None Nature Conservancy News Room Press Releases Search All Press Releases Karen Foerstel 703-841-3932 kfoerstel@tnc.org

Statement from Nature Conservancy President Steve McCormick on the Tsunami Disaster and Relief Efforts

The world has begun the New Year facing the ravages of one of the most severe natural disasters in history. Our hearts go out to those who have survived unimaginable loss and displacement.

We are fortunate that Conservancy staff in the region and our project areas were spared the impacts from the tsunami. Staff in Jakarta and at our Southeast Asia Center for Marine Protected Areas in Bali have mobilized to support relief efforts in hardest-hit Sumatra and elsewhere.

Those wishing to directly support those local efforts may do so by contacting the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), an international non-profit humanitarian organization that is providing relief to the victims of the tsunami. Many other organizations around the world are collecting funds for the relief efforts (see links below).

While current world attention is rightfully focused on the immediate human toll of this tragedy, the ecological damage has yet to be assessed, but we know it is tremendous. Whole islands have been lost or relocated. Protective mangrove forests have been leveled. And there are already reports of coral reefs suffocating beneath mud and debris carried by the tsunamis’ retreat. Environmental recovery likely will take decades.

But it is this environmental recovery that will be critical to local communities that are dependent on fisheries for sustenance and livelihoods. After the immediate crisis subsides, the people of the region will need ongoing aid to help restore the natural systems they absolutely depend upon. As best we can, we will monitor the impacts to the land and water environments affected by this event, and determine what can be done to restore these unique natural resources. Catastrophes like this remind us that we are a global community, that the better virtues of humanity endure, and that earth abides.

For more information:

• In The News: Nature Bounces Back on Sri Lanka's Coast
  NPR Morning Edition, February 24, 2005
  In a two-part series of reports for the NPR/National Geographic co-production Radio Expeditions, Elizabeth Arnold journeys to the island nation of Sri Lanka with one of the first teams to assess the environmental aftermath.
• Press Release: First Environmental Survey of Tsunami Damage Shows Sri Lankan Coasts and Forests Hurt but Rebounding
  The tsunami has left Sri Lanka's marine areas dangerously clogged with debris that could cause long-term damage to coral reefs and marine species, but scientists say there are many signs of hope: trees are regenerating, wildlife is returning to damaged areas, and coral reefs are largely intact.
• Feature: A Personal Journey: An Assessment of Tsunami Damage in Sri Lanka
  Join Sanjayan, a lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy, as he journeys to his homeland of Sri Lanka as part of an international team of scientists conducting the first survey of environmental damage caused by the tsunami.
• Relief Organizations Working in the Disaster Area
  A list of non-governmental organizations working throughout the disaster area from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
• Aid Groups Accepting Donations for Victims
  A list of ways to donate from CNN.
• The Nature Conservancy in Indonesia
  We have worked in partnership with the people of Indonesia for more than ten years. Our hearts go out to them.