Some things that need doing to stop this dramatic damage to Biodiversity.

Posted on by Opher

There is a whole sense of doom and gloom around what is happening with regard to both climate change and the grave issue of biodiversity.

People seem to form into 4 camps:

  1. There are the usual deniers who are being fed by the Trumpist Breitbart litany of fake news. They deny there is any climate warming or mass extinctions. Indeed, in their view there is no damage to the environment at all.  They believe all experts are liars and the UN is a tool of the global elitists. I think we can discount this minority. They are a hopeless case.

2. Then there are those who believe things have gone too far and there is nothing to be done – we are doomed. I do not believe that – and neither do the scientists investigating the situation. They believe that we have to take action but that it is not irreversible.

3. Then we have those who believe that it is not too late but that we have to have drastic actions – banning cars and planes, not eating meat etc. Things that would dramatically change our lives and cost a fortune. I think they go too far and would not take the public with them.

4. But I am of the opinion that it is not too late  and that we can make changes which would not greatly impact on our lives but would rectify both global warming and the impact we are making on biodiversity. I believe there is a middle way.

The views of a moderate 

I think much of what needs doing requires a global perspective and government legislation.

  1. We need to stop this incessant drive for growth of the economy. It is simply unsustainable.
  2. We need to reduce human population to take pressure off the environment. Simply continually expanding into natural environments is bound to create immense problems.
  3. We need legislation to encourage companies to produce non-polluting, energy efficient goods. We are currently producing goods that have a short life and are then thrown away. I believe we need to produce goods of superior quality, with a longer life and that are repairable (like things used to be).
  4. We need to put an end to this consumer pressure where people replace their goods or a regular basis. There is no real need for new phones, new TVs, new computers – other than to make profit for companies. A change in behaviour would help enormously.
  5. We need energy efficient machines. Cars, planes, trains, fridges, ovens, heaters – all can be made much more efficient.
  6. We need our electricity produced by sustainable means – wind, tidal, solar, hydro and geothermal.
  7. We need to stop food waste – a third of our food is currently wasted.
  8. We need to set aside large national parks in which animals and plants are protected. I am in favour of 50/50. 50% for human use and 50% for nature.
  9. We need sustainable logging and prevent the further loss of rainforest.
  10. We need responsible mining without damage to the environment.
  11. We need to put aside marine areas where fishing is prohibited to enable fish to breed and restock.
  12. We need to ensure we do not overfish, or overhunt.
  13. We need to reduce our meat consumption and find better ways to produce meat – such as growing meat in the laboratory (as we do with plants and hydroponics) or use meat substitutes.
  14. We need to reconstitute wetland habitats, woodland habitat, pond and river habitats and conserve the full range of other habitats.
  15. We need to find an alternative to the massive use of pesticides and herbicides that are not only destroying our wild plants and insects but are damaging our soil structure. GM might provide a solution to this. Insecticides could be incorporated into the genome of crops which would remove the necessity to spray. The results would be far more environmentally friendly.
  16. We need to stop all poaching and put an end to trade in ivory and animal parts.
  17. We need to stop trophy hunting.
  18. We need good conservation programmes.
  19. We need to find a way for business to flourish without damaging nature and for agriculture to flourish without taking over more natural habitat or polluting it with chemicals.

We need to stop profit coming before the environment or people!

I believe all this could be achieved without drastically altering our lifestyle, hampering our travel or costing enormous amounts.

It is more a matter of will.

DO WE CARE ENOUGH???

  • if anybody else has any serious suggestions I would be pleased to hear them!