In a conversation with Ron Thiessen of CPAWS Manitoba earlier this week, the constant struggle for conservationists came up again because, frankly, it never goes away.
In talking about the need for a paradigm shift, my thinking moves towards standing it on its head. We, as an ever-expanding, urban environment-loving society, apply all of our thinking towards - Develop first, Conserve later. You can see this in how we plan; buildings first, then trees to surround them: houses first, then how many trees can we maintain or add later: Communities first, then adding in surrounding greenspace. Seriously ?!? Are you kidding me? We rip it out, then put it back. Now, that's excellent planning (not).
When conservationists go into 'talks' with government, industry and local groups, there is always this come from behind sort of circumstance. The environment seems to be the last thing talked about, the last thing considered or if it becomes the topic of conversation, it's because it's getting in the way of something else. Yes, big, visual areas tend to do that considering we put our emphasis on something much smaller, like a building or a mine or even a farm. A farm is part of the environment, like everything else but it's not wilderness, so we need to distinguish between an environment that is constructed and one that is left intact - and there aren't many of those anymore either.
When we look out onto the wilderness, somewhere outside of our cities and towns, we see something big; but you can't always trust your eyes. What we see is trees, grasses, shrubs; What we miss is animal herds, migrating birds, replenishing watersheds. Mostly, we miss ourselves in this and think there's something wrong with that but that's not the case. The wilderness needs to be left to the 'wild'. It is what defines it and makes it part of what can sustain human life. On its own, it provides oxygen, minerals, water and those are things that humans need. In small amounts, it can provide us with recreation, vegetation and rest. But don't confuse what we think we can do with it and what it really should be doing. Humans are here as part of something and this is what we always forget. Because we can think and we can make and we can plan, we believe we should re-do this planet to our liking. Folly? You tell me. Seen the weather lately?
To hear some conversations on Canada's wilderness and conservation efforts, go online to So Fine Canada this Sunday Sept 4th @ 10 am pacific and 1 pm est. Or take a look at the Archives where you'll find a lot of interesting people talking about changing the world in entirely new ways.
