MEMO PARTICIPATES IN A SERVICE AT ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL
14th SEPTEMBER 2008
“The MEMO project should never have been necessary. But necessary it is, and I'm glad to see human imagination involved in the task of commemorating the diversity of life rather than diminishing it.” ~ Philip Pullman, MEMO patron
JULY 2008, ROYAL SOCIETY BOARD VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO OFFICIALLY ENDORSE MEMO PROJECT
The West African Black Rhino was declared extinct in 2006, while the Northern White Rhino hangs on by a thread.
But the Southern White Rhino having been reduced to 50 individuals in the 1950s now numbers in the thousands.
The sixth mass extinction is not inevitable.
By commemorating the marvellous creatures that have passed, the purpose of the MEMO project is to inspire people to protect the marvellous creatures that still live.
The Northern White Rhino has a lineage that stretches back 60 million years – almost to the time of the dinosaurs. It is not yet extinct. Up to thirteen animals still survive in the Garamba National Park World Heritage Site in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
With the Holocene Extinction Event we are currently witnessing the most rapid species decline in the Earth's history.
These are examples of large, photogenic and memorable species; current estimates are that half of all species will become extinct within a century.