Half Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life. This, the title of E. O. Wilson’s book says it all. The Guardian last Sunday, no doubt stimulated by a conference on the subject taking place next week in London published an article about it here.
The gist is simple: Life thrives when it’s diverse, conversely, life wilts when its diversity is reduced or simplified. Besides the two issues mentioned by Attenborough in the next two paragraphs is a third issue: human health depends totally on the health of the ecosphere: we thrive and/or wilt with the rest of life.
“In fact, there are two separate issues at stake with regard to protecting habitats and wildlife for the future, Sir David Attenborough told the Observer. “First there is the moral dimension. We have a responsibility to all these forms of life on our planet because we have power over them.
“However, there is also a practical issue,” he added. “We need to ensure that we have enough life forms on Earth to ensure the planet’s health. But how many is enough? We simply do not know the answer to that question – though I think we should assume that it is a fairly large number and that they need protecting.””
It’s important, when studying the Nature Needs Half information, to realize that there’s lots more than just habitat that’s needed. For instance agricultural chemicals have initiated a major die off of insects which in turn has triggered a die of of vertebrates (including birds).
It behooves each and every one of us to both be informed, and to decide to work for Half Earth. The following links should make it easier for you to follow up on informing yourself.
Read more of The Guardian’s article here
Go to E. O. Wilson’s Half Earth site
Go to Nature Needs Half’s site
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