Journal -
Shiva/Biodiversity
This journal
entry is based on the excerpt What Is Biodiversity
and Why Is It So Important? from Vandana Shiva’s book Tomorrow’s Biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety of the numerous
types of life forms throughout the earth. We need biodiversity to have
sustainability on the planet.
“Biodiversity
is the very fabric of life-it provides the conditions for life’s emergence and
maintenance, and the many different ways in which that life is expressed” (Text
pg. 38)
This quote
is something that on a day to day basis is not something I generally think
about but it is very true. If there was just one life form on the planet it would
be very difficult to exist in the way that we do. Humans need animals and
plants to survive. They provide nutrition as food. They provide oxygen through
the process of photosynthesis.
http://www.giglig.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/photosynthesis.jpg
Plants are also dependent on other organisms.
Animals decomposing carcasses are a good source of fertilization for growing
plants. However, for humans it is easy to forget that we are all a part of the
circle of life and we must do the things necessary to maintain conditions for
these other organisms to survive.
“Human
beings are clearly highly ignorant of other members of the Earth Family and, at
least in the Western worldview, have thought of themselves as sitting on top of
a biodiversity pyramid or tree rather than forming a part of a complex web of
life.” (Text pg. 44)
As people,
especially in the United States we forget that our actions have consequences.
We are so concerned with our own technological advances that we do not always
think about the negative effects that our actions have. Take for example what
happened with the BP oil spill in 2010. It was a man-made accident but created
huge devastation that lasted for several years. It affected the business of the
people on the gulf coast, and killed a large number of animals.
“Biodiversity
is not just a conservation issue, it is an issue affecting economic survival”
(Text pg. 50).
Reading this
excerpt was particularly enlightening because as I mentioned in the beginning
biodiversity is not something that I normally think about, and I would bet that
most other Americans do not either. The text explains how biodiversity is
connected to healthcare and nutrition. Nutrition is something that is easily
relatable to biodiversity, but it linking healthcare was something that was
more of an afterthought to me. An animal being a source of food is not all that
is important. They eat other animals, they pollinate flowers, and they
fertilize soil. We use plants are herbs and medicine. We all need each other to
survive and we must be more conscious that we do not destroy the very things we
need to exist.
