If we don't do this there will be nothing left to save

“Despite all our achievements, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains”

Farm equipment association of Minnesota and South Dakota

We see ourselves as separate from nature; uniquely blessed, bestowed, or chanced with intelligence, reasoning, and communication skills that facilitate limitless mastery over our environment and circumstances through technology, ingenuity, and collaboration. The hubris with which our species carries this unfounded entitlement to shape, destroy, and re-mould the earth to suit our every desire, impulse, and vice is as arresting as it is disheartening. This mentality brazenly flaunts an inherited ability as though it were a heavenly-sanctioned right to power, granting the sweeping authority to expand, extract, and escape with impunity; like the haughty children of aristocrats who believe their blood bluer than that of anyone else.

In short, I worry our deliberate disconnectedness from nature fosters a mentality of devaluation and disregard; the baseless hubris of our species’ dominion providing the moral licensing for this disrespect; and, in a cycle of cruel irony, that this very degradation of the natural world diminishes and extinguishes the very character that makes it so valuable (1).

When the environment is seen only as an exploitable reserve comprised of constituent timber, coal, ore, and topsoil, then its exploitation is morally and legally sanctioned, and economically encouraged, resulting in the actual depreciation of the beauty, biodiversity, and climatologically functional of our shared environment.

And because of this I worry…

How can we demonstrate the value of the natural world and what is at stake to the disengaged or disinterested within this critical timeframe of our present anthropocene era?

How can we demonstrate its value, as more of it becomes more polluted and dismantled every moment?

At present, in my country of Australia, legislative foundations for environmental and biodiversity preservation are unable to provide the protection required to withstand emerging threats like climate change. Without reform, we may continue to see decline and extinction of our most threatened plants, animals, and ecosystems (2).

“We have this almost zombie-like system where the laws say you have to look after critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable species – and we know the community support protecting our threatened species – but when it comes to implementation, it’s like a giant machine that generates no action.” - Schneiders, L (5)

Present threats are so significant that even such species as the platypus, so unquestionably iconic to Australia’s identity and history in both Aboriginal and post-colonial times, is now placed at risk of extinction (3). This risk comes amid a broader context of advancing species extinction, with an unconscionable 34 Australian mammals now permanently wiped from planet earth (4), together colouring Australia with an international reputation for wildlife loss. Drivers such as land clearing for reasons like urban, forestry, and agricultural development (5,6), along with environmental degradation, invasive species (predators and weeds), fire, and climate change (6) are the chief factors behind species decline.

Furthermore, it is important to note that native plant species are in no way spared from this looming wave of extinction, with forces such as rapid urbanisation and land clearing (7) along with increasingly frequent bushfires (8) also representing present and large-scale threats for this kind of life.

In short, human activities continue to encroach on native ecosystems and consequently, much of the world’s biodiversity is being pushed into marked decline. On a global scale, massive human consumption and resource demands which far outstretches planetary boundaries is a key driver underscoring species extinction (9, 11). Additionally, global warming is already exerting a powerful effect on both plant and animal species adapted to an existence within a relatively stable and predictable climate. This is evidenced in phenomenon such as the ‘escalator to extinction’ wherein animals such as birds must ascend to live at higher and higher altitudes on an ever-warming planet, and ultimately risk losing all available habitat and becoming extinct (10).

At a global level, current measures are woefully inadequate with recent reports demonstrating a failure of countries to fully meet a single one of the 20 targets that were set forth in The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in Aichi, Japan in 2010 (11). Far from E. O. Wilson’s vision of a Half Earth, a paltry 15% of land and freshwater, and around 7% of ocean (11,12) is currently considered protected (made a qualifying statement as the very definition of ‘protected’ and its enforcement are open to interpretation).

“The CBD goals and targets are very biodiversity-focused, but they’re not necessarily owned by the agencies that deal with the drivers and pressures” - David Obura

So long as current human activities proceed without radical change, ecosystem loss and degradation and species extinction will follow, and the capacity for our environment to provide clean water, fertile soil, inspiration, and joy, will disappear along with it.

“They say pain makes people change. I can attest it is true. The pain and loss of this year has tested my personal resilience and reshaped my beliefs.

Last year, had I sat before you, I would have constructed a different statement. I would have urged Australia to commit to the important international targets of Paris and CBD[…] I sit here today prepared to say in public it is too late. Too late to continue as we are. Too late to continue with our old plans. And, I am done.

[…] I believed it before, but I know it now. We have run out of time. Climate change is already with us.“

- Dr Margi Prideaux (12)

T Michniewicz, 04/07/2021

Reference

1. Alberro, H (2019) ‘Humanity and nature are not separate - we must see them as one to fix the climate crisis’[online]. The Conversation. 18 September. Available at: <https://theconversation.com/humanity-and-nature-are-not-separate-we-must-see-them-as-one-to-fix-the-climate-crisis-122110> [Accessed: 26/04/2021].

2. Walmsley, R (2021) ‘Trajectory unsustainable: 10 key findings of the EPBC Act review final report’. Environmental Defenders Office. 4 February. Available at: <https://www.edo.org.au/2021/02/04/trajectory-unsustainable-10-key-findings-of-the-epbc-act-review-final-report/?fbclid=IwAR0yNPpIXKPsYH7Kje2gkS1eVvHIZmBYMoeme8rSBU-Lbj0PwEwsPcOn3i8> [Accessed: 09/06/2021].

3. Bino, G, Kingsford, R and Wintle, B (2020) ‘A stitch in time -synergistic impacts to platypus metapopulation extinction risk’. Biological Conservation. 242:108399. DOI:10.1016/j.bicon.2019.108399.

4. Foley, M (2021) ‘Australia’s share of extinct animals rises as list of the lost updated’[online]. Sydney Morning Herald. 3 March. Available at: <https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-s-climbs-the-list-of-wildlife-extinction-hotspots-20210303-p577dy.html> [Accessed: 10/06/2021].

5. Houston, D (2019) ‘Planning in the shadow of extinction: Carnaby’s Black cockatoos and urban development in Perth, Australia. Contemporary Social Science: Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences. 16(1). DOI:10.1080/21582041.2019.1660909.

6.Geyle, H, Tingley, R, Amey, A, Cogger, H, Couper, P, Cowan, M, Craig, M, Doughty, P, Driscoll, D, Ellis, R, Emery, J, Fenner, A, Gardner, M, Garnett, S, Gillespie, G, Greenlees, M, Hoskin, C, Keogh, S, Lloyd, R, Melville, J, McDonald, P, Michael, D, Mitchell, N, Sanderson, C, Shea, G, Sumner, J, Wapstra, E, Woinarski, J and Chapple, D (2021) ‘Reptiles on the brink: identifying the Australian terrestrial snake and lizard species most at risk of extinction’. Pacific Conservation Biology. 27:3-12. DOI:10.1071/PC20033.

7. Blair, J and Osmond, P (2020) ‘Employing green roofs to support endangered plant species: the Eastern suburbs banksia scrub in Australia’. Open Journal of Ecology. 10(3):99205. DOI:10.4236/oje.2020.103009.

8. Gallagher, R, Allen, S, Mackenzie, B, Yates, C, Gosper, C, Keith, D, Merow, C, White, M, Wenk, E, Maitner, B, He, K, Adams, V and Auld, T (2021) ‘High fire frequency and the impact of the 2019-2020 megafires on Australian plant diversity’. Diversity and Distributions. DOI:10.1111/ddi.13265.

9. Jones, J (2020) ‘‘Extinction: the facts’: Attenborough’s new documentary is surprisingly radical’. The Conversation. 15th September. Available at: <https://theconversation.com/extinction-the-facts-attenboroughs-new-documentary-is-surprisingly-radical-146127> [Accessed: 03/05/2021].

10. Conniff, R (2018) ‘Escalator to extinction: how mountain species are imperiled by warming’. Yale Environment 360. 13th November. Available at: <https://e360.yale.edu/features/escalator-to-extinction-can-mountain-species-adapt-to-climate-change> [Accessed: 03/05/2021].

11. Zimmer, K (2020) ‘The world missed a critical deadline to safeguard biodiversity, UN report says’. National Geographic Science News. 15th September. Available at: <https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/world-missed-critical-deadline-to-safeguard-biodiversity-un-report?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=social::src=facebook::cmp=editorial::add=fb20200915science-UNbiodiversitydeadline::rid=&sf237776923=1&fbclid=IwAR0jkq4K5GeRApgwmWftt8M-Tcw3oDNyALQdWmsGh0aOKnYE82k4LHJmem0>

12. Giakoumi, S, McGowan, J, Mills, M, Beger, M, Bustamante, R, Charles, A, Christie, P, Fox, M, Garcia-Borboroglu, P, Gelcich, S, Guidetti, P, Mackelworth, P, Maina, J, McCook, L, Micheli, F, Morgan, L, Mumby, P, Reyes, L, White, A, Grorud-Colvert, K and Possingham, H (2018) ‘Revisiting “Succes” and “Failure” of Marine Protected Areas: A conservation scientist perspective”. Frontiers in Marine Science. 29th June. DOI:10.3389/fmars.2018.00223.

13. Prideaux, M (2020) ‘Statement to the Senate Inquiry into Australia’s faunal extinction crisis’. Available at: <http://wildpolitics.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Prideaux-M_SpeciesExtinctionInquiryStatement_ONLINE20200930.pdf> [Accessed: 11/06/2021].

uiImage reference: Global Monitoring Laboratory (2021) ‘Trends in atmospheric carbon dioxide’[online]. Earth System Research Laboratories. Available at: <https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/ccgg/trends/> [Accessed: 26/04/2021].