A specific topic of Adam Welz’s essay How Kenya’s push for development is threatening its fames wild lands, published on April 24, 2019 in Yale Environment 360 magazine, is the negative impact of the development of civilization on African wildlife. The author notes that the forms and methods of this interaction have become one of the most important problems of mankind. The human activity has serious consequences for African wildlife, and active calls to change the situation have a strong emotional impact on the reader.
This essay seems to have an overall purpose to changing attitudes towards Africa’s national parks in order to preserve its wildlife. Since the main engine of modernization of parks is the comfort of tourists, Welz tries to influence them (Welz, 2019). If there is no demand, there will be no need to make a technological invasion into the flora and fauna of wild Africa. The author does not state an explicit thesis: he begins the essay by providing facts. Introduction lacks his point of view; it presents only the details of the project for the technological development of Kenya.
The author has an ‘axe to grind’, which is related to the kind of his career. Adam Welz is a renowned wildlife photographer and filmmaker working in South Africa. His employment depends on the preservation of natural flora and fauna. Introducing technologies and destroying wildlife in Africa is unprofitable for the author, as there will be consequences directly affecting him. They range from the complications of filming conditions to the necessity to look for a new job. The essays theoretical assumptions are the negative human impact on the wildlife of Africa. In many African countries, among which is Kenya, both environmental protection and research and the introduction of the latest scientific processes to achieve this goal are not developed (Welz, 2019). Therefore, according to theoretical assumptions, due to these factors, the human intrusion into African wild life can lead to disastrous consequences for many endemic species.
The critical writing’s theoretical assumptions are discussed explicitly: a third of the essay is devoted to them. In the second logical part of the article, the author, after providing the facts, proceeds to theoretical assumptions of their consequences. He cites potential difficult situations that may arise in connection with human intervention in the natural processes of Africa. Welz describes in detail each of the disequilibrium of natural complexes, and what changes these complexes entail.
The work contributes to the overall topic of the environmental challenge of wildlife habitat conservation. It opposes activities that entail a change in the habitat of objects of the animal world and a deterioration in the conditions of their reproduction, feeding, recreation and migration routes. The author calls for recreational activities related to the use of objects of the African wildlife to be carried out in such a way that the objects of the animal world allowed for use do not worsen their own habitat.
Presented Material
Theoretical issues and topics for further discussion raised by the work are tracking the state of wild flora and fauna of Africa after the implementation of government projects for laying power lines and roads in Kenya. The material used helps to demonstrate and argue the thesis: with the help of primary documents, Welz proves that human intervention in the wildlife of Africa is really happening, and is quite large-scale (Welz, 2019). Then the filmmaker uses personal observations to illustrate local changes and what consequences they may have at the global level.
The essay presents such kinds of material as primary documents about plans for projects to lay roads and powerlines in the national parks of Kenya. Then the photographer’s personal observations are used; they are related to the nature of his occupation, which allows him to observe the changes taking place with his own eyes.
Specific passages than can be used to describe the author’s presentation, including writing style and tone can be found in the final part of the essay. In the first two parts, the author provides dry factual data, his language is concise and precise, and his style is purely scientific. The four passages on the last page give a clearer idea of the author’s opinion, the tone used by him becomes more emotional due to the change of style (Welz, 2019). From scientific, it becomes artistic, and Welz uses metaphors and rhetorical questions designed to influence the reader.
There are alternative ways of arguing from the same material, involving the interweaving of primary material with personal observations. The author shows awareness of this method; however, he prefers to let the readers draw a conclusion by learning the dry facts before they find out the author’s opinion.
Reactions & Opinions Regarding Work
My own reactions and considered opinion regarding the work are that the essay is saturated with facts that substantiate the author’s point of view. The arguments Welz gives are strong and valuable; however, their weakness is that they lack persuasiveness. Since it aims to convince people to contribute to improving the situation by refusing to participate in tours of the national parks of Kenya, the writer should have more influence on the reader. For most of the work, Welz’s style was too dry, so the emotional impact he had in the last part of the article was, in my opinion, too weak.
Reference
Welz, A. (2019). How Kenya’s push for development is threatening its famed wild lands. Yale Environment 360. Web.