A Bold Plan to Rewild the Earth — at Massive Scale | Kristine McDivitt Tompkins | TED

Translator: Diego Rodríguez Vila Reviewer: traduceTED USC

I'm of the first generation in all of human history

Pertenzo á primeira xeración en toda a historia humana

to witness the decimation of wild nature

que presencia o masacre da natureza salvaxe

taking place in every corner of the planet.

por todos os recunchos do planeta.

This isn't a mystery, we know this.

Non é misterio ningún, xa o sabiamos.

At the end of the day, it's simple mathematics.

Ao cabo, é dunha lóxica esmagante.

We humans expand our footprint,

Nós, os seres humanos, expandimos a nosa pegada,

habitat on land and sea shrink,

o hábitat terrestre e mariño mingua,

wildlife numbers fall,

a fauna e a flora cae,

temperatures rise

as temperaturas soben

and human communities suffer.

e as comunidades humanas sofren.

And this is what keeps me up at night.

E isto quítame o sono polas noites.

But I'm also busy.

Mais tamén me mantén activa.

Edward Abbey, the godfather of environmental activism, once said,

Edward Abbey, o pai do activismo medioambiental, dixo unha vez:

"Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul."

“O sentimento sen a acción é a ruína da alma”.

And for me, the antidote to despair is to act.

E, para min, o antídoto do desalento é a acción.

And the most direct action at Tompkins Conservation

E a acción máis directa de Tompkins Conservation

is to be part of the global movement of rewilding the Earth.

é formar parte do movemento global de renaturalización da Terra.

So what is rewilding anyway?

Entón, que é iso de renaturalización?

It means allowing ancient nature

É cederlle á natureza ancestral

the space and the freedom to heal itself.

o espazo e a liberdade para sandar

And when that's not possible,

e, cando iso non é posible,

actively restoring territories

restaurar de xeito activo os territorios

and bringing back species who have gone missing.

e recuperar as especies que se extinguiron.

Rewilding is both simple and miraculous.

Renaturalizar é tan simple como milagroso.

I know this because I have lived it.

Seino porque o vivín.

Here's what I think can happen if we take on rewilding the continent

Velaquí o que penso que pode pasar se damos en renaturalizar o continente

at a massive scale.

a grande escala

Because frankly,

porque, sinceramente,

we're kind of running out of time saving the natural world.

estamos a quedar sen tempo para salvar o mundo natural.

So if there was ever a moment for a Hail Mary pass in conservation,

Se queremos poñernos mans á obra coa conservación dunha vez por todas,

I think this is it.

o momento é este.

30 years ago, when my late husband, Doug Tompkins, and I

Hai 30 anos, cando o meu defunto marido, Doug Tompkins, e mais eu

began working on land conservation projects,

comezamos a traballar en proxectos de conservación da terra,

we weren't really sure what we were going to do,

non tiñamos moi claro o que iamos facer,

but we knew we would invest everything we had

mais sabiamos que investiríamos todo o que puidésemos

in terms of our time and resources

en termos de tempo e recursos

to slow down the freight train of development

para parar o avance desenfreado do progreso

that we saw destroying the natural world.

que viamos destruír o mundo natural.

As climbers, ski racers, wildlife people,

Como escaladores, esquiadores, amantes da natureza,

we had long begun to witness with our own eyes,

levabamos demasiado tempo presenciándoo cos nosos propios ollos

and it was time for us to react to those things

e era hora de reaccionar a aquilo todo

that were oh so clear to us.

tan evidente para nós.

For the two of us,

Para nós os dous,

that meant making a 180-degree shift of our business lives.

iso supoñía darmos unha viraxe ás nosas vidas profesionais.

Doug, as the cofounder of “The North Face” and then “Esprit”

Doug, como cofundador de The North Face e despois de Esprit;

And for me, it was retiring from Patagonia company after 25 years,

eu, xubilándome da empresa Patagonia despois de 25 anos,

18 of those years as CEO.

18 deles como directora executiva.

We moved to a roadless area at the tip of South America,

Mudámonos a unha zona sen estradas na punta de Suramérica,

at the foot of a very deep fjord in Chile.

ao pé dun profundo fiorde en Chile.

We committed ourselves to saving as much wild habitat as we could,

Comprometémonos a salvar canto hábitat salvaxe puidésemos,

at first by simply buying land,

ao comezo simplemente comprando terras.

ultimately acquiring over two million acres

Chegamos a adquirir máis de 800 000 ha

of key habitat in Chile and Argentina.

de hábitats clave de Chile e da Arxentina.

Some of these tracks were still wild,

Algunhas desas pistas estaban aínda bravías;

but some were deeply degraded

outras, bastante degradadas

after a century of livestock overgrazing and deforestation

após un século de sobrepastoreo, de deforestación

and other threats.

e doutras ameazas.

We formed teams on the ground and worked with communities

Formamos equipos sobre o terreo e traballamos con colectivos

and local, regional, national governments.

e con gobernos locais, rexionais e nacionais.

And partnering with now 12 presidential administrations in the two countries,

E, en colaboración con, a día de hoxe, 12 gobernos de ambos os países,

we gave back everything that we put together

restituímos todo aquilo que achegamos

in terms of conservation lands

en termos de terras de protección

by donating them in the form of new national parks.

como doazóns en forma de novos parques nacionais.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Yes.

Ben!

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

So far, we’ve initiated 15 new national parks,

De momento, levamos iniciados 15 novos parques nacionais,

protecting over 15 million acres.

e protexemos máis de 6 millóns de hectáreas.

We came to know, without a doubt,

Descubrimos, sen dúbida ningunha,

that landscapes can recover,

que a paisaxe se pode recuperar,

even those forests, grasslands, wetlands hardest hit.

mesmo aquelas fragas, pradarías e zonas húmidas máis afectadas.

But the more we worked saving and restoring lands and seascapes,

Secasí, canto máis traballabamos en salvar e restaurar paisaxes terrestres e mariñas,

the more we came to realize

máis nos decatabamos

that you can't have healthy ecosystems

de que non se podían ter ecosistemas sans

if keystone species are missing.

sen as súas especies chave.

As Lois Crisler said,

Como dixo Lois Crisler,

“Landscape without wildlife is just scenery.”

“a natureza sen fauna é só paisaxe”.

And we never saw ourselves as being in the scenery business.

E nós non nos considerabamos parte do sector do paisaxismo.

Protecting large-scale territories is essential.

Protexermos territorios a grande escala é esencial.

You can't paint a masterpiece unless you have the canvas.

Non podes pintar unha obra mestra sen un bo lenzo.

But once the territory is secured long-term,

Mais unha vez garantido o territorio a longo prazo,

we had to commit ourselves to go beyond land conservation

tivemos que comprometernos a ir alén da conservación da terra

and set our goals to leaving behind fully functioning ecosystems.

e marcarmos como meta dotala de ecosistemas completamente funcionais.

Figuring out what species are missing

Pescudarmos que especies desapareceron

or whose numbers are low and fragile,

ou teñen poboacións pequenas e fráxiles

and commit to bringing them back.

e obrigármonos a recuperalas.

And that's exactly what we're doing.

E iso é exactamente o que estamos a facer.

Today, Patagonia grasslands,

Hoxe, as pradarías patagoas

temperate rainforests are safe and whole,

e os bosques temperados están sans e salvos,

and nearly two million acres of wetlands have been protected.

e protexemos arredor de 800 000 ha de zonas húmidas.

A total of 24 native species, which were nearly extinct,

Un total de 24 especies nativas, que estiveron case extintas,

are again roaming free and reproducing in their rightful territories,

percorren de novo con liberdade e reprodúcense no seu territorio lexítimo,

from apex predators that influence entire ecosystems

desde grandes depredadores con influencia sobre ecosistemas enteiros

to seed bearers, herbivores,

até dispersores de sementes, herbívoros

smaller predators,

e pequenos depredadores,

each playing out their essential role in the theater that we call life.

cada un interpretando o seu papel vital no teatro do mundo.

In Chile, the population of the nearly extinct huemul deer

En Chile, a poboación do huemul, o case extinto cervo surandino,

is no longer losing ground.

deixou de perder territorio.

And after a century of livestock grazing in the Patagonia grasslands,

E após un século de pastoreo gandeiro nas pradarías da Patagonia,

which celebrated the killing of predators such as cougars and foxes,

coa celebración do exterminio de predadores como os pumas e os raposos,

they are back and they are thriving.

estes volveron e prosperaron.

But all of this experience has shown us that this is still not enough.

Mais toda esta experiencia amosounos que, mesmo así, isto non é abondo.

The speed and power of the climate crisis and the extinction crisis

A velocidade e a forza da crise do clima e da crise da extinción

demand, I think, that we change our tactics again,

coido que nos obrigan a cambiarmos de estratexia,

and this time it's got to be on a massive scale.

e desta vez ha ser nunha escala masiva.

Yes, the parks offer refuge from the forces of industrialization,

Os parques xaora ofrecen refuxio fronte ás forzas da industrialización

and we know ecosystems can be restored.

e sabemos que os ecosistemas se poden restaurar.

And very importantly, we know that when people reconnect with nature,

E o máis importante: sabemos que, cando a xente reconecta coa natureza,

it inspires them to protect it.

anímase a protexela.

But at the same time, if you think about it, parks,

Mais, á vez, os parques, se nos paramos a pensalo,

even the massive wild parks, are islands.

mesmo os parques naturais máis grandes, son só illas.

They're not connected.

Non están conectados.

And this is a huge problem

E isto é un problema enorme,

because in order to survive and become resilient,

posto que, para sobreviviren e se fortaleceren,

ecosystems need to be connected.

os ecosistemas teñen que conectarse.

Sometimes extensions of territories and sometimes as stepping stones.

Por veces, por extensións de territorio e, por veces, por vieiros.

One way or the other,

Sexa como for,

flora and fauna have to be able to expand over territories

a flora e a fauna teñen que poder expandirse polos territorios

as they once did.

como facían antano.

So how is this done?

E como facelo?

It requires expanding strategies into the next 20 years.

Cómpre que proxectemos as estratexias nos próximos 20 anos.

We have to reconnect the wild fabric of South America,

Temos que volver ligar o tecido natural de Suramérica,

both from Chile and Argentina.

tanto de Chile como da Arxentina.

Our 30 years of conservation work is radiating up and out now,

Os 30 anos de traballo na conservación esténdense agora por todas partes

reconnecting habitat and species back into one full continent.

e reconectan os hábitats e as especies nun continente pleno.

Luckily, and not surprisingly,

Por sorte, para sorpresa de ninguén,

Mother Nature has already built the literal road map

a nai natureza xa estableceu o itinerario para facer isto posible.

to make this possible.

In Chile, this means going up the entire spine of the Andes

En Chile, este consiste en ascender toda a columna dos Andes

with endangered species

canda a especies ameazadas

and down the currents to Antarctica,

e baixar polas correntes cara á Antártida

following marine wildlife systems beyond --

seguindo os sistemas fáunicos mariños

alén (e esta é a clave) das fronteiras humanas.

and this is the point -- human-made borders.

As an example of this in Argentina,

Como exemplo disto, na Arxentina,

rivers are natural wildlife bridges.

os ríos son pontes naturais para a fauna.

So if we protect the rivers and the land around them,

Daquela, se protexemos os ríos e as terras lindeirastes,

we create these continental-scale corridors.

creamos estes corredores a escala continental.

Think of them as wild highways.

Pensade neles como en autovías naturais.

In our kind of work,

No noso campo de traballo

there's a saying about the role of top predators

hai un dito sobre o rol dos superdepredadores

that I think helps make this clearer.

que acho que pode aclarar todo isto.

In our case,

No noso caso,

if jaguars can expand their territory from north to south,

se os xaguares poden expandir os seus territorios do norte ao sur,

east to west,

do leste ao oeste,

then everybody else, animals, insects, flora, fauna,

daquela, todo o resto de animais, insectos, flora e fauna

can "walk under their legs."

poden “pasarlles entre as patas”.

And that's our goal.

E ese é o noso obxectivo.

So from Ibera National Park in Argentina,

Así, do Parque Nacional Iberá, Arxentina,

we build connections across the borders in Brazil, Paraguay,

establecemos conexións entre as fronteiras do Brasil, Paraguai,

Uruguay, Bolivia,

Uruguai e Bolivia,

and create biodiversity throughout the La Plata River basin,

e aumentamos a biodiversidade ao longo da bacía do río da Prata,

the Yungas cloud forest,

o bosque nubrado de Yungas,

the Chaco forest,

o bosque do Gran Chaco,

the Atlantic forest.

o bosque atlántico…

There's no question that this is a very audacious next and new step.

Non cabe dúbida de que este é un novo paso moi audaz para seguir.

I'm 73,

Teño 73 anos

and for the first time in my business and conservation life,

e, por primeira vez na miña vida profesional de conservadora,

I know I'm not going to see the end of this new story.

sei que non verei como conclúe esta nova historia.

But that's OK with me.

Mais a min paréceme ben.

In fact, a very wise and good friend of ours, Wes Jackson,

De feito, un bo amigo noso moi sabio, Wes Jackson,

said to us years ago,

díxonos hai anos:

"If your life's work can be accomplished in your lifetime,

“Se logras completar o teu traballo vital ao longo da túa vida

you're not thinking big enough."

é que aspirabas a pouco”.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

(Applause)

(Aplausos)

Today, the original teams we built have become independent organizations

A día de hoxe, os equipos orixinais tornáronse en organizacións independentes

known as Fundación Rewilding Chile

como a Fundación Rewilding Chile

and Fundación Rewilding Argentina.

e a Fundación Rewilding Argentina,

And they are continuing this work long into the future.

que continuarán con este labor por moitos anos.

Sometimes people ask me what Doug would have wanted

Ás veces a xente pregúntame en que querería Doug

and what I would hope our legacy becomes.

ou en que esperaría eu que se convertese o noso legado.

And I always say the same thing.

E eu sempre respondo o mesmo.

As proud as we are of what we've been able to accomplish thus far,

Por moito que nos encha de orgullo ver o que conseguimos ata o momento,

none of us spends much time looking backwards.

ningún de nós lle dedica tempo a mirar cara a atrás.

Rather, we see all the work that we've done

Pola contra, observamos todo o traballo que levamos feito

as a foundation to build third, fourth generations of team leaders

como alicerces dunha terceira ou cuarta xeración de líderes de equipo

who share a common vision with us.

que compartan a nosa visión,

And that is, we refuse to accept a future without wildness,

isto é, rexeitarmos aceptar un futuro sen natureza,

without abundance

sen abundancia

and dignified human communities.

e sen comunidades humanas dignas.

So what started as a personal journey has become a journey of many.

Así, o que empezou como unha viaxe persoal converteuse na viaxe de moitos.

From several dedicated individuals to whole teams,

Desde varias persoas entregadas a equipos completos,

generations of teams and communities

xeracións de equipos e de comunidades

who are joining the movement toward regenerative economies,

que se suman ao movemento das economías rexenerativas,

followed by their offspring and their descendants.

ata as súas crianzas e os seus descendentes.

And finally,

E, en suma,

this journey is about bringing back large-scale territories,

esta viaxe céntrase en recuperar territorios a grande escala,

keeping them safe

mantelos a salvo

and finding the species who were long gone missing:

e atopar as especies que se perderan hai moito:

the jaguars, the huemul deer, the Andean condors,

os xaguares, o cervo huemul, os cóndores andinos,

giant anteaters, pumas,

osos formigueiros xigantes, pumas, cervos das pampas, o Crax fasciolata,

Pampas deer, the bare-faced curacao,

the Darwin’s rheas, maned wolf,

o ñandú de Darwin, lobo de crina, cervo dos pantanos, papagaios, ocelote,

marsh deer, macaws, ocelots,

red footed-tortoises, giant river otters.

tartarugas de patas vermellas, lontras de río xigantes…

May they thrive long into the future.

Oxalá prosperen durante moito tempo no futuro.

They are the legacy long after our story is told.

Son o legado que queda ao final da nosa historia.

And remember,

E recordade:

the first step in saving nature

o primeiro paso para salvar a natureza

is the rewilding of our own minds.

é renaturalizar as nosas mentes.

Thank you very much.

Moitísimas grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)