Rachael Bale is the executive editor of National Geographic’s
Animals desk. She most recently wrote about cheetah traffick-
ing, for the September 2021 issue.IT’S NOT A
ZERO-SUM GAME.
WE CAN PROTECT
ELEPHANTS AND
DEVELOP VACCINES.
WE CAN STABI LIZE
STONEHENGE
AND PROVIDE
DISASTER RELIEF.
They might say the same about search-
ing for an undiscovered species of frog
on never before climbed mountains,
or building new museums, or stuff-
ing mortar into the eroding cracks of
Stonehenge’s prehistoric megaliths.
But conserving our natural andhuman heritage—like efforts to cure
disease and stop war—is about nur-
turing good in the world. We need
wildlife and ancient artifacts, just as
we need health and peace. They’re the
backdrop against which our lives take
place, and they help us make sense
of our own stories. They provide the
context for our existence. They’re our
past, present, and future.
It’s not a zero-sum game, anyway.We can protect elephants and develop
vaccines. We can stabilize Stonehenge
and provide disaster relief. The year
2021 is proof of that.
Conservation efforts have beenbright spots in an otherwise dark year. That’s not to say the bio-
diversity crisis has passed. Plant and animal species are still
disappearing at an alarming rate; ecosystems are still unraveling.
And we must acknowledge the damage inflicted by everything
from climate change to bombs on millennia-old historic sites.
But we’ve also done much to protect the world’s heritage. We’ve
moved Atlantic bluefin tuna off the global endangered species list.
We’ve reconsidered plans for oil drilling in an Arctic refuge. We’ve
seen thousands of looted artifacts returned to Iraq and sacred
objects given back to the Arrernte people in central Australia. And
we’ve safely persuaded a family of elephants on a long, perilous
journey to turn homeward.
“As 2021 comes to an end, I am scared about the state of nature
but also hopeful,” says National Geographic Explorer Gladys
Kalema-Zikusoka, founder and CEO of Conservation Through Pub-
lic Health. Her group is a Ugandan nonprofit that promotes gorilla
conservation, community health, and sustainable livelihoods for
people who live near national parks and reserves.
“I am scared because the threats to nature are increasing,” she
says, but “I am hopeful because the extreme weather patterns we
are experiencing and the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic [are]
leading to a heightened awareness about these risks and the need
to do something about them.”
By November the elephants in China had made their way back
home and were in good condition, the National Forestry and
Grassland Administration said. It’s still not clear why they left
in the first place, but one theory is that as elephant numbers in
Yunnan Province have increased, the animals have needed to
expand their territory.
That could be considered good news for this endangered species.
But the story of the elephants’ trek demonstrates something else
too: that the world we created and the world nature created are
inextricably bound, for better or for worse. jYEAR IN PICTURES: CONSERVATION