Is It Possible to Restore a Balance between the Conservation of the Natural Environment and the Growing Global Needs of Humans

The boundaries between maintenance and the expansion of humanity should be known clearly by everyone, because nature is so unpredictable yet fragile that we should not be continuing to develop and expand blindly. One individual who shares such sentiment is Michael Pollan, in his book “The Idea of a Garden” he talked about a massive tornado which devastated a familiar forest of pines in New England. In the aftermath of this natural disaster, there was a debate about how they were going to clean up such a mess. Two solutions were provided, the first was to let nature as it is and not bother to replace anything that was lost. The second solution was make a huge overhaul, and cut down everything in the forest in order to plant new trees, as a result their descendants can enjoy the radiance that once was. The common theme was that

One argument made by those who take on the role of being a spokesperson for the environment is that nature ought to be restored to its original state with the help of science. Science, the study of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment, is thought to be an objective activity which has the ability to produce impartial results. A person would be able to accurately assess the natural state of an area with the use of scientific research and with those results be able to determine what

In contrast to the upheaval of animals in a development area, humans also make efforts to preserve biodiversity and forests by creating wild life

Ecosystems can be restored by retaining and restoring the ecological sustainability of watersheds, forests, and rangelands for present and future generations.

Ecosystems is the dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment that work together to form a functional unit and they are constantly changing due to the fluctuating equilibrium from natural stress and human action which has had adversarial impacts on ecosystems. This is evident in Minnamurra rainforest as human induced modifications and environmental stresses had resulted in a vulnerable ecosystem. Furthermore, the removal of factors that contribute to the vulnerability of an ecosystem is important as it affect the functioning of the ecosystem as processes are accelerated, biodiversity is decreased which greatly affects humans. Despite the negative effects caused by humans, they have discovered that ecosystems are susceptible from harm caused by natural environmental factors or human impacts and realised the importance of protecting and managing ecosystems therefore have implemented management strategies that are supposed to prevent further detriment and as a consequence may induce resiliency.

Restoration ecologists study the ecological communities before humans had any interaction with it. The importance of this study is that if the ecosystem can’t function we are able to do something about it.

The audience of this book is presumed to be the general person who is not fully intact with the ideas that he or she is disrupting the ecosystem and is not aware of the effects they are doing as a whole. The book argues that no ecosystem is completely inert as things such as climate changes or drought can also affect the enviorment. Without human interaction an environment can still have issues, but the introduction of human life and economy does take a grave toll on the climate. These are irreversible effects that mankind are doing to the ecosystem. The English

The process of monitoring these projects on restoration efforts and as well as methods of evaluation the future and present management action ought to be carried with some lots of care. However, monitoring such project are guided and conducted according to stipulated process in the ecological risk assessment as well as what the policy say on the issue at hand. The issue regarding global climate change needs one to alter the management plans in such a way to accommodate the change brought by the global climate change (Ogden, J. C., Davis, S. M., Jacobs, K. J., Barnes, T., & Fling, H. E.

In the state of Nebraska, 93% of all land is used as agriculture. With such a high percentage, this puts Nebraska as the third highest state with corn exports. And although the state is doing well by selling corn and raising cattle, 40% of biodiversity was lost in the past 40 years (Von Roenn). Environmental anthropologists are working hard to preserve land and solve problems in development; although what was lost cannot be regrown overnight. Von Roenn suggests five main steps to restoring our environment. Collect rainwater, create our own resources, retrofit the home so it cools and heats itself and reduce

I agree with Anderson’s idea of making use of restoration techniques used by California natives because it focuses on conservation through action rather than a “hands off” approach. The California native techniques may be useful because it can help caretakers actively participate in restoration of flora and fauna while learning about their habitat and what makes them flourish. The natives were also concerned with “a sense of respect which consequently promoted habitat heterogeneity, increased biodiversity, and a well maintained vegetation system” (Anderson 2005). If caretakers can take native management techniques and combine it with their background of sciences concerning the natural world they can come up with a whole new technique of restoration

For almost as long as humans have been on Earth, we have changed landscapes drastically to suit our needs, historically often without regard to the damage caused in the process. This has changed over time, with the passing of legislation like the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act, the creation of national and state parks, and efforts being made to restore degraded ecosystems. While we may never see perfect natural systems again, especially in areas heavily populated by humans, reconciliation is possible. Reconciliation ecology takes the concepts of restoration ecology, in which managers seek to restore an ecosystem to how it used to be at a particular time, and combines them with inevitable human presence. It uses these factors

Integration of ecological, social, and economic goals and recognition of humans as key components of the ecosystem………………………………………………………..............3

Ecological restoration and environmental sustainability are both intertwined and connected because ecological restoration, in fact, directly affects environmental sustainability. Ecological restoration is a means of sustaining the diversity of re-establishing an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture and sustaining the diversity of life on Earth and constitutes a degraded or polluted area and returning it to a more “natural” state which helps contribute to sustainability. In urban areas, this typically involves planting trees, removing invasive species, and picking up trash; this is exactly what I did with help from the Mountains to Sound Greenway organization.

White’s thesis in The Historical Roots of our Ecological Crisis states that in order to confront the expanding environmental crises, humans must begin to analyze and alter their treatment and attitudes towards nature. The slow destruction of the environment derives from the Western scientific and technological advancements made since the Medieval time period. “What people do about their ecology depends on what they think about themselves in relation to things around them” (RON p.7). Technology and science alone will not be able to save humans until we adjust the way of thinking and suppress the old ideas of humans power above nature. Instead, we need to learn how to think of ourselves as being

The health of the earth degrades with the destructive activity of human beings. A recent study by a group of scientists looked at twenty four different services that the earth’s ecosystems provide for humans, ecosystem services, and found that fifteen of them are in need of desperate help (Gazette 31 March 2005). These services are vital to the survival of both human and nonhuman life and include filtering water and providing nutrient rich soils and ocean waters. Many of the members of these various ecosystems are also decreasing in numbers. In a British survey of bird populations found that in the 200 birds of Britain tracked there was about a 54% population decrease between the 1968-1971 tacking period and the 1988-1991 tacking period. In two other surveys of 254 native plant species from the same area there was a decrease of about 28% during the past 40 years. Humans are pushing the sixth mass extinction (Gazette March 19, 2004).