In an effort that reminds me a little of Earth Hour (where folks are encouraged to turn off their lights and appliances for one hour), there is now a suggestion that a concerted attempt at bell ringing would be a fitting (and possibly worthy annual) tribute to biodiversity.
This is largely being mediated by the Church of England, International Year of Biodiversity UK, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, with inspiration provided by the MEMO project. What is the MEMO project? Well, this is pretty cool – basically:
MEMO is a collaboration of scientists, sculptors and stonemasons dedicated to communicating the reality of the current extinction crisis by creating a perpetual memorial. The aim is to erect a stone sculpture featuring the carved images of the species being made extinct, which also supports a huge bell. The bell and sculpture will be built on the cliffs of the Isle of Portland. This is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site whose 95 miles of fossil rich cliffs already record 185 million continuous years of the history of life. The great bell will be tolled whenever a species is declared extinct.
I think the effort to coordinate the sound of bells throughout England (and the world) is especially great. Plus, with the Church of England on board, hopefully many of the bells in their church towers will have a chance to become involved. Extra cool if St. Paul's Cathedral gets on board, since it also happens to have the largest bell on the British Isles – this being "Great Paul" at a massive 16 and a half tons.
It's also worth noting that this effort isn't just limited to the Church of England. It looks like they're game to include any advocate of Campanology (i.e. studies usually pertaining to large bells). In that vein, why not Big Ben? Or if we're going for a more international flavour, how lovely would it be to include a bell like the Gotenba Bell, the largest functioning swinging bell in the world. In fact, there's even a handy list of "notable bells" at Wikipedia.
A side bonus would be if folks actually designed a specific mechanism of change ringing just for this event. This is a term commonly applied to the type of ringing you hear in church bells, whereby the sounds are produced by sets of bells following specific mathematical patterns (this is where the science geek in me, is itching for someone to use something like species extinction rates as a mathematical inspiration!)
Anyway, when is the bell ringing set to happen? Well, a smaller MEMO bell (see image above) has been cast already and will be taken to New York on September 22 to ring in the first UN General Assembly meeting ever on biodiversity. Consequently, organizers are hoping for folks to earmark September 22, between 12noon and 2pm, for the ringing to occur.
Link to Press Release and contact information.
Link to MEMO project and their Facebook page.
