Conservation in the United States

Conservation in the United States can be traced back to the 19th century with the formation of the first National Park. Conservation generally refers to the act of consciously and efficiently using land and/or its natural resources. This can be in the form of setting aside tracts of land for protection from hunting or urban development, or it can take the form of using less resources such as metal, water, or coal. Usually, this process of conservation occurs through or after legislation on local or national levels is passed.
Conservation in the United States, as a movement, began with the American sportsmen who came to the realization that wanton waste of wildlife and their habitat had led to the extinction of some species, while other species were at risk. John Muir and the Sierra Club started the modern movement, history shows that the Boone and Crockett Club, formed by Theodore Roosevelt, spearheaded conservation in the United States.
While conservation and preservation both have similar definitions and broad categories, preservation in the natural and environmental scope refers to the action of keeping areas the way they are and trying to dissuade the use its resources; conservation may employ similar methods but does not call for the diminishing of resource use and rather a responsible way of going about it. A distinction between Sierra Club and Boone and Crockett Club is that Sierra Club was and is considered a preservationist organization whereas Boone and Crockett Club endorses conservation, simply defined as an "intelligent use of natural resources."
History.
Philosophy of early American conservation movement.
During the 19th century, some Americans developed a deep and abiding passion for nature. The early evolution of the conservation movement began through both public and private recognition of the relationship between man and nature often reflected in the great literary and artistic works of the 19th century. Artists, such as Albert Bierstadt, painted powerful landscapes of the American West during the mid 19th century, which were incredibly popular ages representative of the unique natural wonders of the American frontier. Likewise, in 1860, Frederic Edwin Church painted "Twilight in the Wilderness", which was an artistic masterpiece of the era that explored the growing importance of the American wilderness.
American writers also romanticized and focused upon nature as a subject matter. However, one of the most notable literary figures upon the early conservation movement proved to be Henry David Thoreau. Throughout his work, "Walden", Thoreau detailed his experiences at the natural setting of Walden Pond and his deep appreciation for nature. In one instance, he described a deep grief for a tree that was cut down. Thoreau went on to bemoan the lack of reverence for the natural world: "I would that our farmers when they cut down a forest felt some of that awe which the old Romans did when they came to thin, or let in the light to, a consecrated grove". As he states in "Walden", Thoreau "was interested in the preservation" of nature. In 1860, Henry David Thoreau delivered a speech to the Middlesex Agricultural Society in Massachusetts; the speech, entitled "The Succession of Forest Trees", explored forest ecology and encouraged the agricultural community to plant trees. This speech became one of Thoreau's "most influential ecological contributions to conservationist thought".
A basis for the philosophy curated by the prominent sportsmen, writers, anthropologists, and politicians came from observing Native Americans and how they interacted with the resources available to them. For example, George Bird Grinnell was an anthropologist who joined an expedition in 1870 which encountered different tribes such as the Pawnee for large, extended periods of time. He noted their use of every single part of an animal following a hunt and that they ceremoniously prepared for utilizing and taking any resource the land was able to provide them. These observations, fraught with condemning language toward the way European hunters and sportsmen treated wildlife and resources such as timber, were published in widely circulated journals and magazines at the time.
The early conservation movement in the United States was also successful due to the hard work of John Muir. Muir, who is often cited as one of the first American environmentalists, has earned multiple American honors for environmental work. His family home in Martinez, California, is honored as a National Historic Site and so is his childhood home in Portage, Wisconsin, Fountain Lake Farm which is a National Historic Landmark. He was a former carriage worker who was nearly blinded by an accident at work. After almost losing his sight, Muir decided to see "America's natural wonders". Based upon his travels throughout Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Muir wrote a collection of articles for "Century" magazine, entitled "Studies in the Sierra". In 1892, John Muir joined forces with the editor of "Century" Magazine, Robert Underwood Johnson, to establish the Sierra Club, an organization designed to protect America's natural resources and public parks.
Early Americans recognized the importance of natural resources and the necessity of wilderness preservation for sustained yield harvesting of natural resources. In essence, the preservation of wilderness and landscapes were recognized as critical for future generations and their continued subsistence in a healthy environment. The foundation of the conservation movement is grounded during this period between 1850 and 1920. Ultimately, historical trends and cultural mind-sets were united, which influenced ideas and policy towards the early history of the conservation movement in the United States.
In considering this foundation for the conservation movement he helped to lay, members of the Sierra Club have been noting the hypocrisy of John Muir's conservation efforts in these instances of documented racism through their recent posts. Ross Wakefield writes that although Muir would recognize Native Americans as human, he begrudgingly did so and that institutional racism impacted his views, influencing his thought that they could never attain the same level of purity and immaculateness that nature did. Environmental historians, like Carolyn Merchant, also cite Muir as someone who was unwilling to extend his efforts of conservation toward groups of people who were not white. She explains in "Shades of Darkness" that on his walking journey from Canada (where he took refuge in order to escape being drafted as a soldier in the Civil War) down to the Gulf of Mexico, he often came across groups of African American people and wrote of them with much disdain and lowliness. In his accounts and descriptions of the places he trekked through, he often contrasted the care and reverence that he felt nature deserved with remarks about black people being devilish and incapable of completing tasks as efficiently as white people could.
Early American conservation movement.
America had its own conservation movement in the 19th century, most often characterized by George Perkins Marsh, author of "Man and Nature". The expedition into northwest Wyoming in 1871 led by F. V. Hayden and accompanied by photographer William Henry Jackson provided the imagery needed to substantiate rumors about the grandeur of the Yellowstone region, and resulted in the creation of Yellowstone National Park, the world's first, in 1872. In 1887, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell and other prominent sportsmen of the day formed the first true North American conservation organization, the Boone and Crockett Club, with the purpose of addressing the looming conservation crises of the day. Travels by later U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt through the region around Yellowstone provided the impetus for the creation of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve in 1891. The largest section of the reserve was later renamed Shoshone National Forest, and it is the oldest National Forest in the U.S. But it was not until 1898 when German forester Dr. Carl A. Schenck, on the Biltmore Estate, and Cornell University founded the first two forestry schools, both run by Germans. Bernard Fernow, founder of the forestry schools at Cornell and the University of Toronto, was originally from Prussia (Germany), and he honed his knowledge from Germans who pioneered forestry in India. He introduced Gifford Pinchot, the "father of American forestry", to Brandis and Ribbentrop in Europe. From these men, Pinchot learned the skills and legislative patterns he would later apply to America. Pinchot, in his memoir history Breaking New Ground, credited Brandis especially with helping to form America's conservation laws.
Pinchot wrote that the principles of conservation were:
In 1891, Congress passed the Forest Reserve Act, which allowed the President of the United States to set aside forest lands on public domain. A decade after the Forest Reserve Act, presidents Harrison, Cleveland, and McKinley had transferred approximately into the forest reserve system. However, President Theodore Roosevelt is credited with the institutionalization of the conservation movement in the United States.
For President Roosevelt, the conservation movement was not about the preservation of nature simply for nature itself. After his experiences traveling as an enthusiastic, zealous hunter, Roosevelt became convinced of "the need for measures to protect the game species from further destruction and eventual extinction". President Roosevelt recognized the necessity of carefully managing America's natural resources. According to Roosevelt, "We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so". Nonetheless, Roosevelt believed that conservation of America's natural resources was for the successful management and continued sustain yield harvesting of these resources in the future for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people. Roosevelt took several major steps to further his conservation goals.In 1902, Roosevelt signed the National Reclamation Act, which allowed for the management and settlement of a large tract of barren land. Then, in 1905, President Roosevelt helped to create the United States Forest Service and then appointed respected forester, Gifford Pinchot, as the first head of the agency. By the end of his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt, in partnership with Gifford Pinchot, had successfully increased the number of national parks as well as added area to existing forest reserves.
The legacy of his actions as president at the turn of the twentieth century include estimated 230 million acres of land as public lands, through his aforementioned establishment of the United States Forest Service as well as dozens of national forests, national parks, and bird reserves, in addition to 4 game preserves. This legacy, though establishing what many consider the root of modern conservationism, remained within the hands of powerful men of white European heritage for years to come, often excluding the interests of Native Americans and other demographics within the United States.
Despite these advancements, the American conservation movement did have difficulties. In the early 1900s the conservation movement in America was split into two main groups: conservationists, like Pinchot and Roosevelt, who were utilitarian foresters and natural rights advocates who wanted to protect forests "for the greater good for the greatest length", and preservationists, such as John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club. Important differences separated conservationists like Roosevelt and Pinchot from preservationists like Muir. As a preservationist, Muir envisioned the maintenance of pristine natural environments where any development was banned. Whereas conservationists wanted regulated use of forest lands for both public activities and commercial endeavors, preservationists wanted forest to be preserved for natural beauty, scientific study and recreation. The differences continue to the modern era, with sustainable harvest and multiple-use the major focus of the U.S. Forest Service and recreation emphasized by the National Park Service.
Although national parks can logistically fall under the category of preservation sites, certain marked National Conservation Area sites fall near or within proximity of national parks and share a common land history. The United States government began driving groups of Native American peoples out of popularly visited areas like Yellowstone around the late 1800s once they deemed them a conflict to tourists. Battles between federal troops and the Nez Perce tribe soon ensued, and eventually the tribe was driven out of the area. Conservation history fails to incorporate details like this when talking about the beginnings and context of the movement.
Modern American conservation movement.
By the mid-twentieth century, conservation efforts continued to gain ground with the creation and implementation of federal legislation aimed at protecting wilderness, natural resources, and wildlife. This trend on the part of the federal government towards a more protection minded approach to the environment began with the passage of the Federal Water Pollution Act in 1948 and the Air Pollution Control Act in 1955. While neither of these regulations themselves served to impose tight restrictions on either water or air pollution, they lay the groundwork for what would later become the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act, as well as serving to demonstrate the recognition on the part of the federal government of the need to codify regulations geared towards environmental protection.
Notable Events.
1962: "Silent Spring".
The 1962 publication of Rachel Carson's best seller book "Silent Spring" represented a major watershed moment in American conservation. In exposing the individual dangers presented to both people and nature through the use of chemical pesticides, Carson inspired an environmental revolution, helping to root the modern conservation movement in a scientific foundation. It would take another decade, however, before the use of DDT was banned in the United States.
1960s: A Wave of action.
Beginning in the late 1960s, the conservation movement scored a number of victories with the creation and implementation of a variety of environmental regulations aimed at the protection of wildlife, wild lands, and natural resources. In 1968 the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed, followed two years later under the Presidency of Richard Nixon by the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ("NOAA"), as well as the celebration of the inaugural Earth Day. The momentum carried on into 1972 when the Clean Water Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and the Endangered Species Act were passed. Moreover, 1972 saw the banning of DDT by the EPA.
The Wilderness Act of 1964.
On 3 September 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act of 1964 into law. This milestone was achieved by the efforts of environmental conservationists dedicated to the protection of some of the wildest lands in the United States. Chief among these were Howard Zahniser and Olaus Murie and Mardy Murie, and Celia Hunter, who dedicated much of their lives and their work to the protection and conservation of wild lands. By 1950 both Zanhiser and Olaus Murie were working for the Wilderness Society, Zahinser as Executive Secretary in Washington DC, and Olaus as President from his ranch in Moose, WY (now home to the Murie Center). From their positions at Wilderness Society, both men continued to work to organize and build broad-based support for the creation and protection of wilderness areas within the United States. Zahniser felt strongly that Congress ought to designate wilderness areas, as opposed to leaving it up to Agency discretion, and, in 1955, began working to convince members of Congress to support a bill that would establish a national wilderness preservation system. Meanwhile, in 1956, Olaus and Mardy Murie embarked upon an expedition to the upper Sheenjek River on the south slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska, which would galvanize them to campaign for the protection of the area as a wildlife refuge. Celia Hunter, with Ginny Wood, founded the Alaska Conservation Society, the first statewide environmental organization, in 1960. Serving on the board, she worked tirelessly to get legislation passed to protect Alaskan wilderness. Celia was also the first female president of the Wilderness Society. The result of these efforts was the protection of 8 million acres as the Arctic National Wildlife Range, renamed the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge when it was expanded to 19 million acres in 1980. Moreover, the mission underlying the protection of ANWR, namely the preservation of an entire ecological system, became the underlying motivation for the preservation of other large tracts of wild lands.
While neither Zahniser nor Olaus Murie would live to see the Wilderness Act signed by President Johnson, it is unlikely that, without their tireless efforts, the preservation movement would have been able to achieve so huge a victory. On 3 September 1964, Mardy Murie stood proudly next to President Johnson in the Rose Garden at the White House and bore witness to the making of history, and the achievement of the very thing for which Zahniser and Olaus had campaigned so ardently.
Clinton Administration 1993-2001.
Though liberal Democrats gave environmentalism a higher priority than the economy-focused President Bill Clinton did, the Clinton administration responded to public demand for environmental protection. Clinton created 17 national monuments by executive order, prohibiting commercial activities such as logging, mining, and drilling for oil or gas. Clinton also imposed a permanent freeze on drilling in maritime sanctuaries. Other presidential and departmental orders protected various wetlands and coastal resources and extended the existing moratorium on new oil leases off the coast line through 2013. After the Republican victory in the 1994 elections, Clinton vetoed a series of budget bills that contained amendments designed to scale back environmental restrictions. Clinton boasted that his administration "adopted the strongest air-quality protections ever, improved the safety of our drinking water and food, cleaned up about three times as many toxic waste sites as the two previous administrations combined, [and] helped to promote a new generation of fuel-efficient vehicles and vehicles that run on alternative fuels".
Vice President Gore was keenly concerned with global climate change, and Clinton created the President's Council on Sustainable Development. In November 1998, Clinton signed the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement in which developed countries committed to reducing carbon emissions. However, the Senate refused to ratify it since the agreement did not apply to the rapidly growing emissions of developing countries such as China, India, and Indonesia.
The key person on environmental issues was Bruce Babbitt, the head of the League of Conservation Voters, who served for all eight years as the United States Secretary of the Interior. According to John D. Leshy:
The Interior Department worked to protect scenic and historic areas of America's federal public lands. In 2000 Babbitt created the National Landscape Conservation System, a collection of 15 U.S. National Monuments and 14 National Conservation Areas to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management in such a way as to keep them "healthy, open, and wild."
A major issue involved low fees charged ranchers who grazed cattle on public lands. The "animal unit month" (AUM) fee was only $1.35 and was far below the 1983 market value. The argument was that the federal government in effect was subsidizing ranchers, with a few major corporations controlling millions of acres of grazing land. Babbitt and Oklahoma Congressman Mike Synar tried to rally environmentalists and raise fees, but senators from Western states successfully blocked their proposals.
Twenty-First Century.
Ultimately, the modern conservation movement in the United States continues to strive for the delicate balance between the successful management of society's industrial progress while still preserving the integrity of the natural environment that sustains humanity. In a large part, today's conservation movement in the United States is a joint effort of individuals, grassroots organizations, nongovernmental organizations, learning institutions, and various government agencies, such as the United States Forest Service.
For the modern era, the U.S. Forest Service has noted three important aspects of the conservation movement: the climate change, water issues, and the education of the public on conservation of the natural environment, especially among children. In regards to climate change, the U.S. Forest Service has undertaken a twenty-year research project to develop ways to counteract issues surrounding climate change. However, some small steps have been taken regarding climate change. As rising greenhouse gases contribute to global warming, reforestation projects are seeking to counteract rising carbon emissions. In Oregon, the Department of Forestry has developed a small reforestation program in which landowners can lease their land for one hundred years to grow trees. In turn, these trees offset carbon emissions from power companies. Moreover, reforestation projects have other benefits: reforested areas serve as a natural filter of agricultural fertilizers even as new wildlife habitats are created. Reforested land can also contribute to the local economy as rural landowners also distribute hunting leases during the years between harvests.
In essence, projects, such as reforestation, create a viable market of eco-friendly services mutually beneficial to landowners, businesses and society, and most importantly, the environment. Nonetheless, such creative plans will be necessary in the near future as the United States struggles to maintain a positive balance between society and the finite natural resources of the nation. Ultimately, through dedicated research, eco-friendly practices of land management, and efforts to educate the public regarding the necessity of conservation, those individuals dedicated to American conservation seek to preserve the nation's natural resources.
Twenty-First Century Resource Protection
The increased consumption of many natural resources has sparked the need for protection. Many of these resources were barely touched less than half a century ago but have been drained in several situations. One of these resources, water, is key to survival of almost all life but is being used quicker than it is replenished in many states within the United States. This has created the need for greater conservation which has been met by new techniques and technologies for both reducing the amount of water being used and increasing how efficiently it is being used. Some of these methods are as simple as replacing the fixtures in government buildings and offering rebates to citizens, but are as complex as growing genetically engineered food crops so that farmers can consume less water for use on them. Another key resource that has been met with new legislation is the land that is used to grow the crops for farms. One fairly new United States government policy, the Farmland Protection Policy Act, is designed in order to protect this resource from being over consumed by the government. It does this by ensuring that any entity, both federal and non-federal, that uses government assistance such as acquiring or disposing of land, providing financing or loans, managing property, providing technical assistance, cannot convert agricultural land into land that is permanently used for other purposes if it can be avoided. If the overuse of these resources is not mediated, the eventual result would create the loss of another key resource for survival. That is, if either land for agriculture or water for the land and the people who inhabit it becomes insufficient, the population in the United States would begin to run out of food. Not only would cash crops of plants become insufficient to supply people, it would also become insufficient to feed the livestock and animals that also depend on plants that are grown on agricultural land. Because of this, the need for conservation is greater than ever, especially when current efforts have only been able to slow the gradual depletion of these two key resources while increased populations create the need for higher consumption.
Ecotourism.
The goal of ecotourism is to attract appreciation and attention to specific sites, which may include protected land for conservation, while minimizing the impact that tourism has on the land. It is a form of conservation because the area may be protected while tourists or businesses are also using the land for lodging or other types of accommodations that utilize resources in any way. This movement has gained international traction and recognition. The United Nations declared 2002 the International Year of Ecotourism. Ecotourism seeks to balance an interest and appreciation of protected lands with a commitment to preserving them. A study conducted by the University of Georgia reported that environmentalists should team up with ecotourists in order to have the best chance to preserve fragile ecosystems and lands. Tourism provides economic incentives to conserve lands, for if protected lands are seen as revenue-generating tourist destinations, there is monetary reason to ensure their conservation. Also, rather than simply relying on environmental messaging, ecotourism allows conservationists to pursue a leisurely and economic message.
Current Conservation Developments & Issues.
Social Issues and Threats to Access.
At a 2014 event held at UCLA centered upon environmental figures like John Muir, a few historians and writers noted that the movements for conservation and preservation of the environment maintained a foundation in "economic privilege and abundant leisure time of the upper class." Jon Christensen, a historian of UCLA's Institute of Environment and Sustainability, notes among the other critics at the event that writings and actions from conservationists at the turn of the twentieth century have created a legacy for the movement as one of an older white demographic.
General concern among the current conservation movement deals with the accessibility of conserved/protected areas as well as the movement itself to communities of color especially. Richard White, a historian at Stanford University, makes the case that viewpoints of early conservationists came from an Anglo-Saxon, biblical point of view and that this is reflected in the current demographics of visitors to national parks and protected areas. At the same time, recent polls suggest that the Latino community in California tends to possess more environmental attitudes when it comes to voting than perceived by the general public. A highly cited historian of Southern California, D. J. Waldie, posits that conservation for the purpose of public enjoyment is usually geared for places inaccessible to minority demographics, such as skiing or backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas. Instead, he puts forth that the conservation areas of importance for these communities are local bodies of water or small mountain ranges, urban parks, and even their own backyards.
Enforcement.
Game wardens or conservation officers are employed to protect wildlife and natural areas.
Political.
On January 20, 2017, a bill was introduced to congress that aimed to roll back regulations on oil and gas drilling in National Parks. The bill would nullify the “General Provisions and Non-Federal Oil and Gas Rights” rule passed in November 2016, and this would remove protections to National Park lands and resources.
On February 28, 2017, Donald Trump signed an executive order to review the Clean Water Rule, a bill he and Scott Pruitt have pledged to eliminate since he took office. The Clean Water rule was enacted in 2015 and extended federal protection to millions of acres of lakes, rivers, and wetlands.
On March 16, 2017, Donald Trump released his preliminary budget proposal for 2018 discretionary spending. These budget proposals featured cuts to both the EPA and the Department of Interior. The 12% decrease for the Department of Interior is removing spending from land acquisition costs associated with the preservation and expansion of National Parks. The budget also completely defunded National Heritage Areas. Funding to National Heritage Areas is used in part to support tribal protection officers and provides grants to underrepresented communities, ones who have already been putting conservation in practice. The proposed budget would cut the staff of the Environmental Protection Agency by 3,200 and reduce their budget by $2.6 billion annually.
Trump's promise to eliminate 2 federal regulations for every new regulation proposed may impact lands set aside for conservation. The repeal of old regulations will put currently conserved land at risk: future perceived threats to conserved lands and resources might not be able to be stopped since the erasure of regulation that sought to combat past threats to conserved lands may be eliminated.
Ryan Zinke, Trump's appointed Secretary of the Interior, moved to reverse federal regulation that prohibits hunters from using lead ammunition in National Parks.
Key figures.
Some of the more notable American conservationists include:


Wang Chau (Sai Kung)

Wang Chau () is an island of Hong Kong. Administratively it is part of Sai Kung District.
Together with Basalt Island and Bluff Island, it forms the Ung Kong Group () and is part of Hong Kong Global Geopark.


Loch Beanie

Loch Beanie also known as Loch Schchernich, is a small shallow freshwater loch that is located in Glen Shee in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
Island.
At the centre of the island, roughly 100 metres from the southern shore is a Crannog that is constructed of boulders and small stones. Less than a third of the surface of the island is visible above water.
A building perhaps once existed on the loch. In a map by Timothy Pont circa 1600, a mansion is depicted on the island, with the annotation: "Loch Sesatut, sumtyms ye dwelling of ye chief man of Glenshy and Strathardle". In a map by Robert Gordon of Straloch circa 1636–1648, the building is noted as "'L. Sesatur old chief dwelling of Glens(hie)". By 1747, all knowledge of the island had been forgotten.


North American Butterfly Association

The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) was created in 1992 by Jeffrey Glassberg who is the association's president. The NABA was formed in order to promote awareness of butterfly conservation and the benefits of butterfly gardening, observation, photography and education.
As with the National Audubon Society and the Christmas Bird Count, the NABA holds annual volunteer butterfly counts in the weeks leading up to or after July 4 in the United States, July 1 in Canada, and September 16 in Mexico. Volunteers scout out a meeting place and map out a 15 mile circle in which they count all the butterflies they see in one day. These counts give clues into the butterfly biodiversity of a particular region.
The North American Butterfly Association also publishes the American Butterflies magazine quarterly. The magazine is currently 48 pages long and includes color photographs and articles on butterfly "hot spots", identification, gardening, photography, book reviews and regular features and columns.


Allen Bathurst, 9th Earl Bathurst

Allen Christopher Bertram Bathurst, 9th Earl Bathurst (born 11 March 1961), known as Lord Apsley till 2011, is a British peer and conservationist.
Life.
Born on 11 March 1961 as the eldest son of Henry Bathurst, 8th Earl Bathurst and Judith Mary Nelson, he lives with his wife Sara at Cirencester Park, the Bathurst family seat. With the death of his father on 16 October 2011, he became the 9th Earl Bathurst, of Bathurst in the County of Sussex (Great Britain, let. pat. 27 Aug 1772), 9th Baron Bathurst, of Battlesden in the County of Bedford (Great Britain, let. pat. 1 Jan 1712), and the 8th Baron Apsley, of Apsley in the County of Sussex (Great Britain, let. pat. 24 Jan 1771).
Bathurst married first Hilary George, 2nd daughter of John F. George on 31 May 1986. They divorced in 1994. With her he has two children, a son and a daughter:
On 5 June 1996, he married secondly Sara Chapman, currently named "The Countess Bathurst", daughter of Christopher and Marguerite Chapman of Ilminster, Somerset.
Career.
Bathurst runs the Bathurst Estate, covering some 15,500 acres of countryside. It includes much of the village of Sapperton and Coates, including Pinbury Park, and lays claim to the principal source of the River Thames. Within the estate is the famous Ivy Lodge polo ground, Cirencester Park Polo Club being founded in 1894, making it the oldest playing ground in the United Kingdom. He also runs Cirencester Park Farms which farms 4,500 acres of arable crops, partially organic, and a herd of Gloucester Cattle.
As a conservationist, he has campaigned to preserve the rural countryside and various historic buildings. Most notably The Earl and Countess, as Lord and Lady Apsley, made headline news when they tried to save a historic building in The Cattle Market in Cirencester, built by the 6th Earl Bathurst for the Mansion's old Kitchen Garden. When they discovered it was to be demolished by the County Council to make way for a Leisure Centre, they threatened to chain themselves to the building to prevent the demolition going ahead. The problem was eventually solved when Bathurst negotiated with the demolition company to buy back the building and it was removed, brick by brick to the family estate.
Bathurst is a President of Cirencester Housing and Marshall of the St Lawrence Hospital Trust. He is also the founding Director of the annual Cotswold Show, held every July on the Bathurst Estate and a Patron of the Cotswolds Museum Trust. He is President of The Cirencester Hospital League of Friends, President of Cirencester Band, President of The Cirencester Male Voice Choir, Steward of The Cirencester Society in London, Patron of The Cirencester Cricket Club, and President of Cirencester Park Polo Club.
Bathurst is involved in the National Farmers Union. He is President of the Gloucestershire Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), past governor of the Royal Agricultural University, past President of the Three Counties Agricultural Society and Director of the Gloucestershire Farming Trust.
Drunk driving.
In February, 1993, when Bathurst was still titled Lord Apsley, he was convicted of drink-driving having been stopped by police on his way to a reception at the Duke of Gloucester Barracks, Cirencester.


Alberobello

Alberobello (; literally "beautiful tree"; Barese: ) is a small town and "comune" of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. It has 10,735 inhabitants and is famous for its unique "trullo" buildings. The "trulli" of Alberobello have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1996.
History.
A first occupation of the area started only in the early sixteenth century on the impulse of the Count of Conversano Andrea Matteo III Acquaviva d'Aragona. He allowed about forty peasant families from Noci to settle here and cultivate the land, with the obligation to give him the tenth of the crops.
In 1635 his successor, Count Giangirolamo II (1600-1665) erected an inn with a tavern and an oratory and started the urbanization of the forest with the construction of few small houses. The expansion of the urban area was helped by the abundance of limestone, karst and calcareous sedimentary, and by the permission of the count to build houses only with dry walls without the use of mortar, which would become the peculiar "trulli". This obligation to have houses built with dry stones was an expedient of the count to avoid paying taxes to the Spanish viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples. The centre of Alberobello was built on the streets of the ancient river Cana, where is now the largo Giuseppe Martelotta.
Alberobello remained a fief of the Acquaviva of Aragon until May 27, 1797, when King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon elevated the small village to the royal city, freeing it from the feudal servitude of the counts. On 22 June 1797, the first mayor Francesco Giuseppe Lippolis was elected.
Alberobello is the only inhabited center with an entire district of trulli. It is therefore considered the cultural capital of the trulli of the Valle d'Itria.
The Trulli of Alberobello.
The history of the "trulli" is linked to the Prammatica De Baronibus, an edict of the 15th-century Kingdom of Naples that subjected every new settlement to a tribute. In 1481 the Counts of Conversano D'Acquaviva D'Aragona from 1481, owners of the territory of Alberobello, then imposed on the residents that they built their dwellings dry, without using mortars, so that they could be configured as precarious buildings and easily demolished.
Having to use only stones, the peasants found in the round form with self-supporting domed roof the simplest configuration. The roofs were embellished with decorative pinnacles representing the signature of the architect ("master ).
International relations.

Alberobello is twinned with:


List of wilderness study areas

This is a list of some of the wilderness study areas (WSA) in the United States as of December 2009. Wilderness study areas are designated lands that meet criteria of the Wilderness Act and are managed as wilderness by their parent agency, pending final determination by Congress.
Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas.
These areas are administered as part of the National Landscape Conservation System managed by the Bureau of Land Management.


Parnitha

Mount Parnitha (, , Katharevousa and "Parnis"/"Parnes"; sometimes Parnetha) is a densely forested mountain range north of Athens, the highest on the peninsula of Attica, with an elevation of 1,413 m, and a summit known as Karavola (Καραβόλα). Much of the mountain is designated a national park, and is a protected habitat for wildfowl, first created in 1961. The summit is located 18 km north of Acharnae and about 30 km north of Athens city centre, while the mountain covers approximately 250 km² of land. Other peaks include Mavrovouni (Μαυροβούνι), Ornio (1,350 m), Area (1,160 m), Avgo or Avgho (1,150 m), and Xerovouni (Ξεροβούνι, meaning "dry mountain": 1,120 m). It also has two shelters Mpafi and Flampouri. The name of the mountain dates back to ancient times, when it was under the ancient demes of Acharnae and Decelea.
Geography.
Towns surrounding the mountain include Aspropyrgos, Fyli, Acharnes, Varymbombi, Thrakomakedones, Dekeleia, Avlona and Agios Stefanos as well as the settlement of Agios Merkourios. The highway GR-1 (E75) surrounds the northern and eastern part of the mountain along with the Cephissus river, while the Attiki Odos motorway (GR-6) runs to its south. The mountain offers panoramic views of the mountains northeast of Parnitha, Penteli to the east, the Ymittos to the southeast, the Aigaleo to the south and another to the west; from its summit, one can also see the Thriasian Plain, the Saronic Gulf including the islands of Salamina, Aigina and the North, the South Euboean Gulfs and island of Euboea, and most of central and northern Greater Athens. The view during clear days can extend to northern Boeotia and the Peloponnese.
Climate.
Parnitha mountain has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate with frequent snowfalls in winter and pleasant temperatures in summer. The mountain is significantly wetter than areas of east and southern Attica.
The mountain was also affected by several major blizzards, including two in 2005 and 2006, stranding cars and closing roads, as well as the cable car.
Ecology.
Forests of Aleppo Pine cover all slopes beneath 1,000 m altitude, and are often threatened by forest fires, such as happened in 2005 and 2007. Above 1,000 m it is covered principally in Greek Fir, grasses and shrubbery, and beneath 300 m mainly farmlands and suburban housing to the east. About 1,000 species of plants can be found on the mountain, including crocus and tulips, and the mountain also provides a native habitat to its red deer ("Cervus elaphus"), which were known in ancient times. After the traumatic fire in 2007 ("see below"), they are even scarcer. Several large mines lie to the northwest, and the ore from them was shipped to a nearby factory in industrial areas.
Historical monuments and places of interest.
Parnitha has several places of archaeological interest. In antiquity, several fortresses had been built on the mountain, for the defense of the peninsula of Attica and more specifically Classical Athens against the Boeotians and others enemies from the north. Today some fortresses are kept in good condition such as the Phyle fortress, at a height of 687 meters in the west of Parnitha. Other notable fortresses are the Panakton, in the area of Dervenochoria and Eleutherae fortress near Mount Cithaeron. Dekeleia was also an important fortress on the site of modern-day former royal palace in Tatoi, and the fort of Limiko was situated deep inside the mountain, just north of its peak.
A notable monument of later periods is the Monastery of Kleiston. It is a Byzantine monastery dated from 13th century. It is mentioned by Pope Innocent IV in 1209 with the name Monastery of Kyras. Southeast of Parnitha, in a dense forest, is Tatoi Palace. It was the palace of the Greek royal family and it was built in 19th century. Today it is abandoned.
Parnitha has also natural monuments. The cave of Panas is on the west slopes of the mountain at a height of 750 meters. It was a worship site in antiquity. Near the cave there is the steep gorge of Gouras and the gorge of Keladonas river. A beautiful site of the mountain is Beletsi Lake, on the east slopes of the mountain, near Afidnes, and it is important place for migratory birds.
Modern facilities.
A casino, the Mont Parnes Casino, is located near the top of the mountain and is served by a suspended cable car. Two shelters are also on Parnitha, the most known of which is Mpafi. A series of trails are found around the mountain as well as forest roads, and also on the mountain is Athens' second transmitter, broadcasting radio and television since the mid-1950s, across the range of television channels from ERT, ANT1, Mega, Alter and more, to satellite, including Super Sport, Seven X and Filmnet, and a multitude of radio including ERA Radio, Klik FM, ANT1 Radio, Ciao FM, Rhythmos, Super Sport FM, Top FM and others. The supporting road connection was paved in the mid-20th century.
2007 wildfire.
Parnitha suffered extensive damage from a wildfire on Thursday, 28 June 2007 around the morning and noon hours, continuing for several days and burning approximately 56 km² of land; one of the worst recorded wildfires in the prefecture after that of Penteli. The magnitude of the devastation was unforeseen. A smaller fire had, however, taken place in the 1960s.
The fire consumed dozens of acres of forest across two prefectures. Firefighters, helicopters, and planes were brought into action across the mountain area and its edges fighting the enormous blaze, which took days to contain. It spread rapidly with the help of intense winds, and intensified into the northwestern edges of Greater Athens, including both Ano Liosia and towns and villages such as Fyli, near Thrakomakedones, Pyli and both Skoura and Schimatari north of the mountain. From Athens, inhabitants could see the mountainside burning throughout the night. In Schimatari in Boeotia, it ruined several acres of forest and businesses. The fire claimed 80% of the rare Greek Fir and Aleppo Pine forest, 150 animals of the red deer population (an endangered species), birds, and other rare animals. The remains of the green firs and pines are scattered around its edges. The smoke from the massive destruction formed a line that traveled east over Attica, southern Euboea, Chios, to the edge of Turkey, approximately 350 km away.
On June 30, the fire was mostly contained and warnings of new fires were reduced, as only a few fires were slowly burning sporadically in separate parts of the mountain. The main blaze was completely put out on July 1. At the edges of the burnt parts, several fires slowly continued to burn in sections after June 30, with a slow expansion.
Scientists estimate that the area's recovery time may be as long as a century. They predict the effect of the loss will only begin to be felt in the coming years; the air may become a little stale and the already known problems of air pollution and smog in Athens may reappear and intensify. Temperatures could also rise and flooding may become a problem for several years. The Ministry of Environment is currently considering a conclusive reforestation program, while many citizens marched on the streets of Athens to express their disapproval of the handling of the situation. More recently, reforestation has been underway, and the government will be receiving tens of thousands of trees to be planted around the mountains, most of them from outside the country, albeit at a small scale thus far.
Investigations are still underway as to the fire's cause. One scenario suggests a transformer belonging to a major power line exploded due to overuse and overheating by the 47C heatwave, some days before the fire. Another holds that this was one of the many arson attacks that have claimed forested land in Greece over recent decades to illegally clear formerly-protected land for expanded real estate.


Chrysi (island)

Chrysi or Chrisi (; also known as Gaidouronisi, ) is an uninhabited Greek island approximately south of Crete close to Ierapetra in the South Cretan Sea. Approximately east of the island is the island of Mikronisi. Administratively these islands fall within the Ierapetra municipality in Lasithi.
It contains a small church and harbour on its northwestern coast, Ekklisia Agios Nikolaos.
Tourism.
It is possible to visit Chrissi by sea from Ierapetra and from Myrtos. There is a nudist beach on the north coast of the island. The highest point on the island is called Kefala ("head") and it is above sea level. On the western part of the island is the chapel of Saint Nicholas (estimated to date to the 13th century). There are also a salt pan, an old port, some Minoan ruins, a lighthouse and a Roman cemetery. Due to the shallow waters around Chrissi, snorkelling and diving is a popular pastime. The Belegrina, Hatzivolakas, and Kataprosopo bays have a wide diversity of shells.
It is possible to reach the island from Ierapetra between middle of May and late October. During the summer months, excursion boats from Ierapetra leave the quay every morning and return in the afternoon.
Environmental protection.
Chrissi is protected as an "area of intense natural beauty". The island has the largest naturally formed "Juniperus macrocarpa" forest in Europe. There is no fresh drinking water on the island. The majority of trees have an average age of 200 years and average height of up to , some of the trees are up to 300 years old and tall. The density is approximately 28 trees per hectare (69.16/acre).
Archaeology.
Archaeologist excavated a Minoan settlement dating to between 1800 and 1500 B.C. At the settlement they also found purple dye workshops and many artifacts.


Balaton Uplands National Park

In 1997 a protected ecological system embracing the adjoining area of the Balaton Uplands (northern shoreland of the Lake Balaton) was established with the connection of the already protected areas which had been separate for a long time. The area of 56 997 hectares of the Balaton-felvidéki National Park mainly consists of these six landscape protection areas. The national park headquartered in Veszprém, in the largest city of the Balaton area.
Tihany Peninsula.
In 1952 the first protected landscape area of Hungary was created in the most attractive, most varied and scientifically best researched area of the country. It covers 1, 562 hectares, of which 195 is highly protected. The staff of the Hungarian Balaton Limnological Research Institute - founded in 1927 in Tihany - not only studied the biology of the lake, but also did extensive research on the peninsula of Tihany. As a result, hundreds of publications have dealt with its geology, fauna and flora. All the research supported the idea of granting protection to this area.
Pécselyi Basin.
The gently sloping hillsides, wide mountaintops and basins, flat highlands with spotted karstic elements (e.g. karren fields) characterize the area. A relict of the basalt volcanic activities in the Quaternary is the Halom Hill at Mencshely.
Káli Basin.
The most characteristic part of the Balaton Uplands was granted protection - perhaps at the last moment - when a protected landscape area in the Káli Basin was established in 1984 on an area of 9,111 hectares.
Tapolca Basin.
For hundreds of years poets, novelists and painters have been calling the Badacsony and its vicinity the most beautiful landscape in Hungary. One of the greatest achievements of the Hungarian nature conservation movement is that the basalt quarries opened here in 1903 have finally been closed down. The famous playwright Ferenc Herczeg made powerful efforts in the Upper House in the 1920s to have them closed. A press campaign was also launched, but the last quarries where only finally closed in 1964. Those on the Gulács and Tóti Hills were abandoned at the end of World War II and in the early 1950s. The Szentgyörgy and Csobánc Hills are more fortunate: their basalt was not found suitable for building purposes, so there are only small wounds on their flanks.
Keszthely Mountains.
The characteristic bedrock of the forested area is dolomite. On this bedrock typical for the Transdanubian Mountains, the flora and fauna are determined by the special ecological conditions.
Kis-Balaton.
The Kis Balaton, as a huge wetland habitat is unique in the whole of Europe, which is why it has always been recorded by international nature conservation. Its wonderful world of birds was already famous in the last century; and has survived despite the draining of the marsh started in 1922. It is therefore not surprising that when Hungary joined the Ramsar Convention in 1979, the Kis Balaton was included in the list of "Wetlands of International Importance as Waterfowl Habitat".


Borjomi Gorge

Borjomi Gorge () is a picturesque canyon of the Kura River in central Georgia. The gorge was formed as a result of the Kura River cutting its path through the Lesser Caucasus Mountains where the Trialeti and Meskheti Ranges meet. A significant portion of the Borjomi Gorge is covered by mixed and coniferous forests made up of oak, maple, beech, spruce, fir, and pine. A large portion of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park lies within the gorge, as well as the towns of Likani and Borjomi itself. Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline cuts through the portion of the gorge.
History.
Older books call it the Borzhom or Borjom Defile. About the time of the Russo-Turkish War (1828–29) it was militarily important since it was the natural route southwest through the mountains from Russian-controlled Georgia to the Turkish Pashalik of Akhaltsikhe. It was guarded by a fort or castle called Atskhur.


Cilento

Cilento is an Italian geographical region of Campania in the central and southern part of the Province of Salerno and an important tourist area of southern Italy.
Cilento is known as one of the centers of Mediterranean diet.
Geography.
The coast of Cilento is located on the Tyrrhenian Sea, stretching from Paestum to the Gulf of Policastro, near the town of Sapri. Most of the touristic destinations in the coast are "frazioni" (hamlets) of "comuni" whose seats are inland; examples include Santa Maria di Castellabate, Acciaroli, Velia, Palinuro, Marina di Camerota, Scario and Policastro Bussentino.
The inner boundaries are the Alburni mountains and Vallo di Diano, sometimes considered as part of Cilentan geographical region, which has in Sala Consilina its largest center. The most important towns in this area are Vallo della Lucania (in the middle), Sapri and Agropoli: this is the largest town of Cilento and the principal harbour. Most of this area is included in "Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park".
History.
Greek colonies.
The region is steeped in Greek mythology and legends, as in the names of some towns, which is also visible in the remains of the colonies of Velia (ancient Elea) and Paestum (ancient Poseidonia). Velia was also the seat of "Eleatics", a school of pre-Socratic philosophers as Parmenides, Zeno of Elea and Melissus of Samos).
Cilento comes by the Latin word "Cis Alentum", meaning "On this side of the Alento".
Sixth province of Campania.
In the 1990s it was proposed to make Cilento a new province of Campania. This proposal has never come near to implementation; in particular there was the difficulty of choosing an administrative centre. The four candidates were Vallo della Lucania (in the most central position), Agropoli (the largest town, situated in the north), Sala Consilina (the most populous town of Vallo di Diano) and Sapri (in the centre of southern Cilento, with the most important railway station). Another more recent proposal was to move Cilento from Campania to Basilicata, as a third province together with the existing provinces of Potenza and Matera.
National Park.
In a great part of the territory of Cilento and Vallo di Diano there was instituted, on 1991, a national park, to better share Italy's best kept secret to the world and to encourage tourism of a high quality. In 1998 the park became a World Heritage Site of UNESCO.
Coast.
The Cilentan Coast, or "Costiera Cilentana" in Italian, is a stretch of coastline situated in the gulfs of Salerno and Policastro, extending in 16 municipalities; from Capaccio-Paestum in the north-west to Sapri in the south-east.
Language.
Cilento was part of ancient Lucania, and its language is influenced by Lucanian. In the north of Cilento the dialect is more influenced by Neapolitan, but in the south it has many similarities with Sicilian.
Cilento DOC.
Italian wine, both red, white and "rose", under the Cilento DOC appellation comes from this area. Grapes destined for DOC product must be harvested to a maximum yield of 12 tonnes/hectare with the finished red wines fermented to a minimum alcohol level of 11.5% and the whites and "roses" fermented to 11%.
Red Cilento wines are a blend of 60-70% Aglianico, 15-20% of Piedirosso and/or Primitivo, 10-20% Barbera and up to 10% of other local red grape varieties. The whites are a blend of 60-65% Fiano, 20-30% Trebbiano, 10-15% of Greco and/or Malvasia bianca with up to 10% of other local white varieties. The "roses" are blends of 70-80% Sangiovese, 10-15% of Piedirosso and/or Primitivo and up to 10% of other local red grape varieties. A separate varietal Aglianico can also be produced under the Cilento DOC provided that at least 85% of the wine is Aglianico with Primitivo and/or Piedirosso permitted to fill in the remainder and that the wine is aged at least one year before it is released.


Kaudulla National Park

Kaudulla National Park is a national park on the island of Sri Lanka located away from the largest city, Colombo. It was designated a national park on April 1, 2002 becoming the 15th such area on the island. In the 2004–2005 season more than 10,000 people visited the National Park, generating an income of Rs.100,000 from entrance fees. Along with Minneriya and Girithale BirdLife International have identified Kaudulla as an Important Bird Area.
Historically Kaudulla was one of the 16 irrigation tanks built by King Mahasen. Following a period of abandonment it was reconstructed in 1959. It now attracts and supports a variety of plant and animal life, including large mammals, fish and reptiles.
Physical features.
The region receives an annual rainfall of including rain from the north-east monsoon. A dry period persists from April to October. Temperature ranges from to . Many plant and grass species grow well during the rainy season whilst an abundance of food and water, even in the dry period, attracts a large number of herbivorous mammals to the park.
Flora.
The vegetation of the park represents Sri Lanka's dry evergreen forests. Chena cultivation and grasslands surround the tank area. The community of phytoplankton in the Kaudulla tank includes blue green algae, "Microcystis spp." and diatoms such as "Melosira spp.". "Manilkara hexandra", "Chloroxylon swietenia" and "Vitex altissima" are the dominant tree species in the forest surrounding the tank. Bushes such as "Randia dumetorum", and "Calotropis gigantea" and grasses such as "Imperata cylindrica", and "Panicum maximum" are abundant in some areas.
Fauna.
The faunal species recorded in the park include 24 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles, 26 species of fish, and 160 species of bird.
In the drought period Sri Lankan elephants move to the Minneriya tank to drink and feed. Around the month of September the elephants move to the Kaudulla tank in search of more water and food. Despite the escalating human-elephant conflict, the number of elephants increased in the dry zone and 211 individuals have been counted in Kaudulla as recently as 2008.
Sri Lankan sambar deer, Sri Lankan axis deer, chevrotain, wild boar, Sri Lankan leopard, and sloth bear are other mammals found in the park. Kaudulla National Park is also one of the sites in which the gray slender loris is reportedly found in Sri Lanka. Following the discovery of a two-month-old albino Sri Lankan axis deer calf abandoned by her mother, it is supposed that Kaudulla is probably the only national park in Sri Lanka to have albino axis deer.
Large water birds such as spot-billed pelican and lesser adjutant visit the Kaudulla tank. Fish species in the tank include the freshwater "Oreochromis mossambicus". "Fejervarya pulla" is an endemic amphibian to Sri Lanka that inhabits the National Park. Freshwater turtles, Indian flap-shelled turtle and Indian black turtle are the noteworthy reptiles.
Conservation.
It is reported that the spread of invasive, alien species such as "Lantana camara" is posing a threat to the wildlife of the park. The Kaudulla-Minneriya jungle corridor linking Kaudulla to Minneriya National Park was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 2004.


Lake Yastrebinoye

Lake Yastrebinoye (, lit. "Hawk Lake"; , lit. "Hawk Lake") is a 2 km long lake in Priozersky District of Leningrad Oblast, close to the border with the Republic of Karelia, in the northernmost part of the Karelian Isthmus, 10 km from the railway station Kuznechnoye. The lake is situated in a depression between steep outcrops of granite rocks of the Baltic Shield, which are a popular climbing area. The lake and its surroundings (including Lake Pestovo) are designated as a protected natural monument of Leningrad Oblast.
In 2006 licenses were issued by Karelian authorities to establish granite quarries in the Republic of Karelia next to the natural monument, which is situated nearby, but in another federal subject. After a public campaign against the project and petitioning by the government of Leningrad Oblast in 2007 the licenses were withdrawn and the 10 km zone along the border in Karelia near the lake was reserved as a protected area.


Cyprus Marine Environment Protection Association

The Cyprus Marine Environment Protection Association was created by the International Shipping Community of Cyprus with the support of the Commercial Community of the island led by Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. It is an autonomous, non-profit organization funded solely by its members.
It was officially registered on 27 August 1992 as a not-for-profit organization limited by guarantee. A Caretaker Board of Directors has guided its Official Launching Ceremony and First Annual General Meeting that took place on Sunday, 3 October 1993.
CYMEPA was largely influenced by its Greek equivalent, HELMEPA.


C. P. Lyons

Chester Peter "Chess" Lyons (1915 – December 20, 1998) was a Canadian outdoorsman and natural historian. The author of several books on the flora and landscape of the Pacific Northwest, Lyons is best known for his popular and widely cited botanical field guides.
Lyons grew up in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and in 1938 became a forestry engineer at a time when the Parks Branch was part of the B.C. Forest Service. Lyons designed many trails, campgrounds and picnic sites for the early provincial parks. In 1940, six months after Wells Gray Provincial Park was created, he was assigned by the Minister of Lands, Arthur Wellesley Gray, to explore and map the area. The park boundaries had been arbitrarily drawn around the drainage basin of the Clearwater River and few people knew what had been included in this huge new park. His four-month expedition produced the first maps of the new Park and he established about a quarter of its current place names, all carefully researched to remember settlers, prospectors, explorers, forest rangers, and other people who had lived and worked in the Clearwater Valley.
After his Wells Gray Park survey, Lyons headed similar exploratory expeditions into Tweedsmuir and Manning Provincial Parks. In the 1950s, Lyons visited Liard River Hot Springs, then known as Theresa Hot Springs, in his homemade caravan and conducted a survey of potential park boundaries. He returned to Victoria and recommended that the Hot Springs be made in to a provincial park; this occurred in 1957. Lyons was also responsible for negotiations with land owners to secure the original Barkerville historic site and he acquired many artifacts that have brought realism to this popular heritage site. He was part of the crew that prepared the historic town for its opening on July 1, 2020. Lyons persuaded the Summerland Agricultural Research Station to part with some federal land along Okanagan Lake which became the popular parks of Sun-Oka Beach, Pyramid, Kickininee, and Soorimpt. British Columbia travellers in the 1960s and 1970s remember the "Garbage Gobblers" at many viewpoints; Lyons designed these concrete green and yellow figures with big white teeth and a sign "Please Feed Me". He also planned the numerous Stop of Interest signs which were 50-word snippets of information along the province's highways.
Starting in the late 1960s, Lyons became a well-known outdoors photographer with frequent appearances on the CBC nature show, "Klahanie". As a film lecturer for the National Audubon Society and the World Around Us travel series, he brought British Columbia to audiences in many North American cities. He wrote several books (see Bibliography) and is probably best known for "Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in British Columbia", plus several other popular field guides on the plants of British Columbia and Washington State. These books have appeared in many revised editions since 1952 and have been used by many outdoors people, tourists, and natural history students and professionals. In his later years, Lyons was an avid bird-watcher and took up landscape painting to depict the essence of ecosystems that were special to him.
Bibliography.
Milestones on the Mighty Fraser (Dent, 1950; Vancouver: Evergreen Press, 1958).
Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in British Columbia, 1952.
Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in Washington, 1956.
Trees, Shrubs and Flowers to Know in Washington and British Columbia, 1995 (with Bill Merilees).
Milestones in Ogopogo Land: In Which the Many Wonders of the Land of Ogopogo and Sunshine Are Revealed. Evergreen Press, 1957.
Milestones on Vancouver Island: the Story of This Island to the West, Its Past and Its Present. Evergreen Press, 1958.
Milestones in Ogopogo Land. Foremost Publishing Co. Ltd., 1970
Okanagan Valley. Heritage House Pub. Co., 1985.
Fraser and Thompson River Canyons (Surrey: Heritage House, 1986).
Wildflowers of Washington, 1997.


Aurelia Harwood

Aurelia Squire Harwood (September 1865 – June 1928), daughter of the wealthy Harwood family of Ontario, California, was a conservationist, educator, and first female President of the Sierra Club in 1927 and 1928. In addition to her terms as President, she simultaneously sat on the Angeles Chapter's Executive Committee, and the club's Board of Directors, from 1921 to 1928.
Harwood had a great love of the outdoors that began during her childhood in Springfield, Missouri, where she moved with her family at an early age. Over the years, she became a member of the Green Mountain Club, the Mazamas, and the Mountaineers. When she settled in her final home of Ontario, California, she joined the Sierra Club, and led local outings there for fourteen years.
Another love of Harwood's was education. She attained a liberal arts undergraduate degree at Drury University, which her father Charles helped endow. Later, she completed graduate studies at Wellesley College. After her father's example, Aurelia too donated to help fund universities, contributing to Pomona College, and scholarships for Chinese students at Mills College.
Harwood died in 1928 and was buried at Bellevue Memorial Park in Ontario, California. The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club named their new lodge after her in 1930. The peak east of Mount San Antonio, Mount Harwood, was also named in her honor, and recognized by the USGS in 1965. Harwood Court at Pomona College, and her namesake scholarship at Mills College, still bear her family name.


Dyer Airport

Dyer Airport is a public use airport located six nautical miles (11 km) southeast of Dyer, in Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States. It is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Facilities and aircraft.
Dyer Airport covers an area of 156 acres (63 ha) at an elevation of 4,899 feet (1,493 m) above mean sea level. It has one runway designated 12/30 with a dirt surface measuring 2,870 by 50 feet (875 x 15 m).
For the 12-month period ending November 30, 2010, the airport had 240 general aviation aircraft operations, an average of 20 per month. At that time there were five aircraft based at this airport, all single-engine.


Benevento

Benevento (, , ; ; Beneventano: "Beneviénte") is a city and "comune" of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the Sabato. In 2020, Benevento has 58,418 inhabitants. It is also the seat of a Catholic archbishop.
Benevento occupies the site of the ancient Beneventum, originally Maleventum or even earlier Maloenton. The meaning of the name of the town is evidenced by its former Latin name, translating as good or fair wind. In the imperial period it was supposed to have been founded by Diomedes after the Trojan War.
Due to its artistic and cultural significance, the Santa Sofia Church in Benevento was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, as part of a group of seven historic buildings inscribed as Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568–774 A.D.).
A patron saint of Benevento is Saint Bartholomew, the Apostle, whose relics are kept there at the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta.
History.
Ancient era.
Benevento, as "Maleventum", was one of the chief cities of Samnium, situated on the Appian Way at a distance of east from Capua on the banks of the river Calor (now Calore). There is some discrepancy as to the people to which it belonged at contact: Pliny the Elder expressly assigns it to the Hirpini; but Livy certainly seems to consider it as belonging to the Samnites proper, as distinguished from the Hirpini; and Ptolemy adopts the same view. All ancient writers concur in representing it as a very ancient city; Gaius Julius Solinus and Stephanus of Byzantium ascribe its foundation to Diomedes; a legend which appears to have been adopted by the inhabitants, who, in the time of Procopius, pretended to exhibit the tusks of the Calydonian Boar in proof of their descent. Sextus Pompeius Festus, on the contrary ("s. v." Ausoniam), related that it was founded by Auson, a son of Ulysses and Circe; a tradition which indicates that it was an ancient Ausonian city, previous to its conquest by the Samnites. But it first appears in history as a Samnite city; and must have already been a place of strength, so that the Romans did not venture to attack it during their first two wars with the Samnites. It appears, however, to have fallen into their hands during the Third Samnite War, though the exact occasion is unknown.
Benevento was certainly in the power of the Romans in 274 BC, when Pyrrhus of Epirus was defeated in a great battle, fought in its immediate neighborhood, by the consul Manius Curius Dentatus. Six years later (268 BC) they further sought to secure its possession by establishing there a Roman colony with Latin rights. It was at this time that it first assumed the name of Beneventum, having previously been called Maleventum, a name which the Romans regarded as of evil augury, and changed into one of a more fortunate signification. It is probable that the Oscan or Samnite name was Maloeis, or Malieis (Μαλιείς in Ancient Greek), whence the form Maleventum would derive, like Agrigentum from Acragas (now Agrigento), Selinuntium from Selinus (the ruins of which are at now Selinunte), etc.
As a Roman colony Beneventum seems to have quickly become a flourishing place; and in the Second Punic War was repeatedly occupied by Roman generals as a post of importance, on account of its proximity to Campania, and its strength as a fortress. In its immediate neighborhood were fought two of the most decisive actions of the war: the Battle of Beneventum, (214 BC), in which the Carthaginian general Hanno was defeated by Tiberius Gracchus; the other in 212 BC, when the camp of Hanno, in which he had accumulated a vast quantity of corn and other stores, was stormed and taken by the Roman consul Quintus Fulvius Flaccus. And though its territory was more than once laid waste by the Carthaginians, it was still one of the eighteen Latin colonies which in 209 BCE were at once able and willing to furnish the required quota of men and money for continuing the war. No mention of it occurs during the Social War, although it seems to have escaped from the calamities which at that time befell so many cities of Samnium; towards the close of the Roman Republic Benevento is described as one of the most opulent and flourishing cities of Italy.
Under the Second Triumvirate its territory was portioned out by the Triumvirs to their veterans, and subsequently a fresh colony was established there by Augustus, who greatly enlarged its domain by the addition of the territory of Caudium (now Montesarchio). A third colony was settled there by Nero, at which time it assumed the title of "Concordia"; hence we find it bearing, in inscriptions of the reign of Septimius Severus, the titles Colonia Julia Augusta Concordia Felix Beneventum. Its importance and flourishing condition under the Roman Empire is sufficiently attested by existing remains and inscriptions; it was at that period unquestionably the chief city of the Hirpini, and probably, next to Capua, the most populous and considerable city of southern Italy. For this prosperity it was doubtless indebted in part to its position on the Via Appia, just at the junction of the two principal arms or branches of that great road, the one called afterwards the Via Traiana, leading thence by Aequum Tuticum (now Ariano Irpino) into Apulia; the other by Aeclanum to Venusia (now Venosa) and Tarentum (now Taranto). Its wealth is also evidenced by the quantity of coins minted by Beneventum. Horace famously notes Beneventum on his journey from Rome to Brundusium (now Brindisi). It was indebted to the same circumstance for the honor of repeated visits from the emperors of Rome, among which those of Nero, Trajan, and Septimus Severus, are particularly recorded.
It was probably for the same reason that the triumphal arch, the Arch of Trajan, was erected there by the senate and people of Rome and constructed by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus in 114. The Arch of Trajan is one of the best-preserved Roman structures in the Campania. It repeats the formula of the Arch of Titus in the Roman Forum, with reliefs of Trajan's life and exploits of his reign. Some of the sculptures are in the British Museum. Successive emperors seem to have bestowed on the city accessions of territory, and erected, or at least given name to, various public buildings. For administrative purposes it was first included, together with the rest of the Hirpini, in the second region of Augustus, but was afterwards annexed to Campania and placed under the control of the consular of that province. Its inhabitants were included in the Stellatine tribe. Beneventum retained its importance down to the close of the Empire, and though during the Gothic wars it was taken by Totila, and its walls razed to the ground, they were restored, as well as its public buildings, shortly after; and P. Diaconus speaks of it as a very wealthy city, and the capital of all the surrounding provinces.
Beneventum indeed seems to have been a place of much literary cultivation; it was the birthplace of Lucius Orbilius Pupillus, who long continued to teach in his native city before he removed to Rome, and was honored with a statue by his fellow-townsmen; while existing inscriptions record similar honors paid to another grammarian, Rutilius Aelianus, as well as to orators and poets, apparently only of local celebrity.
The territory of Beneventum under the Roman Empire was of very considerable extent. Towards the west it included that of "Caudium", with the exception of the town itself; to the north it extended as far as the river Tamarus (now Tammaro), including the village of Pago Veiano, which, as we learn from an inscription, was anciently called "Pagus Veianus"; on the northeast it comprised the town of Aequum Tuticum (now "Saint Eleutherio hamlet", between Ariano Irpino and Castelfranco in Miscano), and on the east and south bordered on the territories of Aeclanum (now Mirabella Eclano) and Abellinum (now Avellino). An inscription has preserved to us the names of several of the pagi or villages dependent upon Beneventum, but their sites cannot be identified.
The city's most ancient coins bear the legend "Malies" or "Maliesa", which have been supposed to belong to the Samnite, or pre-Samnite, Maleventum. Coins with the legend "BENVENTOD" (an old Latin – or Samnite – form for Beneventor-um), must have been struck after it became a Latin colony.
Duchy of Benevento.
Not long after it had been sacked by Totila and its walls razed (545), Benevento became the seat of a powerful Lombard duchy. The circumstances of the creation of duchy of Benevento are disputed. Lombards were present in southern Italy well before the complete conquest of the Po Valley: the duchy would have been founded in 576 by some soldiers led by Zotto, autonomously from the Lombard king.
Zotto's successor was Arechis I (died in 640), from the Duchy of Friuli, who captured Capua and Crotone, sacked the Byzantine Amalfi but was unable to capture Naples. After his reign the Eastern Roman Empire had only Naples, Amalfi, Gaeta, Sorrento, the tip of Calabria and the maritime cities of Apulia left in southern Italy.
In the following decades, Benevento added some territories to the Roman-Byzantine duchy by conquest, but the main enemy was now the northern Lombard Kingdom itself. King Liutprand intervened several times, imposing a candidate of his own to the realm's succession; his successor Ratchis declared the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento to be foreign countries where it was forbidden to travel without royal permission.
With the collapse of the Lombard Kingdom in 773, Duke Arechis II was elevated to Prince under the new Frankish Empire, in compensation for having some of his territory transferred back to the Papal States. Benevento was acclaimed by a chronicler as a "second Pavia"— "Ticinum geminum"— after the Lombard capital was lost. This principality was short-lived: in 851, Salerno broke off under Siconulf and, by the end of that century, Capua was independent as well. Benevento was ruled again by the Byzantines between 891 and 895.
The so-called "Langobardia minor" was unified for the last time by Duke Pandolfo Testa di Ferro, who expanded his extensive control in the Mezzogiorno from his base in Benevento and Capua. Before his death (March 981), he had also gained the title of Duke of Spoleto from Emperor Otto I. However, both Benevento and Salerno rebelled to his son and heir, Pandulf II.
The first decades of the 11th century saw two more German-descended rulers in southern Italy: Henry II, conquered in 1022 both Capua and Benevento, but returned after the failed siege of Troia. Conrad II obtained similar results in 1038. In these years the three states (Benevento, Capua, and Salerno) were often engaged in local wars and disputes that favoured the rise of the Normans from mercenaries to ruler of the whole of Southern Italy. The greatest of them was Robert Guiscard, who captured Benevento in 1053 after the Emperor Henry III had first authorised its conquest in 1047 when Pandulf III and Landulf VI shut the gates to him. These princes were later expelled from the city and then recalled after the pope failed to defend it from Guiscard. The city fell to Normans in 1077. It was a papal city until after 1081.
Papal rule.
Benevento passed to the Papacy peacefully when the emperor Henry III ceded it to Leo IX, in exchange for the pope's consent to the establishment of the Diocese of Bamberg (1053). Landulf II, Archbishop of Benevento, promoted reform, but also allied with the Normans. He was deposed for two years. Benevento was the cornerstone of the Papacy's temporal powers in southern Italy. The Papacy ruled it by appointed rectors, seated in a palace, and the principality continued to be a papal possession until 1806, when Napoleon granted it to his minister Talleyrand with the title of sovereign prince. Talleyrand was never to settle down and actually rule his new principality; in 1815 Benevento was returned to the papacy. It was united with Italy in 1860.
Several popes personally visited Benevento. In 1128 Honorius II tried inviting Roger II of Sicily into the city in order to discuss peace terms, however, Roger refused to enter the city, for he felt unsafe within the city. Thus the two instead met on a bridge near Benevento. Only a year later, the city revolted against the Papal rule and Honorius had to beg Roger for assistance.
In 1130, Anacletus II fled from Rome to the safety of Benevento after hearing that his rival, Innocent II was gaining recognition in the north. When Anacletus created Roger the king of Sicily, he granted Roger the right to conscript the citizens of the city into military service, despite city itself remaining under Papal rule. The declaration was not well received, as the citizens became afraid that the city was about to be annexed into the newly found kingdom. Therefore, when Roger made his move against Robert of Capua and began the civil war, Benevento sided with Robert and ousted Anacletus's supporters from the city.
Manfred of Sicily lost his life in 1266 in battle with Charles of Anjou not far from the town, in the course of the Battle of Benevento.
After the Italian unification.
After the unification of Italy, Benevento was made provincial capital of the new Province of Benevento, comprising territories formerly belonging to the dissolved Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (, Molise, Terra di Lavoro, Capitanata). In the following decades, the town saw considerable expansion and modernization; the local economy became increasingly diversified, with the traditional agricultural sector (especially the cultivation of tobacco and cereals) being joined by growing confectionery, mechanical, liquor, lumber and brickmaking industries.
 During World War II, Benevento's key position in the railway communications between Rome and Apulia resulted in the town being heavily bombed by the Allied air forces in the summer of 1943. These raids caused 2,000 deaths and left 18,000 homeless out of a population of 40,000, and resulted in the destruction of half of the town. The railway and industrial districts were hit the hardest, but the old city centre also suffered heavily; the Cathedral was almost completely destroyed, and its reconstruction was only completed in the 1960s. After being briefly occupied by the Germans in the wake of the Armistice of Cassibile, Benevento was liberated by the Allies on 2 October 1943.
Four years after the war, on 2 October 1949, Benevento was hit hard by a flood of the Calore Irpino.
During the 1950s Benevento was mainly ruled by Monarchist or MSI mayors, and then for three decades (until the 1990s) by the Christian Democracy. Public sector grew considerably during this period, becoming a prime source of employment for many inhabitants of the province; the town also saw increasing demographic expansion, resulting in a somewhat incontrolled building boom. In recent years, several urban renewal projects have been carried out in the old city centre, and Benevento has become the seat of the University of Sannio and several research institutes.
Jewish history.
Epigraphical evidence show that a Jewish community had existed in Benevento since the fifth century at least. At the 10th century, Jewish traveller Ahimaaz ben Paltiel describes in his chronicle the Jewish community of Benevento, among other southern Italy towns. One of his relatives established a Yeshiva in town and a large part of his family ended residing in Benevento. In 1065, prince Landulf IV of Benevento forced a number of Jews to convert to Christianity. He was reproved for doing that by Pope Alexander II. When Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela visited Benevento in 1159 or 1165, he described 200 Jewish families living in it. Being under Papal rule (unlike the rest of southern Italy), the Jewish community of Benevento was not expelled, as most other southern Italy Jewish communities in 1541. Nevertheless, they were expelled from town later on 1569, under Pope Paul IV. In 1617 the Jewish community was given permission to settle back in town, though 13 years later they were expelled once again after being accused of Well poisoning. Since then, there was no organized Jewish community in Benevento. Nevertheless, Jews had lived in Benevento in an unorganized manner during the past centuries, in addition to a few Israeli Jews living in town in recent years, occasionally suffering of Anti-Semitic incidents.
Main sights.
Ancient remains.
The Arch of Trajan
The importance of Benevento in classical times is vouched for by the many remains of antiquity which it possesses, of which the most famous is the triumphal arch erected in honour of Trajan by the senate and people of Rome in 114, with important reliefs relating to its history. Enclosed in the walls, this construction marked the entrance in Benevento of the Via Traiana, the road built by the Spanish emperor to shorten the path from Rome to Brindisi. The reliefs show the civil and military deeds of Trajan. A great part of the arch is decorated with scenes in bas relief: particularly the pillars directed to the town represent scenes of peace and military scenes. The height of the monument is of 15,60 meter, with an arch of 8 meter, a structure composed of limestone rocks and a marble covering. The arch was put during the Middle Age in the fenced area of the town, in order to represent the "Porta Aurea".
Other considerable remains
There are other considerable remains from ancient era:
Many inscriptions and ancient fragments may be seen built into the old houses. In 1903 the foundations of the Temple of Isis were discovered close to the Arch of Trajan, and many fragments of fine sculptures in both the Egyptian and the Greco-Roman style belonging to it were found. They had apparently been used as the foundation of a portion of the city wall, reconstructed in 663 under the fear of an attack by the Byzantine emperor Constans II, the temple having been destroyed by order of the bishop, St Barbatus, to provide the necessary material (A. Meomartini, 0. Marucchi and L. Savignoni in "Notizie degli Scavi", 1904, 107 sqq.).
Santa Sofia.
The church of "Santa Sofia" is a circular Lombard edifice dating to c. 760, now modernized, of small proportions, and is one of the main examples of religious Lombard architecture. The plan consists of a central hexagon with, at each vertex, columns taken from the temple of Isis; these are connected by arches which support the cupola. The inner hexagon is in turn enclosed in a decagonal ring with eight white limestone pillars and two columns next to the entrance. The church has a fine cloister of the 12th century, constructed in part of fragments of earlier buildings. This cloister today is the location of the Museo del Sannio. The church interior was once totally frescoed by Byzantine artists: fragments of these paintings, portraying the "Histories of Christ", can be still seen in the two side apses.
Santa Sofia was almost destroyed by the earthquake of 1688, and rebuilt in Baroque forms by commission of the then cardinal Orsini of Benevento (later Pope Benedict XIII). The original forms were hidden, and were recovered only after the discussed restoration of 1951.
In 2011, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of a group of seven inscribed as Longobards in Italy, Places of Power (568-774 A.D.).
The Cathedral.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, with its arcaded façade and incomplete square campanile (begun in 1279 by the archbishop Romano Capodiferro) dates from the 9th century. It was rebuilt in 1114, the façade inspired by the Pisan Gothic style. Its bronze doors, adorned with bas-reliefs, are notable example of Romanesque art which may belong to the beginning of the 13th century. The interior is in the form of a basilica, the double aisles carried on ancient columns. There are ambones resting on columns supported by lions, and decorated with reliefs and coloured marble mosaic, and a candelabrum of 1311. A marble statue of the apostle San Bartolomeo, by Nicola da Monteforte, is also from the 14th century. The cathedral also contains a statue of St. Giuseppe Moscati, a native of the area. The cathedral was completely destroyed in 1943 because of bombardments: what remained of the cathedral were just the bell tower, the façade and the crypt. Another testimony of the cathedral is the XII century bronze door, the Janua Major, composed of 72 tiles with bas relief, whose fragments were rebuilt after the Second World War.
The current monument, with its modern aspect, was completed in 1965 and restored between 2005 and 2012.
Rocca dei Rettori.
The castle of Benevento, best known as "Rocca dei Rettori" or "Rocca di Manfredi", stands at the highest point of the town, commanding the valley of the rivers Sabato and Calore, and the two main ancient roads Via Appia and Via Traiana. The site had been already used by the Samnites, who had constructed here a set of defensive terraces, and the Romans, with a thermal plant ("Castellum aquae"), whose remains can be still seen in the castle garden. The Benedictines had a monastery there. It received the current name in the Middle Ages, when it became the seat of the Papal governors, the "Rettori".
The castle is in fact made by two distinct edifices: the Torrione ("Big Tower"), which was built by the Lombards starting from 871, and the Palazzo dei Governatori, built by the Popes from 1320.
Territorial subdivisions.
Frazioni, or wards, include: Acquafredda, Cancelleria, Capodimonte, Caprarella, Cardoncielli, Cardoni, Cellarulo, Chiumiento, Ciancelle, Ciofani, Cretazzo, Epitaffio, Francavilla, Gran Potenza, Imperatore, Lammia, Madonna della Salute, Masseria del Ponte, Masseria La Vipera, Mascambruni, Montecalvo, Olivola, Pacevecchia, Pamparuottolo, Pantano, Perrottiello, Piano Cappelle, Pino, Ponte Corvo, Rosetiello, Ripa Zecca, Roseto, Santa Clementina, San Chirico, San Cumano (anc. "Nuceriola"), San Domenico, San Giovanni a Caprara, Sant'Angelo a Piesco, San Vitale, Scafa, Serretelle, Sponsilli, Torre Alfieri, and Vallereccia .
Economy.
The economy of Benvento area is traditionally agricultural. Main products include vine, olives and tobacco. The main industry is that of food processing (sweets and pasta), although textile, mechanics and construction companies are present.
Sports.
The Stadio Ciro Vigorito is a multi-use stadium in Benevento, which is mostly used as the home venue of Serie A side Benevento Calcio.
Transportation.
Benvento is connected to Naples through the modern SS7 Appia state road, and then local roads starting from Arienzo. It is from the Naples-Bari A16 motorway. The SS372 Telesina state road allows reaching the A1 Naples-Rome, leading to the latter in less than three hours.
Benevento railway station, on the Caserta-Foggia railway, has fast connections from Rome to Avellino, Bari and Lecce. Trains to Campobasso have been mostly replaced by bus services. The connection to Naples is ensured by three stations on the MetroCampania NordEst inter-urban metro line.
Airports.
The nearest airports are:


Classical Weimar (World Heritage Site)

Classical Weimar (German: "Klassisches Weimar") is a UNESCO World Heritage site consisting of 11 sites related to Weimar Classicism located in and around the city of Weimar, Germany. The site was inscribed on 2 December 1998. The properties are all related to Weimar as a centre of the Enlightenment during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. A number of notable writers and philosophers lived there.


Wildlife Protection Areas in Japan

 in Japan are established by the Ministry of the Environment and, for areas of more local importance, by the Prefectural Governments in order "to protect and promote the reproduction of birds and mammals" in accordance with the 2002 (superseding the amended 1918 Law). The areas established have a maximum duration of twenty years (subject to renewal) and hunting is prohibited within them. are designated within the Wildlife Protection Areas in order to protect habitats and ecosystems.
Classification of wildlife.
The wildlife of Japan is classified either as game species or protected species. The former includes thirty species of bird and seventeen of mammal that are considered (1) able to withstand hunting (2) harmful to agriculture and forestry (3) useful for meat or other derivatives. These species include the brown bear, black bear, Japanese deer, Japanese hare, Japanese quail, and Japanese pheasant. Over six hundred species are protected. Insectivorous mammals and rats are excluded from protection since they are considered harmful to agriculture; some marine mammals fall under the alternative jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. While the number of animals hunted is falling with the decline in the number of hunters, the number of birds and mammals "controlled" is rising in relation to damage to crops.
Established Wildlife Protection Areas.
As of 1 November 2019, eighty-six Wildlife Protection Areas have been established at a national level, covering an area of , including of Special Protection Areas. As of the same date, 3,639 Wildlife Protection Areas have been established at a prefectural level, covering an area of , including of prefectural Special Protectional Areas. The eighty-six nationally designated areas, divided into the four classes of , , , and , are as follows:
Complementary measures.
Wildlife Protection Areas are just one element in a network of complementary protected area systems. Others include Wilderness Areas and Nature Conservation Areas under the Nature Conservation Law; Natural Parks under the Natural Parks Law; Natural Habitat Conservation Areas under the Law for the Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; Natural Monuments and Special Natural Monuments under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties 1950; Protected Forests under the National Forest Management Bylaw; and Protected Waters under the Preservation of Fisheries Resources Law. Areas are also protected in accordance with three international programmes: the World Heritage Convention (see Yakushima, Shirakami-Sanchi, Shiretoko, and Ogasawara Islands); Man and the Biosphere Programme (see Yakushima, Mount Ōmine/Mount Ōdaigahara, Hakusan, and Shiga Kōgen); and the Ramsar Convention (see Ramsar Sites in Japan).


National parks of Rwanda

The national parks of Rwanda are protected ecosystems and wildlife reserves located within the borders of Rwanda in east central Africa. In 2020, these protected natural zones include the Volcanoes National Park, Akagera National Park and Nyungwe Forest. Maintenance of the national park system, as well as tourism infrastructure and promotion of the parks, is managed by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) with assistance from government ministries.
Each park protects a distinct ecosystem and variety of species. Bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, into which the Virungas volcanic mountain chain extends, Volcanoes National Park is the most heavily patrolled park in the world and the oldest in Africa. In combination with adjoining parks in the neighboring countries, it serves as the world's only habitat of the mountain gorillas, whose numbers have been increasing here over the past decade. Visitor numbers to the gorillas are strictly limited and passes must be purchased, often well in advance, from RDB. Golden monkeys also inhabit a separate portion of the park.
To the southeast along the Burundian border, Nyungwe National Park hosts many chimpanzees and various other primate species in a highland rainforest environment.
The eastern border of Rwanda, along Lake Victoria and Tanzania, is the location of Akagera National Park and protects a variety of African fauna in a savannah ecosystem, including giraffes, elephant, buffalo, baboons, gazelles and zebra. Lions also inhabited the park, but were exterminated by poisoning during and after the Rwandan genocide. However, in 2015, seven lions were reintroduced to Akagera, and the population has since increased to almost 40 individuals.


Christoffelpark

Christoffelpark is a national park, protected nature area and tourist attraction at the north-western end of the island of Curaçao surrounding Christoffelberg (Mt Christoffel).
Notable for its flora, fauna, culture and history, the park includes three former plantations, Plantage Savonet, Plantage Zorgvlied and Plantage Zevenbergen, a mine complex, Newton, and the island's highest point, Christoffelberg ().
The park covers 1,860 hectares of which 1,040 hectares are nature reserve, and has been part of Curaçao's national park system since 1978. It forms part of the North-east Curaçao parks and coast Important Bird Area.
 the park is run by the Carmabi Foundation (Caribbean Research and Management of Biodiversity Foundation) and can be explored by visitors by car, bike, horse or on foot.
History.
Plantation Savonet in Christoffelpark is one of the earliest plantations to be founded on Curaçao. the irrigation system is still reasonably intact. Attempts were made to cultivate aloe, indigofera, sorghum, corn, cotton, and beans. Cows, sheep, goats and poultry were also farmed on the plantation.
The plantation houses of Savonet and Zorgvlied (situated at the mountain side of the park) were built on the island in the eighteenth century. Of Zorgvlied only ruins remain. About west of Zorgvlied ruins is the house of the 'bomba', the slave in charge of other slaves, and a 'slave-pole'.
Roads in the park were bitumised in 2004.
Flora and fauna.
Chistoffelpark has more biodiversity than elsewhere on the island. Flora present in the park includes three pillar cacti species (datu, kadushi, and kadushi di pushi), divi-divi trees and exotic flowers. Cacti in the park reach up to ten feet high, and several extremely rare orchids, such as the lady of the night and Humboldt's schomburgkia, can be found blooming on them. Plant species occurring only in Christoffelpark include "Myrcia curassavica", endemic to Curaçao, and "Maytenus versluysii", endemic to Curaçao and Bonaire.
Fauna notable in the park includes mammals like the white-tailed deer, the cottontail, and several species of bats, birds like the rare white-tailed hawk, an endemic subspecies of barn owl ("Tyto alba bargei"), hummingbirds like the common emerald and the crimson topaz, and the endemic yellow oriole. Reptiles and insects are also well represented.
Tourism.
 Christoffelpark is open to visitors Monday to Sunday from 6am to 3pm, with no admittance after 1.30 pm. Commencement of climbing Mount Cristoffel is not allowed after 10am.
There are eight hiking trails in the park, of which the Christoffel Mountain climb is the most challenging. Visitors are advised to attempt this climb early in the morning. There are four sealed road routes through the park. Organised park tours include a deer-spotting sunset tour, a pick-up safari, and the "Savonet history" tour.
The Savonet Museum is located in the plantation house near the entrance to Christoffelpark, and recounts the history of the Savonet plantation and its owners and slaves.


Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary

Monkeyland is a roaming multi species primate sanctuary, located in The Crags near Plettenberg Bay in Western Cape, South Africa. The sanctuary comprises over of indigenous forest, with a protected greenbelt of .
Monkeyland is one of the three Sanctuaries under The South African Animal Sanctuary Alliance (SAASA). As a member of SAASA Monkeyland was honoured with four major Tourism awards in 2014. The four awards are namely the Lilizela Tourism Visitor Experience of the Year Award at a 'Wildlife Encounters', the Skål International Sustainable Tourism Award, Overall winner of the World Responsible Tourism Award as well as the Gold Award in World Responsible Tourism in the category of 'Best Animal Welfare Initiative'
Facilities.
The sanctuary comprises over of indigenous forest, with a protected greenbelt of . Primates move freely in the sanctuary and able to enjoy a life as close to natural as possible for a captive held wild animal
Tourist can visit the Sanctuary and enjoy a walk of about on forest walkways, with a professional safari guide.
Animals.
Monkeyland opened its doors to the public on 6 April 1998. Monkeyland Primate Sanctuary houses primates of 11 types of species that have been previously kept in cages, zoos, as pets or in laboratories and have now been re-acclimated to a larger and free moving environment.
In 2014 the sanctuary was home to about 550+ Primates representing 11 species.