A couple of weeks ago I received a very unexpected email from one Marcus Nield.
Dear Martinez Beavers,
I’m writing from the United Nations initiative called the Global Adaptation Network (GAN). Our primary objective is to share effective solutions, technologies and practices for adapting to climate change.
In our bi-monthly newsletter, we would like to feature the National Geographic article that references your work. The GAN newsletter publicizes the greatest work being undertaken in the world of adaptation. It includes stories, events, insightful opinion-pieces and cutting-edge technologies.
Would you be happy for me to subscribe you to our GAN newsletter so you can see your work featured in the next edition?
The newsletter is distributed to many professionals within the international adaptation community, so it’s a great platform to get your stories out.
Marcus Nield
Climate Change Adaptation Unit (CCAU)
UN Environment
PO Box 30552 – 00100 | Nairobi | Kenya
Email: marcus.nield@un.org
Mind you I initially regarded this email with exactly as much respect as I would one from a Nigerian Prince looking to find an heir, but when I looked it up it turned out to be the real thing.
GAN stands for the “Global Adaption Network” and it’s part of the United Nations climate response team, “Founded in 2010, the Global Adaptation Network (GAN) provides a worldwide platform to distribute and exchange climate change adaptation knowledge in a variety of ways. It emphasizes the value of direct personal exchange and partnerships, often within particular regions of vulnerability.”
Marcus heads the adaption portion of GAN and told me he was formerly a supporter of returning the beavers to the UK so of course he was thrilled to see the National Geographic article and wanted to pass it on.
As of this morning it’s official. Because of Ben Goldfarb’s excellent book, the Martinez Beavers have gone global, baby.
Beavers – once nearly extinct – could help fight climate change – A feature-length piece in the National Geographic details how beavers can mitigate the effects of climate change. The endless list of ecological benefits that beavers provide is astounding. A new book by Ben Goldfarb, Eager, celebrates the return of beavers to many ecosystems across Europe, describing it as “one of our most triumphant wildlife success stories.”
Which of course links to the August National geographic article where we are, as you know, a colorful feature. Here let me refresh your memory.
You meet a colorful cast of characters along the way. Tell us about Heidi Perryman and her organization Worth A Dam.
Heidi is a fascinating person, a child psychologist who didn’t know much about beavers until 2007, when beavers showed up in downtown Martinez, California, where she lives. It’s in the Bay Area, the former home of John Muir, and when beavers showed up there the response of the city was to kill them because landowners downtown were worried they were going to cause flood damages. There’s no evidence supporting this, but the reflexive reaction was to get rid of them.
Heidi spent a lot of time going to the streams of Alhambra Creek, where the beavers lived. She filmed them and organized a campaign to save them. In so doing, she became one of the most knowledgeable beaver advocates in the country. She now organizes an annual beaver festival in downtown Martinez. As a result of her campaigning, the city has let beavers live with many generations of offspring and now Martinez is regarded as a leader in beaver coexistence.
As a humble beaver advocate who has now been featured in National Geographic and the frickin’ United Nations newsletter, I have just one simple question about the future of beaver promotion.
Isn’t there anything intergalactic to tell our story?
