CanopyMeg Comments for a Questionaire from EO Wilson Foundation

“Biodiversity is the COOL stuff that inspires a sense of wonder in anyone who looks closely. Saving biodiversity requires creativity, observation, and a lot of perspiration!” [Meg Lowman – Tropical Treetop Explorer, Director Nature Research Center]

As a child I built tree forts and fell in love with nature. I have grown up – but fortunately, so have my tree forts. As a student, I took risks, daring to climb tropical trees until I became one of the first scientists to discover that perhaps half of our terrestrial biodiversity lives in the treetops. I have learned from shamans about the “apothecary in the sky,” I have studied tardigrades – so called water bears, and seen so much COOL stuff that inspires a sense of wonder, all from the tops of tropical trees. Of course, the loss of these forests and their priceless biodiversity frightens me, both as a mother and as an international scientist. So my urgent mission is to save forests, one tree at a time. In places like Ethiopia, we have about a five year window to save the last 5% of remaining forests, which are sacred sites protecting almost all of the country’s dwindling biodiversity – including critically important pollinators – and most of the country’s fresh water springs. So I am shouting my message from the treetops, bringing my own children, as well as other students (even those in wheelchairs) to canopy walkways around the world. For those I can’t bring to the forest, I have written children’s books, and developed an entire Nature Research Center to bring the world of the forest to them. I hope to inspire young people to join me in careers of science so they can discover the wonder I feel, develop solutions to our environmental problems, and empower the local people who are the most immediate guardians of biodiversity. Will you join me up in the treetops?