Species at Stake 

Mujtaba H. Naqvi

Species at Stake

Artist Statement

 

My father would feed the ants of the neighborhood by leaving trails of sugar and flour for them. My mother encouraged me to look down while I walked, lest I step on unsuspecting creatures. Today, I cannot leave their lessons behind.

 

Karachi, Pakistan is an urban port city that’s home to millions of people. It was my home until August 2004, when I moved from the 5th most populous city proper in the world to deep South Texas. In October of 2004, I volunteered for the City of Mission’s Texas Butterfly Festival – a week-long event that attracted people from throughout North America. Birders and butterfliers, photographers and scientists descended upon the then tiny Texas town. It was the first time I saw people, armed with binoculars and cameras, travel for countless miles, in search of species they had not yet seen. Having come from an overpopulated place with high levels of indifference to even human suffering, it was a stunning revelation to see people invest so much time, money, and compassion for the smallest, seemingly insignificant creatures.

 

Here you can find more butterfly species than anywhere in the United States, 150 of which are endemic, and more than 150 species that pass through during migrations. It’s also home to more than 300 species of birds, including threatened and protected species. The Rio Grande Valley’s location places it at the beginning of a bottleneck for migratory birds and butterflies, who’d otherwise have to fly over the Gulf of Mexico.

 

Ironically, the location is also why the dense biodiversity is in danger. As the RGV is located on the border of the US and Mexico, with the Rio Grande River dividing the two nations, it is being directly impacted by construction of the Border Wall. The Wall will be built, not along the river itself, but about 1 mile inland in the levee which is integral to holding back floodwaters, and winds through the entire area just as the river does.

 

Building The Wall will cause habitat destruction, as all land between the river and the levee will be cleared and excavated. Without the necessary plants, pollinators such as butterflies are at risk. Terrestrial life will also be at risk of being trapped between the wall and the river, in the case of flooding which happened as recently as 2010.

 

This manmade structure will be built through private properties and farmlands; it will bisect backyards and businesses. It will also cut through public lands such as wildlife sanctuaries, refuge tracts, and state parks, which are integral to the survival of our ecosystem. 

 

I’ve now lived in the Rio Grande Valley for nearly a decade and a half, and have spent much of that time learning about the unique biodiversity this four county region has to offer. I’ve been working on this project for two years, and have come to learn the vital importance each plays in the ecosystem, and indirectly, our economy which benefits from the estimated $463 million ecotourism industry. 

 

With this traveling exhibit, my intent is to help us visualize the individual species at stake; presented collectively, I hope they depict the magnitude, even though this collection represents a mere fraction of reality. Seeing them en mass allows us to conceptualize their existence, and hopefully, importance in our ecosystem. This is especially true for those that are in places outside the Rio Grande Valley, cities throughout Texas and the United States, where nature has already been destroyed and visualizing even the horizon is an abstract concept. If we are unable to fully conceptualize the role of these species in our own lives, it is very difficult to understand their place in keeping our world the way we are accustomed to.

 

In addition to being traveling exhibit, Species at Stake is also an interactive and educational venture. When possible, Species at Stake is exhibited on the floor as an interactive exhibit, such as at the National Butterfly Center, to force the audience to question why they are often more uncomfortable walking on photographs of living creatures than on the creatures themselves. The display is also enhanced with QR codes to websites and/or audio of the respective species in an effort to encourage audiences to pursue their curiosity with ease.

 

We are at a moment in history where our choices will impact, not just the lives of these species, but on small and grand scales alike, ours.