Ascension Island is one of the most isolated places on Earth. Created by volcanic action it sits in the South Atlantic, 2,250 kilometres west of South America and 1,600 kilometres east of Africa. Just over 900 people live on its 88 square kilometres.
Napoleon Exiled to Ascension
Until 1815, the island was used by mariners as a place to stock up on fresh meat provided by the many seabirds that made it home. But, with very little water Ascension had little appeal as a place to live.
Its nearest neighbour was St. Helena, albeit a distant one at nearly 1,300 kilometres, to the southeast. The remoteness of these islands struck the British as a perfect place to store Napoleon Bonaparte after he lost the Battle of Waterloo in 1815; far enough away from Europe to ensure he didn’t cause any more trouble.
And, as the Ascension Island government’s website points out, Ascension was given “a small British naval garrison…to deny it to the French. The island was designated ‘HMS Ascension,’ a ‘Stone sloop of War of the smaller class.’ ”
It has remained an overseas British territory ever since.
Darwin Visits Ascension
Towards the end of the historic voyage of HMS Beagle, the ship put in to Ascension Island on July 19, 1836. The About Darwin website says “The island was inhabited entirely by British marines and a few liberated Africans from slave ships. They stayed at the island for four days, during which time Darwin climbed Green Hill, a volcano of 2,817 feet in height.”
Darwin was not expecting much from Ascension because, according to Syms Covington, who accompanied him on The Beagle (The Journal of Syms Covington, Australian Science Archives Project, August 1995) the folks in St Helena had told him “We know we live on a rock, but the poor people of Ascension live on a cinder.”
Four Days on Ascension
Arriving on the “cinder” Howard Falcon-Lang (BBC News, September 1, 2010) writes that Darwin conceived a plan: “Out of the ashes of the volcano, he would create a green oasis - a ‘Little England.’ ”
He proposed the idea to his great friend Joseph Hooker to change the climate of the arid island.
“Egged on by Darwin,” writes Falcon-Lang, “in 1847 Hooker advised the Royal Navy to set in motion an elaborate plan. With the help of Kew Gardens - where Hooker’s father was director - shipments of trees were to be sent to Ascension.”
So, in 1850, trees such as Norfolk Island Pine and eucalyptus were planted on the island’s Green Hill (now called Green Mountain) to capture and hold some of the meagre rainfall that the trade winds brought, and also trap moisture in sea mists. More trees were planted in subsequent years, which increased the moisture on the island, added loam to the soil, and improved fertility.
Terraforming on Ascension
Dr. David Wilkinson is an ecologist at Liverpool John Moores University. He visited Ascension in 2003 and found plant species growing there that didn’t belong together.
In an article written for the Journal of Biogeography (“The Parable of Green Mountain: Ascension Island, Ecosystem Construction and Ecological Fitting,” Volume 31, page 1-4), Wilkinson says “Today much of the higher parts of Green Mountain are best described as cloud forest, contrasting strikingly with Darwin’s complaint of a landscape ‘entirely devoid of trees.’ ”
He writes that “The thinking behind this scheme is strikingly similar to much more recent ideas for creating life-friendly conditions on Mars.”
“In other words,” comments Falcon-Lang, “rather than trying to improve an environment by force, the best approach might be to work with life to help it ‘find its own way.’ ”
Rupert Taylor - Rupert Taylor is the editor of a magazine that provides background to current events.
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