David Suzuki - David Suzuki

This is a sad time to depart from this life. I have witnessed the disappearance and destruction of so much of the natural world that I loved. Extinction of a species is natural in the evolutionary scheme of life on Earth—99.9999 percent of all species that have ever existed are extinct. But we are an infant species, arriving very recently, perhaps 150,000 years ago in the plains of Africa, and yet now the once unthinkable, the coming extinction of our own species, is actually conceivable. Our trajectory to dominance of the planet has been spectacular, but we have not fully comprehended the price of that success. It has been my lot to be a Cassandra or Chicken Little, warning about imminent disaster, but it gives me no satisfaction at all to think my concerns may be validated by my grandchildren's generation.

My grandchildren are my stake in the near future, and it is my most fervent hope that they might say one day, “Grandpa was part of a great movement that helped turn things around for us.” I also hope that they might remember my most valuable lesson and be able to say, “Grandpa taught us how to catch and clean a fish. Let's go catch one for dinner.”

for The Nature of Things with David Suzuki

Aboriginal Australians, 211–14

Ainu people, 225–26

air pollution, health effects, 77, 242–44

Allder, Michael, 75, 92

Altamira dam protest, 157–67

Amazonia, 134–54, 157–67, 175–88, 190–93, 225, 227

Amherst College, 34–41, 59

Anderson, Ray, 241, 246

Aral Sea, 77–78

Archibald, Nancy, 76, 90, 114, 288–89

Attenborough, David, 79

Australia, 195–216, 314–16, 319–21. See also JUSCANZ countries

Beadle, George, 43

Beban, Frank, 122–23

Bennett, Bill, 114, 120, 121

Bonisteel, Roy, 73

Boyd, David, 263–66

Bronfman, Stephen, 241, 246

Bush, George H.W., 269, 322

Bush, George W., 322, 325, 334–37

Campos, Eduardo, 383–84

Campos, Midori, 384

Campos, Tamo, 384

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), 31, 62, 67, 73, 91, 103, 155–56, 198–99, 218, 365–68. See also Suzuki, David (science broadcaster)

Cavoukian, Raffi, 272, 274

Charles, Prince of Wales, 353–59

Chibber, Ajay, 297, 299

Chomsky, Noam, 219–20, 349–50

Chrétien, Jean, 322

clam gardens, 377–78

Clarkson, Adrienne, 359

Clayoquot Sound, 205

climate change, 209–10, 230–31, 241–47, 305–23

Cockburn, Bruce, 204–5

Conference of Parties (cop), 245–47

Cook, Jonathan, 385–86

Cook, Peter, 385–86

Couchman, Paul, 206–7

Crichton, Michael, 309, 310

Cullis, Freddy, 100–101

Cullis, Harry, 100–101, 169

Cullis, Pieter, 101–2

Cullis, Tara: Amazonia projects, 152, 155–74, 175–88, 190–91;

in Australia, 200–204, 208–10;

celebrity visits, 355– 56, 359–63;

David Suzuki Foundation, 220–32, 238–39, 252–61;

Earth Summit, 270–73, 277–85;

First Nations projects, 252–61;

marriage and family, 97–110;

Stein Valley Festival, 126–29, 130, 132

Cullis-Suzuki, Sarika, 88, 90, 109–10, 175–88, 359–60, 363, 386–87

Cullis-Suzuki, Severn, 108–10, 175–88, 270–73, 277–85, 359–60, 363, 378, 386–87

Daintree forest (Australia), 203–4

Dalai Lama, 359–63

David Suzuki Foundation: Amazonia projects, 191, 225, 227;

climate change and emissions research, 241–47;

Declaration of Interdependence, 274–77;

executives of, 227–32, 238–39;

expertise and communication, 238–39, 240–41;

First Nations projects, 251–61;

fisheries projects, 232–38;

forestry research, 247–51;

Kyoto agreement, 313–14, 316–17, 322;

Lake Pedder restoration, 207–8;

lifestyle advice, 261–63;

objectives, 217–22;

organization and early accomplishments, 222–27;

sustainability analysis, 263–66

Davis, Wade, 274

de la Giroday, Evelyn, 381–82

Denver, John, 129–31

Dick, Simon, 158, 159, 163–66

Doukhobors, 20–21

Drever, Ronnie, 248

Earth Summit (1992), 189, 267–86, 307–8

Easterbrook, Gregg, 270, 309

Environmental Children's Organization (ECO), 270–73, 277–85

environmental movement, history of, 267–70

European Union, at Kyoto, 314–16, 317–18

First Nations, 10–11, 14, 113–24, 170–72, 205, 222, 226, 230, 236–38, 250–61

fisheries. See marine ecosystems

fishing, sport and subsistence, 10–11, 13, 45, 136–37, 177–81, 192–93, 372–73

Fitzpatrick, Catherine, 242–43

Fogg, Nick, 288, 290, 292–93

forest ecosystems: in Amazonia, 135–36, 147–48, 152, 158–59, 181–84, 190–93, 227;

in Australia, 203–4, 211;

forest industry issues, 69, 71–72, 113–24, 205, 247–51, 376;

Pacific salmon and, 235, 343–46;

in Papua New Guinea, 295–97, 300–302

Fulton, Jim, 114–15, 227–32, 241, 252, 264

Gagné, André and Louis-Edmond, 107

Garrett, Peter, 204–5

gender issues, 36, 101–3, 378–82

genetics and biotechnology, 43, 50, 52, 53–55, 337–43

George, Dan, 62–63

Gerussi, Bruno, 62

Gessler, Nick, 114, 116–17

Gibbs, Jeff, 158, 165, 272

Gondo, Fumiko, 393

Gore, Al, 285, 318–19, 322

Great Barrier Reef, 201–3, 209–10

“Greatest Canadian” contest, 365–69

Greystone Books, 250–51

Guujaaw, 117–18, 127, 158, 159, 163–64, 274–75

Gzowski, Peter, 331–34

Haida Gwaii, 113–24, 230

Heaps, Terry, 247

Hocking, David, 238, 240

Hoggan, Jim, 240

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 307–10

International Monetary Fund, critique of, 297

internment of Japanese Canadians, 16–22

Irekran, 144–50, 167–74, 189–90

Irwin, Steve, 79–80

Japanese Canadians, 14–22, 24

Johnson, Al “Jet”, 174

JUSCANZ countries, 314–16, 317–18

Kaiapo people, 138–51, 153–57, 162–74, 176–92, 268. See also Paiakan

Kidd, Gladys, 156

Kovanic, Rudi, 81, 82, 91

Kube-i, 143–44, 153–54

kuru, 289–90

Kyoto Agreement, 246–47, 312–23

Lightfoot, Gordon, 129, 132, 155–60

Lindsley, Dan, 43, 45

Lomborg, Bjørn, 270, 309

Lovejoy, Tom, 158–59

Macaulay, Shirley, 103, 353, 381

McCandless, John, 125–26, 129

Mallus, Juneia, 137, 139, 192

Marchak, Pat, 248

marine ecosystems, 209–10, 228–30, 232–36, 374–76, 377–78

Martell, Roberta, 256–57

Martin, Paul, 246, 264, 369

Mathur, Vishnu, 74–75, 81, 84–85

May, Elizabeth, 123–24, 152, 157

Mendes, Chico, 152–53

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 348

missile defense system, 335–37

Mosquito, Rosie, 158, 160

Mulroney, Brian, 122, 123, 196, 230, 269, 280, 330

Munro, Jack, 71–72

Murray, Jim, 60, 69, 73–75, 114, 332

Nader, Ralph, 350–53

Narmada dam (India), 76–77

National Research Council, 329–30

Noyce, Phil, 196, 201–2

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 43–47

O'Brien, Lewis, 212–13

Oe, 167, 169, 176