Every breath of air we have ever taken, every drop of water
we have ever drunk, every square meal we have ever eaten and everything we have
ever owned; we owe it all to nature. To
quote Gautama Buddha, “The tree is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness
and benevolence and makes no demand for its sustenance, and extends generously
the products of its life. It offers protection to all beings, offering shade to
even the axemen who destroy it”. We demand so much of nature, which in return
asks nothing of us. Over the years, we have indiscriminately exploited nature
for our sustenance and if we continue to recklessly do so, we aren’t going to
last very long. This is where conservation and sustainable development come in.
Conservation and Sustainable development are two terms that
go hand in hand. Conservation is the act of guarding or protecting something
and Sustainable development is the idea that development in the present should
not compromise with the needs of the future generation. Unless we practice
conservation, the generations that succeed us will be forced to pay the price
of degradation and anguish for the progress of our time. The resources we use
are all limited and are not replenished so easily. Conservation of resources
and sustainable development is an issue that is advocated on the global level
today. There are many organisations that handle task of conserving the variety
of nature and wildlife or Biodiversity. Conservation Biology is the branch of
science which deals with the study of the Earth’s Biodiversity with aim of
protecting it.
We say that conservation is to protect and manage nature,
when it is really more of managing humans and their activities to prevent
further damage and decay to the environment. Nature can take care of itself and
can get along fine without our help, but people need nature. Take for example,
bees. If all the bees on our planet suddenly vanished or turned extinct, the
human race would lose out on more than a third of its food crops and vegetation
would start to decline rapidly. Within a few years the human race may be
entirely wiped out along with many species of animals and plants. However, if
the same were to happen to humans, if our race were to disappear of the face of
this planet, then life on earth will flourish. Nature will always find a way,
but humans are in big trouble.
For the continuity of our race to prolong, it is essential
we change our mindset and work towards our future without causing harm to our
environment. In the end it is true to say that, “We haven’t inherited this
world from our forefathers, rather we have borrowed it from our children’’.
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