Building A Modern Day Ark (Model Site)
By Brian Werner, Executive Director of Tiger Missing Link Foundation

So, you have decided to take on a collection of animals, start a new agency, and open a facility to teach the public about them!

Well, before you start, you might want to consider these methods as possible options to incorporate into the grand scheme of your project. First, consider your goals, objectives, educational platform, and most of all your site development.

Imagine for a moment that you were going to address one of the greatest challenges of mankind, such as saving the tiger from extinction. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could build a model eco-site or bio-center that could serve as a training zone for youth, teaching them about environmental fields? Imagine that after such training these newly formed eco-leaders then applied these skills by implementing projects on the ground (insitu) that allow human populations to live harmoniously among the tiger. This type of program could serve to lower the impact on the tiger’s habitat without lowering the quality of lives of the people who live among the Great Cats.

Tiger Missing Link Foundation has done just that and is using the site here at Tiger Creek to teach and train over 47,000 youth and 2,500 educators to apply sustainable regenerating systems that minimize human impact. The project is E-SCAPE, Environmental Science Coalition involving Animals through Public Education.

We feel our approach to development is one that all of us will be seeing much more as human populations continue to increase and impact the Earth. Many facilities were built in a time when environmental factors were not as critical. There were no energy crises and fossil fuels were readily available. Today, we see this changing; zoos and wildlife parks are being forced to evolve into self-sustaining bio-centers. These centers will serve as environmental training zones for youth, educators, and the general public. Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge takes this challenge to the basic level of its infrastructure. To begin with, E-SCAPE students will establish a capacity study of the proposed site. We currently operate on approximately two acres as the developments continue to evolve. Ultimately, we will be expanding the site use to include 62 acres. The intent here is to establish the best possible building sites, taking into account the solar capacity, the most effective waste treatment system, the most advantageous locations for roadways, walking paths, and yes, even habitats for the Great Cats. While this kind of development means a slower process of build-out, it will ultimately be less environmentally invasive. This type of development not only serves as a model; it facilitates educational platforms and cuts maintenance costs overall.

Always remember that maintenance is working against what nature intended or positioned in the first place. Thus, there should always be 6 individual rewards that occur from any infrastructure or system design:

1.      Service to the main purpose of design

2.      Ideal drainage

3.      Optimal use of runoff

4.      Aesthetic value

5.      Regenerating effects on the system and in relation to other components

6.      Service as an outside resource, i.e., an educational aide

For example, let's say that you see the need for constructing a roadway through a tract of land. Well, that road should serve 6 different purposes:

  1. It should first be a road for ingress and egress.

  1. It should address drainage by looking at the natural lay of the land and current drainage. The most effective way to accomplish this is by creating natural wetlands along each side of the roadway at key locations.

  1. Your road should also serve to facilitate surface runoff (a different issue than the drainage that runs along each side of the proposed road). These runoffs can be replenishment to the wetlands that run along side the roadway, and through the natural filtering process the water can service animals within the park.

  1. It should be aesthetically pleasing.

  1. The next thing that this road should address is the effect that it will have on other systems within the site. These systems include silt runoff through erosion, the impact on plants and indigenous wildlife, the natural lay of the land, and its buildings and exhibits.

  1. The final component is that the road should serve as an educational tool from which others can learn. Not only can visitors learn about the Green Friendly Road Way itself, they can also learn about the wetland systems along side of the roadway as well as plants and wildlife that frequent the ponds. Valuable signage can assist in directing the visitors’ attention to these areas along their route to and from other attractions or sites within the park.

"Does Everybody Secure Their Quality of Life . . .Within the Means of Nature?"

THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

The footprint measures human impact on nature. In order to live, people consume what nature offers. So, every one of us has an impact on our planet. This is not bad as long as we don't take more from the Earth than it has to offer. But are we taking more than we should? The Ecological Footprint measures what we consume of nature. It shows how much productive land and water we occupy to produce all the resources we consume and to take in all the waste we make.

How big is your footprint? The average American uses 30 acres to support his or her current lifestyle. This corresponds to the size of 30 football fields put together. In comparison, the average Canadian lives on a footprint one third less, and the average Italian on 55 percent less.

How much can nature provide? Nature provides an average of 5 acres of bioproductive space for every person in the world. With a global population of 10 billion for the year 2050, the available space will be reduced to 3 acres. This should also give room for the 25 million other species. Already, humanity's footprint may be over 30 percent larger than what the world has to offer as it consumes more than what nature can provide.

What can we do? We can become part of the sustainability movement and make it possible for all people to secure their quality of life within the means of nature. Also, we can better use the resources, for example, by using energy-efficient lamps or by composting. We can consume less by having a smaller population and decreasing our consumption. How about buying fewer cars and other disposable products, saving us money and grief? Also, we'll be able to afford more spare time. This future-friendly lifestyle will make our lives better.

Here is how this is accomplished.

Sustainable and Regenerating Development Theory Introduction

The sustainable and regenerating approach to site planning and design goes beyond combining and comparing site inventories. A sustainable and regenerating process attempts to determine the relationships between site factors and how those factors will adapt to change. Understanding these relationships also clarifies how developments impact one area of the site and its relationship to other areas. An evaluation of potential development impacts requires that a predevelopment baseline or environmental model be produced. This model will describe the essential functions and interrelationships of the individual site factors and will establish acceptable limits of change during and after construction. Selected environmental monitoring and testing will be done during construction. The entire build-out of the development will be phased to allow time between construction projects to monitor environmental impacts and adjust the baseline model. The finished product should allow for regeneration of silt, water reservoirs, and wetlands, as well as wildlife and plant populations to be regenerated at sustainable levels all within a new balance system.

The major steps in a sustainable approach to site planning and design are as follows:

a. Model the ecosystem to establish an environmental understanding
b. Assess social-economic context
c. Establish acceptable limits of change
d. Design facility within social and environmental thresholds
e. Monitor site factors throughout construction
f.  Reevaluate design solutions between development phases
g. Monitor systems once in place, including impact and readjust if that impact is evasive or less than optimal

For additional resources on creating Earth Friendly Sustainable and Regenerating systems consider this book:

Constructed Wetlands in the Sustainable Landscape
by Craig Campbell & Michael Ogden, Wiley & Sons, 1999.

Art & Design Work by Build Art Robert Bissett
PROFESSIONAL MEMBER A.S.A.P. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ARCHITECTURAL PERSPECTIVIST

Click Images for Larger Scale
Rough Drafts


Visitor Center
Educational Center

The E-SCAPE Education and Service Complex will be a Regional Educational Training Facility promoting environmental leaders through enhanced science and math skills. This complex will service over 47,000 students and more than 2,500 educators and will be open to the general public on Saturdays, promoting parental involvement with youth activities.

The master plan includes a Visitor Information Center that connects the E-SCAPE Education Center with a natural walkway.

Programs provide youth with environmental activities that will stimulate an interest in science through technologies as an effort to reach people within the region who may not have the resources to participate during the school year. The complex will also serve the general public and those who are passing through East Texas. The Complex will be a place where people of all ages can learn and study environmental issues with an emphasis on tigers. There will be classrooms with wet-labs, a genetics lab, a gift shop, and an educational exhibit hall representing tiger conservation efforts insitu & exsitu. This facility will serve as Tiger Missing Link Foundation's field research office and is home to the Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge. The wildlife park has the capacity to house 20 big cats. The property is located in East Texas, three miles North of Tyler State Park. It will also serve to develop research projects and conservation efforts to keep tigers from becoming extinct. 

The foundation is working on the development of up to 25 acres for the Learning Conservatory and Sanctuary and has obtained a purchase option on an additional 36 acres. Funding is currently being sought for the site development. If you wish to contribute to the E-SCAPE complex you may do so by contacting the Executive Director at 903-858-1008 or email Brian Werner, tiger1@tigerlink.org

Copyright © 2002 Tiger Missing Link Foundation. All rights reserved. TEXT MENU