Re: Fwd: Re: Species Conservation

[Doug Brown <debrown@kodak.com>]

Ed:

>As a matter of fact, it seems as though the Aquatic
>Conservation Network and other similar groups make me feel guilty about
>not doing enough to "save this planet."

Guilt = $$$. A method pioneered by religious organizations and adopted by
charities. Resist guilt. <G>

>It's true that no one person or
>group of people can "save this planet"--but it seems to me that if more
>and more people come over to this way of thinking, that there is some
>hope.  If more and more people decide that it's hopeless, then the fight
>is over.

But what exactly is it that you're fighting for? Do you really want to try
and preserve the entire planet in its current state? First you'll have to
stop technological advancement and the (human) population explosion. Not
possible. As Tsuh Yang Chen points out everyone wants a house, a car and a
TV. If I'm going to fight I want to have a chance at winning. I believe we
can save important habitats, but the whole effort needs to be better
managed. A few peasants throwing pebbles at the castle aren't going to
bring down the King. Wow Doug, that was a good one. To me the attempt to
"save" Madagascar cichlids that can never be returned to their native
habitat is a waste of resources - these people could be doing something a
lot more useful. As for what they could be doing ...

Tsuh Yang Chen:

>i just had to comment about the "educate third world countries" part ...

A sobering all too true reminder of the big picture. Well put. But I am
neither pointing fingers nor blaming anyone for anything. The first world
countries have destroyed or at least greatly impacted much of their local
environments. On the other hand, I would bet that many more first world
than third world residents are at least aware of the ecological impact of
their actions. There remains many large scale wild habitats and these exist
(somewhat by definition), primarily in less developed or third world
countries. If we want to save these habitats we have to prevent the current
tenants (or anyone else of course) from doing what we did with ours. Let's
get to them before they get damaged. The first step, as activists tell us,
is awareness. Once the locals have an understanding of how their future is
related to how they treat their environment, some of them will care. We're
in business then.

A key issue for me is that we need to focus conservation forces
effectively. As I've said before, IMO it's much more important to try and
preserve critical habitats than to save individual species.

I was overjoyed to read the post on how a Peruvian village was being taught
to subsist on catching fish for hobbyists and to care properly for the
fish, and thereby to hopefully gain some appreciation for the area as a
habitat that they will want to maintain. Even the fish may benefit. Without
knowing anything about the fish population, this "culling" can result in a
healthier wild stock. But that's another story.

- -Doug Brown
debrown@kodak.com