Hi everyone,
Today we wanted to talk about Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a writer, and
conservationist who lived from 1890 to 1998. To find out more about other
inspirational environmentalists, we already have posted about Dara McAnulty, Wangari Maathai, Sir David Attenborough, Maria Sibylla Merian, Rachel Carson, and Jane Goodall.
As stated above, Marjory was born in 1890, in Minneapolis, USA. In her
childhood, she was a passionate reader, which lead her to study English at
University and to become a journalist for a newspaper her father ran. Through
this job, Marjory was able to spread awareness about issues she cared about:
politics, civil rights, the suffrage movement, and of course, environment
conservation.
In the early 1940s, Marjory became interested in the Everglades in South
Florida. At this time, very little was known about them, so she spent five
years researching their history and ecology. The book she wrote about the
Everglades, 'The Everglades: River of Grass, sold out of its first edition
within a month of its being published in 1947.
Her research led Marjory to realise that the Everglades were essential for
Florida's main water supply and that if nothing was done, then they would soon
disappear. She worked for years alongside the Everglades Tropical National
Park Committee, run by Ernest F. Coe, and famously declared that 'Conservation
is now a dead word... you can't conserve what you haven't got.'
Marjory spent the last decades of her life attending conferences and meetings
to fight for the Everglades, up until her death at the grand age of 108 in
1998. Behind her, she left a legacy of over 100 published short stories and
articles, and the Everglades National Park, which quite probably wouldn't be
here if it wasn't for Marjory.
Your Green World Blog Team💚
Image:
Everglades National Park: This image, owned by
Matthew Paulson (on flickr.com),
is licensed under
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
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