A Letter from the Chairman
Two weeks ago, I spent the morning listening to the children sing in the new school Seacology built in Falealupo village. The villagers shared a sense of pride as we hammered on the new aluminum sign that reads "Falealupo Rain Forest School." After attaching the sign, I walked behind the school to the site of the new aerial canopy walkway where Stephanie Hughes, pretty, petite, and three months pregnant, coached me during the arduous ascent up fixed ropes to the top of a towering banyan tree. I was chagrined to see that she climbed the ropes in about a third of the time it took me to ascend. I then repelled down to the level where her husband, Kevin Jordan, sat tightening a stainless steel cable strung from the top of a magaui tree twenty meters distant. Clipping a carabineer from my climbing harness to a piece of nylon webbing attached to the tree, I considered a trailing vine, Hoya samoensis, that clings to the banyan high above the forest floor. Inspecting the flowers with a hand lens I wondered if the vine represents mafu'a, the medicinal plant Samoan healer Pela described to Dr. Kimberly Johnson and me the day before as a possible treatment for herpes virus.
As a research platform, the new canopy walkway gives us an unparalleled opportunity to study a world that is completely new to biologists- the rain forest canopy. But there are far more important reasons to build the walkway.
I looked across at two Samoans whom Arbornaut Access trained to climb and to assist in the construction. The pride in their workmanship was evident, and they will continue to maintain and man the walkway for many years. I then gazed down at other villagers far below on the forest floor who waved up at me. The villagers are thrilled with the walkway, which they see as way of garnering precious ecotourism dollars to aid in rain forest preservation and village development.
In many ways the aerial walkway symbolizes the philosophy of Seacology, as Seacology is about offering alternatives-alternatives to indigenous people who daily have to choose between their rain forests and their children, alternatives to scientists who would rather trust indigenous wisdom rather than impose their own will on small villages, and alternatives to donors who like to see their funds producing tangible, lasting results without administrative costs or overhead. Because of our friends in the business community, 100% of all funds donated to Seacology go directly to projects, without any donated funds used for salaries, telephone expenses, postage, or other administrative costs. And since Seacology builds public works in return for conservation covenants, each donated dollar does double duty: your dollar may help fund a needed school, medical clinic, or water supply, which will then facilitate the preservation of precious habitats. Our hope at Seacology is to save the world, one village at a time. Because of your generosity, precious habitats and indigenous cultures have been protected in places as disparate as Samoa, Tonga, and Haiti. On behalf of the villagers in Falealupo and Tafua who still have their rain forests standing because of your kindness, and on behalf of villagers in La Serre, Haiti, who tell us that because of a Seacology-funded well, their children for the first time have clean water and are free of disease, I thank you. Thank you for everything you have done. We can't solve all of the problems in the world, but at Seacology we plan to tackle a few, and because of your generosity, those few we have chosen seem to be reaching solutions. Thank you for your kindness and willingness to help.
Nafanua Paul Alan Cox, Ph.D.
Chairman
