the Dutch philosopher convinced that saving snails is saving ourselves

Before the arrival of Westerners, in Hawaii there were more than 700 species of snails that were nowhere else. Since then, these Pacific islands have suffered all the human processes that have existed and to have occurred: from the most orthodox colonization to a totally accelerated globalization through rapid urbanization, intense militarization and tourism, a lot of tourism.

The result can be summarized in just one figure: today, 60% of those snails have become extinct and those who remain are in frank decadence.

Chronicle of many foretold deaths.

By the early 20th century, populations were decimated, but still abundant. The boom in rats in the archipelago, the rapid changes in habitats and, above all, the arrival of the pink wolf snail (a foreign predator) have meant that the 200 or 300 species that survive do it in very isolated areas or, directly, only in ‘conversation labs‘.

In one of them, in a trailer on the outskirts of Kailua and in the care of David Sischo, director of the snail extinction prevention program of the state, lived George (the last known individual of the species Achatinella apexfulva). He died there on January 1, 2019.

That shocked those who were in the archipelago and, among them, Thom van Dooren.

The cuckoo species trap.

This professor of environmental humanities at the University of Sydney was dedicated to the study of everything that birds could teach us, he realized George’s trick. The same trap as Sudan or what other animals. He realized that “There is value in saving charismatic speciesamong other things because they are very useful for raising awareness among the population and raising funds.

But, as recently explained in an interview“we cannot forget that mass extinction also and above all affects invertebrates, which constitute 99% of animal life and are essential for pollination, soil fertilization or the nutrient cycle.”

What we can learn from snails.

For van Dooren, what the snails are “slowly and gently” teaching us is to think in the long term, to use the forces of others and to understand that if we do not think about the systemic (the preservation of habitats), we will have to fight very difficult battles one by one (apply “violent care” to species to avoid their extinction)

But, above all, it gives us three very specific ideas:

• Being late is a problem: if we act when the problem is already “stopped”, everything is more difficult.
• If we have to ‘triar’, we have already arrived late: When we put ourselves in “emergency mode” we have to prioritize what can be saved over other considerations because we have limited time and resources.
• And intensive interventions do not fix the cause: we can rescue, replace, conserve… but if we do not change the underlying pressures we are only postponing the end.

Snails can teach us precisely that: that at the end of the day, the important thing is to be clear about what we want and value. From there, it’s time to act accordingly. If not, we are condemned to live in our particular ‘Noah’s ark’.

Image | Marina Grynykha | BBVA

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