environmental enhancement again

[Ron Gatrelle]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX" <Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca>


snip
> Some people may be shy about sharing anecdotal information for fear of
being
> dumped on or pooh-poohed by those few people who only value empirical
> information. Please speak up and share your knowledge without regard for
> what some other people may think - we all have useful knowledge. Who
speaks
> for the butterflies ? Lots of us :-)
>


But many voices have been or are being gagged.  A whole lot of people and
groups think they are the only ones who should speak as they are the ones
who "really" understand.   In my view this can in all cases be attributed
to a myopic tunnel vision on the part of said individuals or groups.
Example: They are so focused on whales, or old growth forests, or
domesticated animals for immoral eating, or oil spills and pollution, etc.
infinitum that everything else in nature revolves around or is secondary to
that which has their attention, ire, and money.

These individuals and groups are always self-evident - they are 1)
accusatory and thus 2) exclusionary.   Take the Miami Blue situation as an
example.  Which people and groups are 1) open armed (sees everyone as
potential helpers) vs. that which paints collectors (no matter what their
credentials or impeccable personal character) as villains, and thus 2)
invites and includes all parties vs. that which excludes collectors from
the information and recovery loop (as they are quarantined as a - or even
the - major cause for species decline)?


Humans are a part of nature as much or more so than any other animal.  How
ironic that only after it is too late do the myopic anti-people people find
that while humans indeed can be overly reproductive and environmentally
disruptive (like any other organism given the right environment),  their
tree cutting, burning, plowing, domesticated grazing, road building and
many other activities _came about_  as part of evolutional balance to
offset the loss of massive wild grazing herds, massive natural forest
fires, floods so big they dramatically altered the course of rivers, etc.
.

More often than not, butterflies need open spaces -- and something or
someone has to open them up.  The natural world is not a cute place - it is
a violent competitive place.  All elements of all "systems" (from eco to
solar)  are in competition.  Nothing is static or permanent or safe.  We
are told that our Sun and planet will eventually become extinct.  Unless a
life form "evolves" to the point that it figures out how to get out of here
before then nothing will remain or even be remembered.   Could it be
possible that what is so often labeled today as the world's worse problem
(humans) are actually its greatest blessing?  That which will unravel all
the "secrets" of life and learn how to bring even that which is extinct
back into existence?  Will it leave this rock alone or take "every living
thing" here with it?   Has this already happened in time and space?  I know
this is too big a picture and too far off.  Well, sometimes when someone or
some group has such narrow environmental or conservation tunnel vision - or
are too short sighted - or too enamored in their own delusions of power -
something extreme might help stretch their horizons (to open their minds)
and shrink their egos (to open their arms) - just a bit.

We are in the Age of Man not Dinosaurs - and (unfortunately perhaps) we
will just have to see how this plays out - because nobody or no group is
big enough to do anything about it.  This does not mean we should not put
our finger in the dike or stop speaking "on behalf of".

Ron Gatrelle




 
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