It’s inevitable that at some stage, someone will say to me “why are you making animal conservationWhy is animal conservation important? Animal conservation is important, because animals are the only mechanism to create biodiversity, which is the mechanism that creates a habitable planet for humans. Without animals, the energy from today’s plants (algae, trees, flowers etc) will eventually reach the atmosphere and ocean, much of it as carbon. The quantity of this plant-based waste is so More all about humans?” I sympathise with this view. When I see the suffering we inflict on wildlife, I too feel the world might be better off without us. But that would be the most anthropocentric view of all. When it comes to humans and mass extinctionAnimal life hasn't existed for very long on planet Earth. In the last 500 million years, there have been five mass extinctions, defined as events that wiped out at least 75% of animal life. The Devonian mass extinction is considered to have been caused by the rise of plants on land, which polluted the oceans in the absence of animals. More, it won’t help us.
To that person, I would say “humans are animals”.
Anthropocentrism, philosophical viewpoint arguing that human beings are the central or most significant entities in the world. Western religions and philosophies hold this basic belief. Anthropocentrism regards humans as separate from and superior to nature. Exploitation of animals, plants, mineral resources and so on, holds as human life has intrinsic value. Humankind exploits this for its own benefit.
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Victims or equals?
If we try to preserve animals for their own sake we inevitably make them into victims. It’s a principal reason why we don’t take animal conservation seriously enough. It would be like society trying to address gender inequality without recognising that a society where men and women are equal is stronger. We should be giving everyone equal opportunity instead. Conservation is about mutual respect and compassion for other animals, as much as our society is about respect and compassion of other people and family.
If we try to preserve animals for their own sake, we inevitably make them into victims which I think is a principle reason why we don’t currently take animal conservation seriously-enough.
The European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) has shown gender equality can boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by over 10%. In a similar way, equality among animals maintains trophic pyramidsThe gradual reduction in energy content, increase in body size and reduction in number of animals, that occurs the higher you go up the food chain. At the base of the pyramid are a vast number of high-metabolism, tiny creatures and at the summit, are the top predators. To be stable, the pyramid has to have creatures at all levels. More, which boosts ecosystem productivityThe power of an ecosystem to process energy. The most productive ecosystems have reached a steady stable-state with maximum entropy production. That’s to say, the number of species has reached an optimum and the functions they fulfil, have translated free surplus energy into nutrients that is either stored inside plants and animals, or is entrained within the biological cycles that More.
Our evolution and role alongside other animals
The evolution to Homo sapien happened about 300,000 years ago and we were one in a long line of animals. It happened because that was the outcome most likely to stabilise our planet’s ecosystemsHow ecosystems function An ecosystem is a community of lifeforms that interact in such an optimal way that how ecosystems function best, is when all components (including humans and other animals) can persist and live alongside each other for the longest time possible. Ecosystems are fuelled by the energy created by plants (primary producers) that convert the Sun's heat energy More at the time. The only perspective we have is centred on ourselves, because we live inside our own human minds. As conservationists however, if we knowingly or even subconsciously view animals and people as separate, we are being as anthropocentric as those who care little about animals at all.
Humans are just another animal among the millions of species that have come and gone over time. Earth’s pendulum meanwhile, has swung backwards and forwards, seeking a steady stable-state(of an ecosystem) where free surplus energy is minimised, where there is maximum entropy production and minimum waste. In such a system, there is expected to be relatively small fluctuations in atmospheric and other chemistry and where disruption or disturbance occurs, the resulting changes can be absorbed quickly by a succession of new plants and animals that enter to fill More.
The importance of conservation
When I talk about animals as the mechanism for human food security and climate stability, I’m not simply talking about human survival. I’m making the point that the existence of healthy animal populations is what regulates stable climate. Fertile soil, clean water and rich fisheries are all a consequence of conservation. Avoiding mass extinction is linked to the success of animals, including humans, as the two are tightly linked.
The fact is that we are animals. We can’t feed ourselves or have stable climate without all the other animals. This is the reason why we need wildlife conservation. Animals are seen by conservationists as something important to have and many others, as an annoyance. The only thing that will unite the two, is if there is a realisation that animals are in fact, the mechanism for all animal survival, including human animals.
What could less anthropocentric than that?
