A hike in the dappled sunlight of a historical park, a cluster of turtles sunbathing by the creek, birds singing through the trees, and his mother’s unforgettable lessons about nature’s purpose are why Jim Fleshman chose to preserve nature.
“We can’t take care of ourselves without taking care of nature too,” Jim Fleshman, deputy director of the Baton Rouge Zoo, said. “That’s what my mother always told me.”
A recent study estimated that it would cost $76 billion a year to establish, maintain and preserve threatened land and animals.
Nature’s exquisite beauty is enough reason for Fleshman to preserve wildlife, but he knows there are reasons far more substantial.
People consider the world of nature to be separate from their own, Fleshman said. However, plants, animals, people and the environment constitute one community. When one part of that community is lost, the entire system will suffer.
“Without wildlife and nature, we lose all connections as humans.” Fleshman said. Fleshman discovered his passion for wildlife as a young boy. He would hike the parks in Kansas with his mother, who loved the outdoors. His mother was knowledgeable about wild animals, pointing them out on the hikes, adding fun facts about each species.
“That kind of thing inspired me and sparked this feeling of wanting to know more,” Fleshman said.
In college, Fleshman started watching the tv show “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” every Sunday evening. The show featured two men at a St. Louis Zoo who would go out and film animals in the wild.
“Soon enough I started volunteering at a small zoo in Manhattan, Kansas, and my interest in conservation just kind of took off from there,” Fleshman said.
Fleshman’s main conservation concerns for Louisiana are the various environmental issues from contaminants going into nature, primarily, the Atchafalaya Basin (swamp). The Atchafalaya Swamp is the largest freshwater swamp in North America. It is a core component of the environment that many industries rely upon, such as Louisiana’s crawfish industry.
Chemicals are being washed into the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers, which are overflowing into the Gulf of Mexico. These contaminants flowing down the river create a dead zone in an ample space right off Louisiana’s coast.
“Having a lack of oxygen in the water is a critical problem,” Fleshman said.
This year, the dead zone measured 6,952 square miles, about the size of New Hampshire, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Fishers, shrimpers, crabbers, oystermen and others who need the seafood industry are suffering.
The easiest way to address this problem, Fleshman said, is to tell people not to litter. Everbody can take the responsibility of disposing of trash properly and taking small steps too recycle.
“You don’t have to be crazy about recycling,” Fleshman said. “But be careful how much plastic you’re putting out in the environment.”
Fleshman said something as simple as turning the faucet off while brushing your teeth in the morning can make a big difference.
“The small things work,” Fleshman said.
If people go about their days with more of a focus on sustainability, then Louisiana’s coastal environment would be in better shape, Fleshman said.
The environmental consequences of litter do not just affect ecosystems and polluted waterways. According to Keep Liberty Beautiful, a community education and volunteer action program, littering affects the economy.
For example, 36% of business development officials say that litter impacts a company’s decision to locate in a community. That hurts our community when we lose potential jobs in our area.
Furthermore, 93% of homeowners say a littered neighborhood would influence their decision to purchase a property, so property appraisers would reduce a home’s value if it were in a littered area.
Litter also impacts potential tourism revenues, the primary source of income for local economies.
“What we do to fight litter affects all of us,” Fleshman said. “And most importantly, it will have an impact on generations that follow us.”
Fleshman poses a new way of thinking about conservation. Conservation is not only about the goods the environment provides us with, he said. Instead, it’s about seeing human society and wild ecosystems as one inseparable whole.
It is difficult to preserve every last species; however, it is possible to ensure that ecosystems are as rich and diverse as they can be. Fleshman said this would be good for nature and good for us as well.
“My mother was right all along,” Fleshman said. “We can’t take care of ourselves without taking care of nature, too.”