Enduring Voices

Some 7,000 distinct languages are spoken in the world today, but by 2100 more than half may go extinct. More than words are lost when languages die; millennia of human knowledge and history become irretrievable as these languages vanish. This year marked the launch of National Geographic’s Enduring Voices Project, a five-year worldwide effort to study these disappearing tongues, document the knowledge encoded in them, and help indigenous communities revitalize their endangered languages.

The project has identified “language hotspots,” areas of greatest language endangerment and diversity. On an expedition to Australia, the Enduring Voices team interviewed a man who may be the last speaker of Amurdag, a language previously reported extinct. In Bolivia, the team delved into the mystery of the “secret” language of the Kallawaya herbalists—traditional healers to the Inca—who have preserved their coded language of medicinal plants for more than 400 years.

The Enduring Voices Project is a partnership between National Geographic Mission Programs and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages. The project team includes linguists Dr. Gregory Anderson and Dr. K. David Harrison of the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis, and National Geographic Fellow Chris Rainier.

Discover the language hotspots map at nationalgeographic.org/enduringvoices.

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Surveying Pristine Seas

“People started researching marine ecosystems long after they were damaged…To know what marine systems are truly capable of, we must look at the few pristine places that remain.” —Enric Sala

Growing up on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, Enric Sala was entranced by the sea from an early age. It was his passion for oceans that led Enric to pursue an education and career to understand and find ways to alleviate human impacts on oceans, such as overfishing, pollution, and coastal development. Today Sala works on practical solutions to study and improve the health of our oceans by analyzing the few “pristine” places that remain.

In August 2007 Sala traveled with his 11-person team to Kingman Reef, one of the central Pacific’s most unspoiled coral reef atoll ecosystems and part of the remote archipelago of the northern Line Islands. The team conducted more than 450 dives, surveyed 15 sites on the fore and back reefs, counted more than 50,000 fishes, and collected data on 250 species of reef fishes and 180 species of corals. “This is the most meaningful baseline we have on central Pacific atolls,” said Sala.

Data from this trip and an expedition to the southern Line Islands in 2008 will continue efforts to determine what the minimum size for any marine reserve protecting a coral reef must be to maximize biodiversity and recover from global threats.

Follow Sala’s project at nationalgeographic.org/pristineseas.

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2007 Emerging Explorers

”If no one asks questions, nothing changes.” —David de Rothschild, 2007 Emerging Explorer

A musical explorer, a former Sudanese “lost boy,” and a Congolese environmental hero are part of the makeup of the 2007 class of National Geographic Emerging Explorers. “The Emerging Explorers Program identifies and honors outstanding adventurers who are setting out on promising careers. They represent tomorrow’s Edmund Hillarys, Jacques Cousteaus, and Dian Fosseys,” said Executive Vice President, Mission Programs, Terry Garcia.

The eight young, visionary trailblazers in the 2007 class include humanitarian and former Sudanese refugee John Bul Dau, of Syracuse, N.Y.; environmental crusader and polar adventurer David de Rothschild, of London; conservation scientist Luke Dollar, of Concord, N.C.; tropical botanist Corneille Ewango, of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; primatologist and conservationist Mireya Mayor, of Miami; musical explorer and filmmaker Joshua Ponte, of London; Spanish marine ecologist and conservation biologist Enric Sala, of San Diego; and filmmaker and globalist Roshini Thinakaran, of Washington, D.C., and formerly of Sri Lanka.

National Geographic Emerging Explorers may be selected from virtually any field, from the Society’s traditional arenas of anthropology, archaeology, photography, space exploration, sociology, earth sciences, geology, mountaineering, cartography, education, and history to the worlds of art, music, and filmmaking. The Emerging Explorers are already contributing to their areas of expertise in significant ways and each receives an award of $10,000 to assist with research and to aid further exploration.

Meet the 2007 class at nationalgeographic.org/emerging.

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Fostering a New Generation of Scientists and Explorers

At just 21 years old, using only skis and kites, Sarah McNair-Landry set out to traverse, from north to south, the barren 2,300-kilometer Greenland Ice Cap to inspire youth to pursue their dreams and consider the causes and consequences of global climate change. Sarah is one of National Geographic’s Young Explorers grantees.

Without a track record, it is often difficult for young people to secure the necessary funding to pursue field science and exploration. The Young Explorers Grants Program gives many budding researchers, explorers, and conservationists their first experiences in the field.

With generous support from Lindblad Expedi­tions and the Brinson Foundation, the Young Explorers Grants Program awards approximately 50 seed grants each year to researchers aged 18-25 through National Geographic’s existing grantmaking bodies, the Committee for Research and Exploration, the Conservation Trust, and the Expeditions Council. Like Sarah, these talented young people are undertaking inspiring work in the world of expeditions, conservation, and the sciences—and changing the face of exploration.

Learn about the program and how to apply for a grant at nationalgeographic.org/young-explorers.

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Through the Students’ Lens With Photo Camp

In 2007 National Geographic sponsored Photo Camps in ten locations, focusing on refugees and immigration. Photo Camp staff worked with youth in Oaxaca, Mexico; San Francisco; New York; Houston; Portland, Maine; New Orleans; Erie, PA; Baltimore; Camden, ME; and Miami. In each domestic location, young photographers documented their lives as either refugees or immigrants now living in the United States. Students included refugees from Somalia, Iraq, Liberia, and Sudan. In Oaxaca, Photo Camp worked with young people whose parents had immigrated to the U.S. Faculty photographers and editors included Ed Kashi, David Burnett, Kurt Mutchler, and Sam Abell.

Photo Camp’s mission is to challenge young people to explore their world by seeing their communities through the lens of a camera. The camps provide life-changing opportunities for youth to develop skills in photojournalism by working with photographers and editors from National Geographic magazine, and to explore their environment and share their vision through public exhibitions.

View more featured photos at nationalgeographic.org/photocamp.

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Genographic Supports Community Projects

Information we carry in our DNA is helping the Genographic Project’s research team map human­kind’s earliest migrations. Using DNA as a study tool, the Genographic Project Participation Kit offers the public the chance to learn about their own ancient ancestry, contribute to a real-time scientific effort, and support indigenous peoples’ cultural and language revitalization projects through the Genographic Legacy Fund (GLF).

The GLF awards grants for community-led projects around the world that revitalize indigenous languages and traditional cultures.

One grant helped 64 Alaskan Tribes and Canadian First Nations undertake a 1,500-mile Healing Journey to protect a way of life. The journey provided an opportunity for elders to share traditional knowledge with younger members of the tribes and to address the ecological threats facing their communities.

Funded by proceeds from sales of the Genographic Project Participation Kits, the GLF in 2007 awarded 20 grants totaling more than $800,000 for community projects around the globe.

Learn more about the project at nationalgeographic.org/genographic.

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