What we can do to save the Earth
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from April 1990.
Brought to you by
* Fertile land is also disappearing under concrete and tarmac. Together the USA and Canada submerge 4800 square kilometres (more than 1.2 million acres) of prime farmland under buildings, roads and reservoirs every year.
* The resource base of major industries is shrinking as tropical forests rapidly disappear and as the coastal support systems of fisheries are polluted or removed altogether.
* Most food fish stocks are fully or overexploited and harvests of some of the most important fish species have exceeded maximum sustainable yield every year since 1970.
* Two-thirds of the world's fisheries are directly dependent on the fertility of coastal wetlands such as mangrove swamps, estuaries and slat marshes. Yet these habitats are being destroyed at alarming rates in both developed and developing countries.
As a result of the spread of environmental destruction, it is estimated that by the end of this century some half a million to one million species of plants and animals will have been made extinct. Man-made destruction of wildlife habitats is the leading cause of extinction.
Forests are the prime example of mans' mismanagement of Earths' resources and the repercussions of their disappearance serve to highlight the dilemma which will face the human race if meaningful action is not taken with regard to conservation on this planet. Tropical rain forests are particularly vulnerable. No other land environment on earth has so many different species of plants and animals yet it is estimated that tropical forests are being felled and burned at a rate of 110,000 square kilometres (43,000 square miles) a year as a result of expanding shifting cultivation, clearance for settlement, plantations and cattle-raising and excessive logging. At this rate all of this forest type will have disappeared within 70 years.
Forests act as environmental buffers and influence local and regional climates. Some tropical watershed forests intercept moisture from clouds and increase the amount of available fresh water. In addition they help to retain soil and regulate the flow of fresh water thereby preventing erosion and floods or water shortages.
Apart from offering these valuable physical services, forests also provide a large array of goods and services which are vital importance to trade and commerce: timber, furniture, paper, rayon, fuelwood, fodder, fruits, meat, honey, fibres, resins, pharmaceuticals, dyes, skins, waxes - the list is endless! In 1980 it was estimated that the annual value of forest products exceeded $115,000 million and international trade was worth about $40,000 million.
The profusion of plants and animals in tropical rain forests is astounding - many have not yet been described or named. The fact is that as many as half of the worlds' land species live only in the rain forests of the tropics and we do not know how many species are being plunged into extinction as the forests disappear. Why does the disappearance of tropical parts which are frequently obliterated by pests and diseases. Wild plants therefore act as a reservoir of genetic material from which cultivated varieties are derived. It is alarming but true that more than 98 percent of crop production in the USA is based on plant species brought in from outside.
Many forest products rain forests matter? For many, many reasons including commercial, physical, environmental and ethical concerns. In addition to the long list of goods and services already mentioned, many things which we take for granted - coffee, chocolate, bananas, nuts, avocados, cocoa, rubber - are all plants of the rain forest. If the forests disappear so will many of the wild varieties of these plants. Wild plants are more hardy and more resistant to natural enemies than their cultivated counterare also important in the medical field. Major surgery depends on curare or a similar compound to paralyse the nerves; curare is made from plants found only in the tropical forests of South America.
Serpentroot from S.E. Asias' rain forests is used to keep the heart going during heart operations. Drugs used to treat cardiovascular diseases, malaria, gout, cancer, Parkinson's disease, skin infections, respiratory diseases and many more all derived from wild plants. It is estimated that of 76 major pharmaceutical compounds obtained from plants, only seven can be synthesised at competitive prices.
Although the destruction of vegetation in S.E. Asia, South America or Africa is probably a remote affair to many of us, a moment's consideration of the information given above should alert us to the fact that many aspects of our way of life and quality of life should hang by a thread on the survival of the rain forests of the tropics. While the plight of tropical rain forests is a particularly startling example of mans' elimination of habitats and species at his own expense, habitat destruction generally is the main threat to the survival of species of plants and animals world wide.
Coastal wetlands, essential to the maintenance of the worlds' fisheries are being reclaimed and polluted at alarming rates. In 1980 it was estimated that habitat loss and degradation was causing losses of $86 million annually to US fisheries. Seven-tenths of our planets' surface is covered by oceans and we have polluted the majority of them with petrochemical wastes, other industrial pollutants and sewage thereby affecting fisheries yields worldwide. Coral reefs, the tropical rain forests of the sea, are also being destroyed by destructive fishing methods, excessive collection of corals and associated organisms, siltation from dredging, brine pollution, heat pollution and sewage pollution. Recent research indicates that animals likely to play an increasingly important role in the pharmaceutical industry are associated with coral reef communities. If the reefs are destroyed these valuable creatures will vanish.
Many industries besides the food and pharmaceutical industries are based, depend heavily, on wild plants and animals, and new uses are regularly being found. For example the jojoba plant, which grows wild in the deserts of the southwestern USA and northern Mexico, has long been used in the manufacture of cosmetics, lotions, shampoos and soaps but industry is now investigating the physical properties of the colourless, odourless oil found in the jojoba seeds. It appears that this oil can withstand high pressures and temperatures, properties essential for the lubrication of automatic transmissions, and hence of interest to the automobile industry.
As well as the loss of many environmental services and the loss of the base for much of industry and commerce, the disappearance of wild animals and plants and their associated habitats will result in the loss of a variety of emotional and recreational benefits. The beauty and visual diversity of wildlife has stirred and inspired artists of all types for centuries. All over the world as cities expand and suburbs enroach more and more on the countryside, parks and protected areas are becoming increasingly important to people seeking an escape from the man-made environment in which they spend the majority of their lives, National parks and sanctuaries are also now being recognised for their contribution to tourism in many countries. In Kenya, wildlife is a major resource base for tourism which ranks among the top three foreign exchange earners in that country. The natural world is also essential for scientific innovation; the study of plants and animals has led to better understanding of complex life processes and has resulted in the launching of many new fields of investigation.
What can we do to reverse this trend of environmentaldestruction? Begin with yourself. Keep informed on the state of the global environment. Interact responsibly and sensitively with the environment in your business, countries and governments. Concerned individuals result in concerned countries and governments. Concerned governments are more likely to implement legislation and policies aimed at integrating conservation with the development and planning processes.
The components of planet earth, including humans, are all interdependent and it must be realised that the situation is now so serious that most local actions have global implications. Unless concerted action is taken immediately, at both local and global levels, this planet will continue to lose its capacity to support life. The inescapable fact is that conservation has become a prerequisite for human survival and well-being.
As someone once wrote, "the natural world is our laboratory, playground and temple as well as our larder, medicine chest and store of raw materials. by impoverishing it we only impoverish ourselves and our children." NOTE: All factual information and statistics for this article are from "How to Save the World - A Strategy for World Conservation" by Robert Allen. This book is based on the World Conservation Strategy prepared by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) and commissioned by UNEP (United Nations Environment Pro
