conserving our natural world

Nature and Animal Conservation

by Anup Shah
http://www.globalissues.org/EnvIssues/Nature.asp?p=1

As explained in the biodiversity section of this web site, conservation of ecosystems and the species within them would help to maintain the natural balances disrupted by recent human activity.
A report from the global conservation organization, WWF, has suggested that humans have destroyed more than 30 percent of the natural world since 1970.
However desirable conservation may seem, in reality it is a struggle.
It’s an Uphill Struggle to Conserve
Unfortunately, despite the effort put into conservation by organizations and activists, their work can easily be undermined by those who have other interests. This occurs, for example, from illegal poaching, to influencing or manipulating laws designed to protect species.
The current form of globalization has also been criticized for ignoring sustainable development and environmental concerns. For many years, critics, NGOs, activists and affected peoples have been accusing large corporations for being major sources of environmental problems.
Consequently, helping species and ecosystems to survive becomes more difficult.

My View

After reading this article, i must say i was shocked. Not because this is something new to me, which is not the case as i have read many articles concerning the conservation of the ecosystem. it was the part which stated that we humans have destroyed more than 30% of the natural world since 1970. All these destructions were caused by our actions.
About 30 years have passed since 1970 and we have already destroyed 30%of our natural world. this comes to about 10% every 10 years. At this rate we are going, in the next 70 years we are going to completely wipe out the entire natural world! Tell me this news isn't shocking!
From the article, conservation organisations and activists have put in a lot of effort in trying to stop the destruction of the natural world and their efforts sometimes go unnoticed. Why? Because there are selfish people out there who only care about their personal interest and the world revolves only around them. From illegal poaching to manipulating laws designed to protect the endangered species, nothing seem to be able to stop them. They do not realise the damage that they are doing. They are disrupting the ecosystem and the species within them which maintains the natural balance.
However they might argue that they are resorting to all these actions to make a living. But does making a living include actions which put others in disadvantage? Laws are implemented for a reason and not something for someone to manipulate and feel great about it. Think about it, the declining numbers of endangered animals getting wiped out at this rate, extinction is on inevitable. Can you imagine one day when your child can only know how a lion or a tiger look like through picture books and not be able to actually see them because they have extinct as a result of our actions? Scary isn't it but it is one possible scenario.
It is difficult to come down on people or companies that are destroying the natural world, but if the government believes in the importance of conserving the natural world, then i believe that they would be able to slow down the rate of destruction. We must all cooperate and work together, along with organisations to raise awareness on conservatism of our natural world. Ways such as giving talks in schools and organising fairs and exhibition to educate people.
In conclusion, i really hope that people would think not only about ourselves but also about the world we are passing on to the next generation and also think about what kind of world we would want to see.