Finding Your Place in Nature
[735 Words]
Do Save-the-Environment Messages Need Some Selfishness?
Candice Gaukel Andrews
[EPV0069_Web.jpg] As someone who loves wild, natural places, you’ve
heard plenty of dire environmental alerts and communications. There are more
tigers in people’s backyards than there are in the wild. Rhinos are being poached
to the point of extinction. The last Galápagos giant tortoise from Pinta Island has
passed away. Plant species are disappearing at an alarming rate. It’s enough to
make you feel that there’s nothing you can do to stop this runaway train of
biodiversity loss.
It’s no wonder you feel that way. Images and stories about polar bears
being unable to hunt on disintegrating ice floes and big wads of plastic in the
ocean that are killing marine mammals and fish by the tens of thousands inspire
hopelessness regarding conservation efforts. Whether you’re a preservationist or
a conservationist, it’s enough to make you ask why you should invest any time
or money in saving plant and animal species whose demise is imminent.
Those who subscribe to the tenets of neuro-conservation believe what is
needed is a radical change in our environmental messaging — especially in these
economic hard times when monies and donated funds are scarce. Instead of
showing the plight of other species, we should communicate how a loss of
biodiversity will directly affect us — or so the theory goes.
In other words, it’s time to put a little selfishness in our environmental
calls to action. [MORE]
But how does this affect me?
[KS5O9247-1_Web.jpg] Preserving native plant and animal species —
especially on the other side of the globe — may not seem like a top priority when
you’re struggling to put food on the table or you’re dealing with how to care for
aging parents. But some day, you might be thankful that a rich, biodiverse world
exists.
Currently, a scientific team from Rutgers University in New Jersey is
exploring the link between biodiversity and human disease. Using various plots
of land, they are comparing the number of plant species, bird species, and the
prevalence of West Nile virus within that particular spot’s mosquito populations.
Previous studies have shown that areas with high bird diversity tend to have
present less West Nile virus, which mosquitoes can transmit from birds to
people. Since each bird species depends on specific plant species for nesting and
foraging, by reducing plant diversity, you reduce bird diversity as well.
The strongest carriers of West Nile virus tend to be the kinds of perching
birds (crows, grackles, house sparrows, and robins) that are predominant in
disturbed, fragmented, and less-diverse habitats. By contrast, the types of birds
that are most populous in undisturbed woodlands, wetlands, and prairies tend
to carry little of the virus in their bloodstreams. Across the nation, in fact, bird
diversity has been a significant buffer against the spread of West Nile virus to
humans.
And it’s already been shown that in tropical regions, when deforestation
decreases mosquito diversity, surviving mosquito species tend to be more
effective carriers of malaria.
There are other compelling reasons to care about biodiversity loss in
regions of the world that are far remote from you. Most drugs in common use
today derive directly or indirectly from natural sources. But less than one percent
of the world’s plants have been analyzed for their medical potential. Meanwhile,
plant extinction rates have accelerated to levels hundreds of times higher than
those seen in pre-industrial times. [cr11-15697_Web.jpg]
Hope vs. despair
Neuro-conservation advocates say that in order to motivate people to care
about and act upon environmental issues and the loss of biodiversity, we need to
stress the positive benefits that we, ourselves, will gain — rather than how
conservation efforts will help other species. Appeals for support that show the
horrific scope of a problem — often accompanied by a devastating photo —
usually end up alienating the very people they mean to inspire. That
phenomenon is now known as “compassion collapse,” in which people wind up
feeling powerless and subsequently disengage from the issue.
I do know that I, for one, would rather hear the hopeful message that I
should help save tropical rain forests because 70 percent of plants with anticancer properties are native to that environment than I would that mining is
already threatening the plants and animals of Bryce Canyon National Park.
Do you think environmentalists need to change their media messages to
stress the benefits that we’ll gain, rather than the good we’ll do for other
species?
Here’s to finding your true places and natural habitats,
Candy
CAPTIONS:
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[EPV0069_Web.jpg] Some day, you might be thankful that a rich, biodiverse
world exists. ©Eric Rock
[KS5O9247-1_Web.jpg] Photos of polar bears stranded on disintegrating ice can
sometimes inspire hopelessness regarding conservation efforts. ©Eric Rock
[cr11-15697_Web.jpg] Seventy percent of the plants with anti-cancer properties
are native to tropical rain forests. ©Patrick J. Endres
LINKS:
natural places,
http://www.nathab.com/
tigers in people’s backyards
http://goodnature.nathab.com/the-desire-for-tigers-is-it-enough/
Rhinos
http://goodnature.nathab.com/rhino-relocation/
poached
http://goodnature.nathab.com/bhutan-takes-measures-against-wildlifepoaching/
Galápagos
http://www.nathab.com/galapagos/
passed away.
http://goodnature.nathab.com/lonesome-george-i-will-miss-you/
alarming rate.
http://goodnature.nathab.com/assisting-migration-could-be-aiding-extinction/
polar bears
http://www.nathab.com/polar-bear-tours/
plastic in the ocean
http://blog.gaiam.com/blog/if-i-call-for-your-attention-will-it-pick-up/
marine mammals
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http://www.nathab.com/arctic-and-north/churchill-an-arctic-summer/
preservationist or a conservationist,
http://blog.gaiam.com/blog/should-natural-areas-be-preserved-%E2%80%94or-conserved-for-our-benefit/
neuro-conservation
http://blog.gaiam.com/blog/is-neuro-conservation-the-new-hope-forenvironmental-messages/
funds are scarce.
http://blog.gaiam.com/blog/as-hunter-numbers-decline-how-will-we-fundwildlife-conservation/
biodiversity
http://goodnature.nathab.com/biodiversity-by-design/
bird
http://goodnature.nathab.com/its-raining-birds/
reduce bird diversity
http://goodnature.nathab.com/last-of-her-kind-footage-of-an-imperialwoodpecker/
crows,
http://goodnature.nathab.com/send-in-the-crows/
fragmented,
http://goodnature.nathab.com/turtle-runways-and-pronghorn-highways/
nation,
http://www.nathab.com/america/
tropical regions,
http://www.nathab.com/latin-america/
positive benefits
http://theadventurecorner.explorerscorner.com/2011/07/take-a-hike-get-abigger-brain/
tropical rain forests
http://www.nathab.com/latin-america/jewels-of-costa-rica/
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anti-cancer properties
http://www.ehow.com/about_5089387_rainforest-plants-used-curedisease.html
mining
http://goodnature.nathab.com/starry-nights-in-danger-at-bryce-canyonnational-park/
Bryce Canyon National Park.
http://www.nathab.com/america/canyons-southwest/
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