The Lessons Learned from Easter Island:

On Easter Sunday, 1722, Dutch explorers landed on a mysterious island west of Chile filled with huge, strange statues (moais) and a native society thought to be Polynesians, with an extremely different culture. In only a few centuries, the population of up to 12,000 on this mysterious island, now known today as Easter Island, decreased to a mere 111 because of both natural disasters and manmade ones. Although Easter Island flourished with abundant sea-life, palm trees, and agriculture to feed a growing population, over the years of resource exploitation, Easter Island became devoid of natural resources; this resulted in an all time high of destruction caused by natural disasters, and created a civil-war amongst the already dying population, diminishing the once thriving society of Easter Island.
         
Much like the society of today, the Easter Islanders believed the natural resources on their land would be around forever, not only using the resources for necessities such as for food, canoe building, ropes, firewood and habitats, but also foolishly over-exploiting their resources for the sake of their cult of ancestor worship, which unfortunately cost most of them their lives. The Easter Islanders cut down many of their trees for the making of over 900  moai, depleting their forests ever more rapidly. As the last tree fell, so did the state of civilization. Since the society relied on wood to make canoes, their ability to fish for food such as porpoise and tun a, was limited. The society now relied on food resources on land, and since their once land of plenty had become desperately short of food, the Easter Islanders relied on a contest between tribes for the island’s diminishing resources. The challenge was to swim across a mile of sea and climb a cliff to bring back a bird’s egg; whichever tribe won got first call on what was left of the Island’s resources. In a short period of time, the society became violent and cannibalistic as the Island’s bird-life disappeared because of loss of nesting sites. Their consumption ended with the extinction of 90% of all plant and animal life on the island. The food supply of the people ultimately ran out, leaving in its place terror, hardship, and a barbaric civil war. Very much like the Easter Islanders, we as a people are rapidly depleting important natural resources of Earth, which ultimately has caused outbreaks of war. For example, it has been four years since the invasion of Iraq and many are left wondering what the war is truly about. Many think the war on Iraq is because of 9/11, while others think it is about liberalizing its people. However, what seems to be the most apparent reason for the treacherous war is oil. Oil as a natural resource is at an all time low. Not only is it the world’s most important resource, but without it, life as we know it would not be able to function as it does, today. Scarce oil supplies have caused an outbreak of war among two nations, as oil is not just used in one area, but all over the world, making it a global problem. Even as advanced as society is today, as a people we have not changed much. We rely on important natural resources in order to live the way we want, not thinking about the consequences, proving that no matter how advanced a society is, if they over-exploit important resources, the survival of civilization will be at risk.

Professor John Flenley of Massey University’s studies of pollen from lake-beds shows Easter Island was once covered with palm trees, yet the Dutch in 1722 described the island devoid of trees. The massive deforestation and agriculture provoked heavy soil erosion in recent centuries on Easter Island. Although it is true that deforestation helped build inspiring statues, ways to hunt for food, and the building of habitats, soil erosion with no trees around severely hit farming, impacting death, destruction and wiping out the canoes and habitats they had built. Now with nowhere to escape, the Islanders were trapped in a prison of their own making, turning on each other. Ironically, the cutting down of the trees to help further their society, ended up to be the destruction of it. It was a self-inflicted ecological disaster. Despite these past mistakes, deforestation is continually practised globally, today. The Amazon rainforest for example, represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests, with the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. However, deforestation due to human settlement and agriculture have resulted in loss of soil fertility and weed invasion in the Amazon. Because of this, farmers are constantly moving to new areas and clearing more land since soils in the Amazon are productive for just a short period of time. Though what they fail to realize, is that soon there will not be any more areas to move to, since the Amazon rainforest as a whole will be subject to desertification because of deforestation. At the current rate, in only two decades the Amazon Rainforest will be reduced to 60%. As an end result, there will be a high loss of biodiversity, diminished natural resources, and an increase of soil-erosion which will impact not only the environment, but the human beings in that area. Another example of the hazards of deforestation happened in South America in 1998; because of clear-cut logging, hillside farms, and rampant housing developments in such economically sensitive areas, it caused the  devastation of Hurricane Mitch to be a lot worse than it would have been if man hadn’t deforested the area. The rain that fell in these deforested regions could not be absorbed, creating soil erosion which ultimately caused floods and mudslides, leading to death and destruction. If man continues with deforestation and depleting natural resources, failing to learn from past mistakes, our fate will be that of the Easter Islanders.            

Since the discovery of Easter Island,  explorers began to visit the mysterious land, bringing their own diseases, such as syphilis.  In 1862 slave traders landed from Peru and took away 1,500 people, a third of the population, and transported them to South America. However within one year all but 15 were dead, and the remaining survivors were brought back to their homes. Along with them came a smallpox epidemic which left only 111 alive by 1877. Today, the original inhabitants of Easter Island are wiped out, due to the final blow of infectious diseases. The inhabitants of Easter Island today all have Chilean roots, making the ancient Easter Islanders a part of history. The spread of disease and sickness from one region to another is not new, and has been around for centuries. Another example of the spreading of disease, is when European invaders came to North America and South America in the 1500’s, some of which had malaria. American mosquitoes caught the disease by biting these sick individuals. The spread of malaria was also influenced by many African people who came to North America and South America as slaves, thus the epidemic of malaria was airborne. Not only did this influence Americas to use pesticides in the environment, but as a result, it infected many ecosystems as the deadly poison travelled through the water system. Because of the mistakes of our past, new problems such as global warming is a significant risk to mankind. Although these epidemics did happen centuries ago, a new epidemic is at a rise; the threat of the avian flu. The flu, also known as H1N1 can be contracted from sick birds, such as chickens, ducks, and others, spreading from one species to the next. If this deadly virus spreads, it could be disastrous globally, proving that an advanced society such as ours can be diminished with a single infected organism. If people do not take necessary cautions against the spread of infectious diseases, no amount of technology will be able to save mankind from extinction, and we will end up like the original Easter Islanders; a part of history.

Throughout the history of mankind, human beings have relied heavily on the natural resources in their environment to sustain their existence; whether it be for shelter, food, heat, or clothing. For thousands of years, man has been able to take what he needs in order to survive, and recycle anything that hasn’t been used back into the environment. However, if a society as a whole uses more than what is needed for personal pleasure, then they will face the disastrous consequences, much like the Easter Islanders. Easter Island is a prime example of over-exploitation of important natural resources on our Earth. By the falling of the last tree, savagery, chaos, and destruction ran amuck since the Easter Islanders relied on trees for basically every necessity. Without pollen and proper soil, tree growth was non-existent, resulting in destructive soil erosion which wiped out the once flourishing society. With food sources scarce, and nowhere to escape, the Easter Islanders turned on each other, creating a brutal civil war over the what was left of the natural resources. Finally, the thriving population of Easter Island reduced to a mere 111 from about 12,000 when foreigners brought a smallpox epidemic along with them. In hindsight, this proved that globally, we have a responsibility of making sure infectious diseases or even poisons do not spread from one region to another, or we as a people will suffer the consequences. Although Easter Island was indeed a tragedy, it was also a striking example of the dependence of human societies on their environment and of the consequences of damaging that environment to the point where it’s irreversible. Thus, the collapse of this small Polynesian island stands as a harsh reminder to those exploiting the earth’s natural resources.

“Only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned, and the last fish has been caught, will we realize that we cannot eat money.” -Cree proverb.