale e360, and National Geographic. Safina is now the first Endowed Professor for Nature and Humanity at Stony Brook University and is founding president of the Safina Center. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

EarthSayer Carl Safina

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