An Era of Environmentalism: Archival Journeys for World Environment Day

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An Era of Environmentalism: Archival Journeys for World Environment Day

Meghan Marino, Associate Manager, Field Marketing, Wiley

June 05, 2024

Organized by the United Nations General Assembly, World Environment Day represents a global forum for environmental awareness. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this day emphasizes sustainability initiatives all over the globe. Hosted by Saudia Arabia, 2024’s theme places emphasis on land restoration, desertification, and drought resilience.

As we take our own journey into the archives for World Environment Day, we emphasize and honor the endeavors of exemplary environmentalists throughout history, spanning from tackling the triple planetary crisis of biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution, to investigating related fields including agriculture, entomology, oceanography, and more.

Join us as we consult primary source materials from our Environmental Science and History (ENV) archive on Wiley Digital Archives:

The Conference that Inspired World Environment Day
World Environment Day was founded as a direct result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. Previously confidential papers from the conference are available as part of the ENV archive and reflect the need for environmental considerations alongside economic development.

After the UN Conference on the Human Environment, many countries began developing environmental policies, laws, and regulatory frameworks, while also establishing new agencies.

View the Collection (with a free trial or institutional access): Foreign and Commonwealth input to preparations for United Nations Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm, June 1972, the Environmental Science and History archive.

From the Archive: Climate Change
“Every truth has its anti-truth, its qualifying truth, its mediating truth. Hence the only certainty is that the man with a single truth is not only sure to be wrong, but likely to be disastrously so,” remarked Daniel P. Moynihan in his address to the Atlantic Assembly.

Other points in this NATO collateral from 1969 focus on the environmental impacts of the Industrial Revolution, expressing concern over nuclear power, sea level rise, and atmospheric warming amid growing skepticism of technological advancements.

Moynihan continues, “An ecological crisis is surely upon us, and developing at quite extraordinary rates.”

View the Collection (with a free trial or institutional access): NATO and problems of the environment. J. N. Elam, C. J. Audland, et al., The National Archives, London, England, Foreign Office and Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Scientific Relations Department and Science and Technology Department: Registered Files (SR and SM Series), 1969 Jan 01-1969 Dec 31, Environmental Science and History archive.

From the Archive: Agriculture
How are crops across the globe influenced by disease? Compiled by CAB International, various maps spanning nearly 50 years show crops impacted by bacteria, fungi, chromista, oomycetes, pests, viruses, and more.

This map (featured left) from 1977 shows the impact of sclerotinia squamosa, a white mold or leaf blight, on onion crops around the world. Leaf blight poses a true threat to onion crops, stunting their growth and yield. The infection spreads from overwintered spores in infected bulbs, soil, and plant debris.

Distribution Maps of Plant Diseases: A5 Binder No.3 maps 161-240, CAB International, Distribution Maps of Plant Diseases, 1948-1996, Environmental Science and History archive.

From the Archive: Pollution
“The Germans are beginning to take pollution very seriously indeed, not just technically but politically.” - D.A.S. Gladstone, 1970

How were environmental issues handled at a time when Germany was split into East and West? The Federal Republic’s seven main proposals are included in this previously confidential document, targeting topics concerning emissions, waste management, pesticides, and noise regulation.

View the Collection (with a free trial or institutional access): Controlling pollution in Germany: 1970 UK/West Germany co-operation on environmental problems , Environmental Science and History archive.

From the Archive: Land Restoration
A disruption to ecosystems, human alterations to natural landscapes cause soil degradation, desertification, and deforestation. Land restoration efforts are critical in healing our planet and preventing crises such as food shortages, drought, and biodiversity loss.

A report on prairie restoration offers insight into the process of determining a qualifying area, and the method of establishment. “A major consideration was to locate an area with sufficient size and openness to give an observer the aspect and feeling of an open prairie – not that of a clearing in the woods,” writes Theodore M. Sperry and Senior Foreman. Seed transplantation, local native and flora monitoring

View the Collection (with a free trial or institutional access): Report on Proposed Prairie Restoration, Forest Presidential District, Cook County, Wisconsin, Theodore M. Sperry, Hargrett Library, University of Georgia/Ecological Society of America, Ecological Society of America, Arthur G. Vestal, n.d, Environmental Science and History archive.

From within the Archive: Entomology
The field of entomology, or the study of insects, tells us a lot about agriculture, climate, and disease. A scrapbook from the 1830’s contains drawings of nearly 100 insects, some outlining their impact and relationship with vegetation.

A sketch from New South Wales (featured left) outlines a speculative new species, with the requested name “maculuta.”

View the Collection (with a free trial or institutional access): Scrapbook, c. 1830s, containing drawings of insects by G. R. Waterhouse, H. L. Kundall, W. Sells, S. S. Saunders, W. W. Saunders, J. O. Westwood, W. Templeton, B. Standish, A. H. Haliday, C. H. C. Burmeister, W. F. Evans, F. Smith, R. 1. Ashton, C. M. Cur, Environmental Science and History archive.

Interested in more? Sign up for a free trial to see what scientists were up to centuries ago when it comes to environmental research by exploring primary source examples from the Environmental Science and History on Wiley Digital Archives. Get a first look at how these early discoveries and observations shine a light on how we can take better care of our planet today.