#3200: Wade Davis Wins National Geographic Honor (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:JPS390@aol.com

Congratulations to Wade Davis on this honor.

Patrick Slavin

National Geographic Starts Program

.c The Associated Press

 By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

WASHINGTON (AP) - For the panel of seven prominent explorers launching 
National Geographic's new ``Explorers in Residence'' program, there's plenty 
more to be discovered and, more important, preserved.

``Is there hope for the future? Yes, but I don't believe there is a long 
window,'' Jane Goodall said Monday, urging action to protect wild species and 
lands.

Goodall, nearing her 40th anniversary studying chimpanzees in Africa, told a 
gathering of explorers that cleared lands now surround the Gombe Reserve 
where she works and said human encroachment is threatening the chimps' 
existence.

For anthropologist Wade Davis the goal is to preserve human history - 
language, mythology, ways of living.

His explorations in the Amazon, Haiti and the Arctic have given him the 
chance to live among those who have not forgotten the old ways, Davis said. 
``When you lose an elder,'' the anthropologist said, ``it's like a library 
burning down.''

Davis urged that threats to the world's cultural diversity, what he calls the 
``ethnosphere,'' become as well known as those threatening the biosphere.

``There is another whole continent out there ... under water,'' said 
oceanographer Sylvia Earle, who said less than 2 percent of the deep oceans 
have been explored.

They spoke at the first gathering of the newly formed Explorers in Residence, 
most of whom will spend their time in the field rather than in residence.

``I'm not in residence anywhere,'' joked Goodall, whose U.S. offices are at 
the Jane Goodall Institute in Silver Spring, Md.

All seven honorees welcomed the support of the society, which was founded 
more than a century ago to promote exploration and is refocusing on that goal 
now.

``There is much left to be explored,'' society vice president Terry Garcia 
said.

``I believe that the 21st Century is going to be the great age of 
discovery,'' historian Stephen Ambrose said. ``I don't know what they're 
going to discover, ... but it's going to happen.''

The seven will take part in the program for several years, spending time in 
the field and working with the society to promote scientific learning and 
conservation.

Participants and their projects are:

Ambrose will work to restore American historic areas threatened by 
development, including parts of the Lewis and Clark Trail.

Goodall plans a new study of wild chimpanzee in Congo and Tanzania beyond the 
Gombe Stream Reserve.

Paleontologist Paul Sereno will make a three-month trek into the Sahara 
seeking fossils of an unusual dinosaur.

Davis plans a walk from the Chumbi Valley to Rongbuk monastery in the 
Himalayas.

Earle plans a study of the marine sanctuaries of the Florida Keys and 
California's Channel Islands and Monterey Bay.

Ocean explorer Robert Ballard will make an expedition to the Black Sea in 
search of ancient shipwrecks and more information on the Biblical flood.

Archaeologist Johan Reinhard will explore high-altitude Inca burial sites in 
Argentina.

On the Net: National Geographic Society: http://www.nationalgeographic.org

AP-NY-04-10-00 1604EDT

 Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.