Ecological Integrity
The Challenge
Human impact upon the integrity of regional and
global ecosystems is racking up large deficits in the Earth’s
natural capital – the ecological goods and services upon
which our social and economic wealth depend.
A partial litany of our current ecological deficit
includes:
-
Experiments we are conducting on the stratospheric
ozone layer, the natural greenhouse effect of our atmosphere,
and regional air quality;
-
The strip-mining of our oceans, the growth of
its dead zones, and the damage we are inflicting on our coastal
nurseries – home to most of the ocean’s bio-mass;
-
On-going release of radioactive, toxic, carcinogenic,
persistent, bio-accumulating, and/or endocrine disrupting chemicals;
-
The loss of our soils and traditional eco-zones,
from poor forestry, industrial, agricultural, or development
practices;
-
The lack of protocols to conserve and share
potable water, and to protect it from pollution; and,
-
The sheer volume of material withdrawn from
nature’s capital with little regard for impacts on bio-diversity
and the web of life.
These problems and more exist, but are just symptoms of the real
challenge: shifting from a too-prevalent mind-set of rapid exploitation
to a long-term perspective of inter-relationships and sustainability.
We need to love the Earth and protect its ecological integrity.
We need to respect each other. We need to embrace sustainability
as a series of opportunities that will protect generations to
come.
In short, we need a greater emphasis on investing in ourselves
and a sustainable future.
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