Animal Awareness / Habitat Loss

Habitat Loss

A beautiful park, the rainforest, the mountains, your backyard. All of these areas are home to many wonderful animals and plants. This biodiversity is vital for human health and survival.

Interconnection between Biodiversity, Sustainability, and Human Survival

The earth is the home for millions of species of animals, plants, insects, and all sorts of living fungi and bacterium. Yet with all of this life abounding and living in harmony since the beginning of time, one species has emerged proclaiming its right to conquer all areas that it sees fit to do so. Humans re-engineer every aspect of nature so that it bends to their will. Great rivers are moved or damned, lakes and marshes are drained, entire forests are clear cut and paved over, and countless animals are left homeless or dead in its wake. The few animals who somehow manage to survive the devastation are now forced to live in a world where they have to dodge cars, avoid hunters and trappers, and somehow compete for food and living space when all of the land is "owned" by humans who don't want the animals to come into "their" yard.

Yet, despite how bleak and unfair this seems for the animals, the ones who will suffer the most because of this reckless disregard for nature are our children! Yes, the next generation will be forced to suffer terribly because of our need for immediate gratification and our laziness, which is why there is a now a strip mall on almost every corner. The United States is by far the most to blame with China as a close second. Humans feel entitled to anything with no regard to consequences even if it affects the future of our children. And, just so that we can sleep at night surrounded by all of our luxuries without a pang of guilt, we think that all of this environmental-talk is exaggerated and it will somehow work itself out. Or, we think that if it were really that bad that the government would do something about it. Nothing could be farther from the truth. When there's money to be made, don't expect any business (including the government) to put human safety and health first. Unfortunately money always comes first before health and safety.

Habitat Loss Affects Humans As Much As Animals

Possibly within our lifetime, but definitely within our children's lifetime, the serious consequences of environmental destruction will impact human life in extreme ways. There are already significant signs proving that this is happening. But unless the impact is felt in one's own backyard, most people ignore it because they think it doesn't affect them. "So what that sheep herders in Mongolia will have no more grazeable land for their livestock within 10 years, that doesn't affect me, right?" Well, the fact that Mongolia's number one source of income is sheep herding makes that statistic pretty frightening. It might not affect you today, but the fact that soil degradation, which reduces the growable areas for crops, is happening all over the planet (including the U.S.) will absolutely affect your children. So if you care about your children and whether they will have enough food to eat, then it does affect you.

Within one generation many environmental calamities such as drought, severely reduced farmable land, severe weather, soil erosion, global warming, and desertification will happen if we continue on our current path.

What Is Biodiversity and Why Is It Important?

Two of the biggest culprits causing this mess are loss of resources and loss of biodiversity. Biodiversity is the balance of life within ecosystems that keeps the cycle of life going strong. Ecosystems can be discussed on a small level such as a pond and every living thing in and around the pond that keeps it thriving. Ecosystems can also be discussed on a larger scale like a whole mountain, a whole country, or even on a global scale. The reason that a diverse amount of biology is needed for a healthy balance is due to the food chain. The foods that we eat (plant-based diet included) also needs nourishment for them to survive, and so on all the way down to the smallest insect being important as food for other animals and to pollinate plants. Even earthworms are needed to keep our soils aerated and healthy.

In addition to every animal needing other life as food, we also depend upon animals to keep unwanted insects and bacteria from growing out of control. Many human diseases (especially in the rainforest) are kept at bay only because there is a predator who eats it or neutralizes it. Once that predator is gone or its numbers greatly reduced, disease carrying insects spread and grow in numbers at an uncontrolled rate.

What Is the Solution? Sustainable Living!

There is hope but it involves change in perception and change in behavior. The United States cannot keep using 25% of the world's resources. Not only do individuals have to recycle and not be wasteful but so do large businesses. The Bush Administration has acknowledged that Global Warming is happening but continues to not have a plan to fight it. SUV's are America's # 1 mode of transportation yet it is the worst vehicle for the environment. All Americans agree that we don't want to be dependent on foreign fuel but we still drive SUV's that get only 9 mpg.

Pollution, smog, car fumes all have far-reaching negative effects. Not only are they directly harmful to human health when breathed in, but they also cause millions of dollars in losses per year to farmers. According to VEIP, "Farmers lose $40 million per year due to the effects of smog." If you think that this doesn't effect everyone, you're wrong. Farm losses are subsidized by the government, meaning that your taxes pay for those losses, when they could be going to education or to decrease crime.

A study done by the TV show "60 Minutes," which aired on 7/14/02, stated that if the emmissions of vehicles were controlled by just 1-2 mpg, the United States would save more gas than all that is predicted to be in Alaska. Unfortunately, congress voted it down, due in large part to the influence of special interest groups.

If we are going to leave a healthy planet to our children we need to start major conservation efforts and responsible use of resources. Sustainable living is the only option. Sustainability means acquiring resources through methods that allow them to regenerate. It is the responsibility of the present generation to live in such a way that the needs of future generations can still be served.¹ There are many inspirational examples of this being done. It can be done. It's not all or nothing. We can have our resources and a healthy planet too.

Sustainable agriculture, sustainable forestry, and sustainable mining are all possible and have been profitable by those who try it. The Menominee Indians of Wisconsin have practiced sustainable forestry on their vast reservation for the last 5000 years and they are very wealthy because of it. But they also have generations before them who knew how and when to plant and when and where to cut the trees down. That takes time, planning, and patience. traits that most who clear-cut forests don't have. Another thing that clear-cutters won't have is a forest that is still providing lumber to their children, but the Menominee Indians will.

Cattle Grazing: Environmental Disaster

All over the world rainforests are being clear-cut to make way for cattle to graze for American companies like McDonald's. Most of the nutrients in rainforests are in the trees and vegetation that is cleared away, very little nutrient is in the soil of a rainforest. When used for grazing and farming, the soil becomes depleted within a few short years and is no longer usable. This starts a cycle of having to constantly clear-cut a new area for the cattle to move to every few years. In its wake, this method leaves the land unusable for agriculture. Plus, since the land is left depleted of nutrients, it will take decades (if at all) for any vegetation to return. American fast food restaurants are a major contributor of this destruction. (Adopting a vegetarian lifestyle helps the environment in this and many other ways.)

Vast forests are burned so that the area can be cleared quickly for grazing land. In 1997, these fires burned for so long in Borneo and Sumatra that the air was unbreathable in Singapore, the Philippines, and even parts of Thailand and China². Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Haiti, and many many more all have very little old growth forests left.

The fires of Borneo and Sumatra have devastating impacts beyond environmental implications. These two islands are the ONLY 2 places in the world where orangutans still live in the wild! Conservative estimates only give these amazing and intelligent apes 10-15 years before extinction... due in large part to the American lust for a fast food burger.

Once the vegetation and trees are removed, heavy rains carry away the soil and fields quickly degrade to barren scrubland. In some areas, land clearing has resulted in climate changes that have turned once lush forests into deserts³. This is known as desertification and is not reversible. Once an area becomes barren of its nutrients, there is no way to revive the land. Animals lose their habitat, biodiversity (vital to human survival) is destroyed, and using the land to grow crops in a sustainable way is no longer an option. All of this destruction for reasons as trivial as a fast food chain moving into a forested area to reap just a few short years of cattle grazing land for the glutinous Western appetite.

References

¹ The Ecology of Hope: Communities Collaborate for Sustainability, Ted Bernard & Jora Young, New Society Publishers, p. 8.

² Environmental Science: A Global Concern, William Cunningham & Barbara Saigo, McGraw Hill, 2001, p. 312.

³ ibid, p. 321.