More Effective Conservation

April 11th, 2008 · No Comments

I’m always happy to read articles like this on enhancing conservation strategies.

It’s very much in vogue to talk about climate change. I’m not really about that, because environmental crises are so huge and widespread. Yes, I think we’ve developed over the past few years, and it’s good to get the public in the UK on board, but it’s done in such a fashion-conscious way. That’s not how I would have things. There are of course hugely complex issues with the environment. (Don’t get me started on the other couple of hundred air pollutants than CO2, the various oxides which inhibit human function as well as plant growth.)

Biodiversity is just one very important issue. Before I worked in bookselling, I was scheduled to begin an MSc in Biodiversity. It’s such a complex and vitally important issue for many reasons. Ecosystems are immensely fragile, and we depend upon them for food, stability. Aside from the philosophical reasoning, we can gain medicinal benefits and knowledge (much of modern medicine is derived form plant matter). Who knows what cures are out there to be found under the next leaf? The more we lose of these systems, the more benefits we lose too. Fuck with the bottom of the system, you ultimately fuck with human communities. That’s you and me. The speed with which many species are being made extinct is alarming. And I’m not on about the big cuddle friendly pandas you see on TV—gets the kids going aww—but insects, plants and the likes, the things which matter to the health of biological systems. They are hugely important.

Should anyone doubt this, I recommend Diversity of Life, by distinguished ecologist, E. O. Wilson. This book is one of the most convincing and inspiring books written on biodiversity. There’s such a beauty and bizarreness to the natural world, more than any fantasy writer could create. It’s so complex, too.