Environmentalism worldview paper
By Ryan Ngo
About Us
Introductioin
As Christians, we are called to rule over nature and manage them in a way that pleases our Father. Yet in recent centuries, Earth’s biodiversity is under threat due to the pollutions and natural disturbances we have caused. Since we are God’s stewards, we must repair the damages we have inflicted on the environment. In order to restore biodiversity, ecosystems must be designated as natural reserves that encompass a large area, maintain a moderate level of natural disturbances, and are protected from unfavorable interactions with humans.
Body Paragraph 1
Sizable natural reserves are better than small ones.
Natural reserves must encompass a big area to maximize biodiversity existing in the reserve. An important reason to maximize its species diversity is that its inhabitants suffer an elevated risk of disease when genetic diversity is lacking. Without a variety of healthy genetic material circulating, reserve individuals are at greater risk of receiving disease-prone genes. This is because there are few to no other healthy genes circulating in the protected area. And besides that, they may also lack the genetic variation necessary for adapting to a changing environment. There are two reasons why bigger reserves maintain more species than smaller ones. Firstly, they have enough resources for all species to sustain a minimum viable population. The minimum viable population is the minimum population size required for a species to survive and reproduce the next generation. In the academic journal “How to resolve the S.L.O.S.S. debate?”, JM Diamond concluded that a spacious reserve is required for every species to maintain a minimum viable population. Hence, only a sizable reserve could ensure the survival of all species in the next generation. Secondly, big reserves are less vulnerable to the invasion of alien species. The term “alien species” refers to introduced species that inflict damage to an ecosystem. According to the Mongabay magazine, tiny reserves are very vulnerable to them: they would not only introduce diseases and alien plant seeds, but they would also attack and prey on the reserve natives. Through building big reserves, we prevent them from becoming overabundant as we have a high and diverse population of native species that keeps their abundance in check. One might argue for establishing small-sized reserves instead of large ones on the grounds that they are prone to the spread of disease. Yet tiny reserves are equally vulnerable for the following reason: Because they have fewer inhabitants, an epidemic could infect most of their inhabitants in a shorter amount of time. And with this said, the argument could be refuted.
Testimonials
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Moderate levels of natural disturbance are necessary in natural reserves
Moderate levels of natural disturbances must also be created in reserves since doing so maximizes species diversity. Given that the term “natural disturbances” refers to any event that destroys animal lives and habitats, one could “reasonably” conclude them to be undesirable in reserves. So who in the right mind would want to create such “destructive forces” ? Although this is partially true, experiments have proved disturbances to serve a greater good in ecosystems – moderate levels of them create high animal diversity- In the book “Biology”, biologist Mr. Stevens reported the results of an ecological study studying the effects of natural disturbances. “Ecologists in New Zealand compared the richness of invertebrate taxa living in…streams exposed to different frequencies and intensities of flooding. When flooding occurred…very frequently or rarely, invertebrate richness was low…Invertebrate richness peaked in streams that had an intermediate frequency or intensity of flooding…” Thus, the most diverse habitats are ones that suffer the mildest levels of disturbance. In the book “biology”, biologist Mr. Cain wrote about high levels of disturbances reducing animal diversity because they create environmental stresses that few living organisms could tolerate. He also mentioned how low levels of disturbances create less diverse ecosystems because no forces of nature could keep the abundance of dominant species in check. Thus, other animals will be outnumbered by their abundance. The idea of advocating for mild levels of disturbances is also known as the intermediate disturbance hypothesis. And in the book “Biology”, biologist Mr. Jackson defines it to be the theory that suggests habitats to most diverse when ecological disturbances are neither too serious nor absent.
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Natural Reserves must be secluded from
harmful human interactions
Lastly, natural reserves must be protected from unfavorable interactions with humans to ensure the safety of its inhabitants. In the book “5 top ways to save endangered African wildlife”, Russ Harris defines the term “human-wildlife conflict” as the negative consequences that result from any harmful contact between men and wild creatures. An example of this would be the deaths of kangaroos trying to cross a highway. Other examples include the abuses inflicted when elephants perform in circuses, pose in photos, give rides to tourists, etc. Since such conflicts resulted in many animal deaths, we should protect reserve individuals from them. We can prevent such contact through building movement corridors, which prevent crashes with human vehicles as wild beasts migrate between habitats. And in an article from the Buffalo News, Joan Jimerson suggested another method prevent human-wildlife conflicts: “The solution to human-wildlife conflict is…educating the public on the responsibilities we humans bear towards the creatures…” However, one might continue to facilitate harmful animal-human interactions for economic reasons: Activities such as elephant-riding, dolphin-spotting, and tiger selfies generate great profits for wildlife tourism. These harmful human-animal interactions pose a risk for human-wildlife conflict due to the negative physiological and psychological impacts on wild creatures. Nevertheless, eliminating them means missing out on economic profits. Thus, many reserves would continue to facilitate these harmful activities. Such a stance is unethical as it undermines the intrinsic value of nature and sees it as a money-making machine. This counter-argument is unethical, so it should be refuted.
Conclusion
Given the importance of biodiversity to the wellbeing of nature, it is of utmost importance that we take action to protect it through building natural reserves. As I conclude my message, I would like to exhort global governments to establish large natural reserves in that they sustain more species than reserve of limited sizes; I would like to beseech them to create moderate levels of natural disturbances in reserves in order to foster the most species-diversity; I would like to adjure them to protect animals from any undesirable contact with humans in order to eliminate any risks of animal death. Psalm 24:1 tells us that ‘The earth is the Lord’s’. And with this said, it would be shameful to not uphold the gospel of restoration ecology and conservation biology. The crusade to recover biodiversity will be glorified by God and man forever and ever. And you can take part in this quest by managing natural reserves in this manner.
Reflection
This paper is a turning point in my writing career. Coming from a local school background, I had struggled with English writing since Grade 6. I rarely gained decent marks on my essays, and I had no idea how to improve my papers. Yet while embarking this assignment, I felt determined to make a change. Through proof-reading my grammar constantly and eliminating any unnecessary words, my wordy, confusing paragraphs mutated into concise and eloquent sentences. Because my words were now easy to comprehend, my writing work was rewarded with the grade of “A-“. Since then, I became confident at writing English papers. And as time flies by, I would be capable of designing entertaining essays with great eloquence and mastery.
Rough Draft + Peer Edit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HIgOUh5o0Qslf73Yjq6iQr8uueXsvC1WTfIbTBfwLNE/edit?usp=sharing
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