The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1914. PROTECTING NATURE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 44, 21 February 1914, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 1914. PROTECTING NATURE.

An international scheme for the protection of Nature was the underlying idea of the remarkable , international congress which was held at Berne in Switzerland recently. That men should want to take Nature under their protection instead of themselves seeking her protection is a good measure of progress, hut at the same time a proof of the lamentable barbarity which accompanies the growth of our powers. Remarking on this gathering and giving some interesting particulars thereof a special writer in a leading Home journal says:— As Professor Paul Sarasin, of Hale, remarked at the eighth International Congress of Zoology, held at Graz in 1910, geographical exploration of the earth—a task which in its broad outlines is now complete—has been accompanied by a ruthless exploitation ot her riches and her creatures and by a disturbance of the settled relations among the animals and between ' the animals and ourselves for the sake d cupidity and vanity. Everywhere ! Nature is being impoverished and robbed ot its vegetative and animal i life, and neither the Polar regions nor the depths of the oceans are safe irom human rapacity and human bru-' tality. Accordingly the Graz Con-! gross appointed a provisional commit-j u> " to discuss matters, and decided to approach the Swiss Federal Conn- 1

• : cii with the request that it sliouk |usk the various Governments to ap jpoint a provisional committee to disCuss ways and means to stop the tnrjlher spoliation and desecration of tlm Hora and fauna of the earth. Switzerland was, indeed, the eoimirv most suited for taking the initiative. As the playground of Europe, possessing on a restricted area great natural beauty, she has ever been exposed to a most ruthless process

ol spoliation at tin l hands of scientists, tourists, and natives. Most of the cantons have at last adopted regulations lor tile protection of their t!or:l - :| nd a reserve, after the manner of the .National Yellowstone Parkin America, lias been established in the wildest and most beautiful part ol the (Irisous, in the Cluozza Valley, for the purpose not merely of pi e-1 sen dug the Alpine Hora and maintaining a corner of .Nature intact, but also ol serving as a refuge to the fastdisappearing Swiss bears, wild goats, chamois, m on keys, eagles, and of her •specimens ol Alpine fauna. The j Swi-.s Government is negotiating now

with the Italian Government for the establishment of a similar reserve on, the Dalian side oi the frontier so as to keep off the poachers. the International Congress which met at the invitation of the- Swiss Federal Council was a success. its labors exiended over twelve days, and resulted in the appointment ot ;» permanent International Commission which willj meet every three mouths at Bale: at the oliices of its secretariat, tin-, dr-r tiie presidency of Al. Sarasin; and; will deliberate upon various proton- 1 live measures to lie submitted to their j respective Government for legislation, j It will also publish an international bnl.j letin giving account of its labors and j the progress of the work accomplished in various countries in furtherance of the objects of the organisation, and will call together periodically now congresses. Its duty will also he to carry on a propaganda among the public on questions relating to the protection of Nature. Among the measures already mentioned at the Berne Congress are to he found the delimitation of the seas beyond the usual three-mile limit of the territorial waters for the purpose of protacting the sea flora and fauna, the organisation of protection of the vegetation and animals in tropical coniines—especially those specimens which are rapidly succumbing to the barbarities of ladies’ fashions, —and the preservation from destruction of aboriginal tribes in Africa and Australasia.