Free Term Paper on Mega
transect through Gabon
(First 3 Pages)
Introduction
It had been a rare event to walk through more than 1,200 miles of
pristine central African forest that is perhaps the most dangerous
forest, known in today’s history. Conservationist J. Michael Fay of
the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) set off from
the Republic of the Congo on Sept. 20, 1999. Fifteen grueling months
later, Fay and his team of 12 African men reached an isolated
stretch of Gabon’s coast, a place where elephants wander the beach
and look for some thing to destroy. Then on October 16 - 18, 2000 --
For more than a year, Dr. Michael Fay was found walking what he
calls the Mega transect - a major project to study and call
attention to a huge, multi-national area north of the Congo River -
a part of Africa that remains wild and forested.
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The Mega transect is an area that runs for hundreds of miles through
the republic of Congo, Cameroon and Gabon and contains thick
forests, swamps, rivers, lowlands, an incredible wildlife, without
the shades of human being’s living. The objective to go to such a
barren area was to stay as far from human populations as possible
with the dangers ranging from microscopic parasites to armed
poachers at a place where Pygmies live at the edges of the region,
and hunt through it, but the land is too foreboding even for them
and hot, infested with insects and snakes, and home to large animals
that can be dangerous -- elephants, leopards, and gorillas. The
place on other hand is like a paradise, a virgin land that requires
somebody to come there and conquer it.
The Purpose of the Journey
Michael Fay's epic 2,000-mile trek across the northeast Republic of
the Congo to the southwest coast of Gabon called "mega transect" was
undertaken to build a comprehensive record of the plants, animals
and ecology of the area before it was built-up. The out come was
required to be used as a benchmark with which the brunt of future
changes to the environment could be calculated. The team consisted
of many photographers who blew up to life size on the walls and
brought back a few artifacts from the trip such as Fay's sandals and
cell phone. The best element, however, was the multimedia kiosks
that permitted the visitor to see short movies, images and sounds
from various parts of the journey, and was aimed to invites others
to explore some of the problems and issues that the expedition came
across.
Description of Event
Mike Fay began to walk from Central Africa all the way to the
Atlantic coast of Gabon and made an attempt to make a record of
what’s there and carried out a rapid study of the great wilderness,
so that conservationists and African governments could review which
areas are most significant to look after. As Fay was about to
complete the journey, NPR/National Geographic Radio Expeditions
featured three stories about the Mega transect, with excerpts from
Mike Fay’s audio journals, recordings he had made along the track
and a very long-distance interview by satellite telephone which
highlighted his great adventure and went on air on October 16, 17,
and 18, 2000(Morning Edition, 2000) Fay related the complexity his
team faced as it trekked through this part of the world. In next
part, Alex talks with Fay by satellite phone as Fay camped out in
the mountains of southwestern Gabon. In part four, Alex checked in
on Fay, after having just completed the treacherous conservation
walk through Central Africa to the coast of Gabon. He in the process
visited Great Falls Park and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National
Historical Park. The first park that is the site of the Great Falls
of the Potomac River, and of the remains of the Patowmack Canal
whose construction, started in 1785 and was inspected by George
Washington. Similarly Fay introduced the outside world with number
of mysterious places that had not been explored earlier. She walked
from the eastern edge of Congo to the western edge of Gabon during
1999 and 2000 -- a 456-day trip past a stunning range of animals and
animal habitats. In Congo, she saw examples of the damage done
throughout Africa by logging companies. In Gabon, he saw the
Promised Land. On his way back he and a photographer named Michael
Nichols met with the leader of Gabon after concluding the trip. The
story is simply a thriller, an adventure and an event full of
exciting experiences.
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