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Greenwash
Don't paint the truth green
The following
advertisement appeared on page 1 of National Geographic, December 2009:
The Emirates Center for
Wildlife Propagation
Helping local
development through the sustainable management of species
The Emirates Center for
Wildlife Propagation (ECWP) in Missour, Morocco, was the brainchild of Sheikh
Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, late President of United Arab Emirates. A passionate
conservationist, he founded the center in 1995 as part of a pioneering,
visionary initiative to save and sustain the houbara bustard and preserve Arabic
cultural heritage. In 2006, his strategy was secured by the Abu Dhabi Government
when it created the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC), an
umbrella organization for ECWP and other houbara conservation projects.
Mission
ECWP's founding mission was to restore and conserve North Africa's native
houbara bustard populations through:
- A
conservation breeding program
- The
restoration of natural houbara populations by releasing captive-bred birds and
acting to protect the species in its natural habitat
- Sound
ecological research to advance knowledge of the houbara
- Action to
support local development and improve environmental education
Main
achievements
- Over 44,000
houbara bred in captivity – from 165 in 1997 to 16,624 in 2009.
- Over 30,000
houbara released into the wild in Morocco.
- Large scale
ecological studies – 40,000 km², 1,500 radio-tagged birds – enabling the
design of effective in-situ conservation actions.
- Hundreds of
jobs created and local infrastructure upgraded by investment projects. The
Promise of Sustainable Development.
The Promise
of sustainable development
The ECWP is a genuinely
integrated project that aids local development by the sustainable management of
a natural resource – the houbara bustard.
The IFHC goal today is to promote ECWP's experience so that everywhere houbara
and other wildlife species benefit. The practices of sustainable development can
be harnessed for the good of fauna and flora – worldwide. Wild animal and plant
species contribute to economic diversification and the balance of nature. And
the sustainable management of species, unlike conventional farming and industry,
respects ecosystems and biodiversity. ECWP – a successful example of that.
www.ecwp.org
What is your impression of the ECWP? This promotional piece failed to have the
intended effect on me. In fact, the opposite.
The title and subtitle sing the politically correct words: a wildlife center,
local development, sustainable management. But critical questions arise. What
type of wildlife propagation and management of species are we talking about
here? Wild animals have always managed to reproduce magnificently without human
intervention. What sort of local development does the wildlife propagation
support? This seems to imply the exploitation of some species for a business
purpose. One wonders what the real story is here. The general words wildlife
and species make one wonder what animals we are talking about. The text
tells immediately:
Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, a passionate
conservationist, founded the center in 1995 as part of a pioneering,
visionary initiative to save and sustain the houbara bustard and preserve Arabic
cultural heritage.
So the center was built to save the houbara bustard, and – here it doesn't
say to promote local development – but rather to preserve Arabic
cultural heritage. Perhaps both are relevant, but why the shifting? Why did
Sheikh Zayed consider the houbara bustard so important, and how does this bird
relate to Arabic cultural heritage? The ad doesn't tell us, but if you do a bit
of research you will soon find out. Sheikh Zayed, a passionate falconer, founded
the center to hatch houbara bustards as falcon quarry, thereby preserving a
favorite hobby of rich Arabs. Without such hatcheries, the houbara bustard would
now be virtually extinct in Africa, wiped out by poachers and falconers, and
falconing would be all but finished.
This seems to be the true story behind the center, but the ad never states these
relevant facts. It does say the following (fourth bullet point):
ECWP's founding mission was to restore and conserve North Africa's native
houbara bustard populations through … action to support local development …
The subtitle of the ad says that the hatchery is intended to stimulate local
development, but here it's the other way around – the infrastructure is required
for the hatchery. In the effort to flaunt the buzzwords jobs,
development, upgraded infrastructure, and investment projects,
they forgot which comes first, the hatchery or the egg. Consistency and clarity
suffer when one denies the true mission.
The final paragraph is introduced by a gallant subhead:
The promise of sustainable development
This prepares the reader for a string of sweeping global statements –
claims and generalizations that include all the right keywords in a barrage of
business-speak.
The ECWP is a genuinely integrated project that aids local development by the
sustainable management of a natural resource – the houbara bustard.
First off, is the ECWP a project or an organization? What is it genuinely
integrated into? As a money pit that generates zero income, is it genuinely
integrated into the economy? Since when is a bird a natural resource? A
passionate conservationist might call a bird a natural treasure or a
national symbol, but never a resource.
The IFHC goal today is to promote ECWP's experience so that everywhere
houbara and other wildlife species benefit.
We now reach a majestic scale. The houbara, a desert bird, will flourish
everywhere! And not only houbara, but also other wildlife species. These
unidentified species are never named, but we know that it can be none other than
falcons.
The practices of sustainable development can be harnessed for the good of
fauna and flora – worldwide.
Yes, let's harness those practices! To help animals and plants around the
world!
Wild animal and plant species contribute to economic diversification and the
balance of nature.
Let's take these thoughts one at a time. First: Wild animal and plant
species contribute to economic diversification. No explanation is offered
for this mysterious economic theory. Wild animal and plant species contribute
to the balance of nature. Now we seem to be back to reality – and banality.
And the sustainable management of species, unlike conventional farming and
industry, respects ecosystems and biodiversity. ECWP – a successful example of
that.
Here it is claimed that the hatchery respects ecosystems and biodiversity
and that it is a successful example of sustainable management of species, unlike
conventional farming and industry. Is holding houbara in cages and hatching
thousands of young a good example of respecting ecosystems and biodiversity? Is
it even a poor example? How is it unlike conventional farming? The only
difference is that the birds are set the free as falcon quarry instead of being
butchered and sold.
This ad is intended to build awareness, image, and credibility for ECWP and
IFHC. As a good example of greenwash, it fails miserably. The words and claims
are vague, essential facts are missing, the true story is covered up, thoughts
are garbled, logic is inconsistent, statements are exaggerated, and the summary
is a string of laughable statements.
Unfortunately, the greenwash taints the obvious merits of the project. Telling
the true story and relating the facts in their proper connection would have
served the purpose much better. Honesty builds credibility.
English tips were published monthly here from 2003 through 2008. Tips are now
published sporadically. If you have a question or a difficult sentence, send it to
me and I will explain the matter in a new piece. See the
archive for all previous tips.
English Tip of the Month explains words, rules of style, and aspects of English that cause
problems for some writers. The sample texts are adapted from our reading
and work;
some names and proper nouns may have been changed. If you have a question about a
particular word or sentence, a comment about any Tip of the Month, or an example
of an outstanding piece of writing you would like to see published and discussed
here please send it to
daniel.wentz@wentzwords.com.
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