People often ponder what is the most urgent environmental issue confronting us. Is it climate change, species extinction or human overpopulation? The answer could be any of these. It is hard to predict which environmental issue may lead to an irreversible collapse in the planet’s life-supporting systems. David Suzuki, a Canadian ecologist and environmental activist, points out that there isn’t one single act that will repair our planet. He believes the overarching problem is the environmental ideas and values we hold today.
These ideas and values manifest as environmental issues. Since the industrial revolution and the shift of human populations from natural environments to urban cities, we have become disconnected from nature and the ecological systems that support life. Indigenous people and those well connected to the natural world appreciate that no element in our world stands alone. Every natural element is deeply interconnected. From micro-organisms to elephants, from soils to the oceans, nothing exists in isolation. Every entity has a role to play in maintaining the planet’s health.
It seems like our disconnection from nature has also disconnected us from this simple and fundamental idea of how the world operates. Just like the Buddhist idea of karma, every negative action we take against the natural world compromises its ability to support us. “Ecosystem services” describes the way humankind benefits from ecosystems. They are often used to inform decision-makers and reflect the interconnectedness of the natural world, and how it has to be considered to support life. This is a politicised idea of the appreciation we need for the planet’s health to support us.
How we view the plant forms the way we treat it. We need a global paradigm shift to perceptions of the natural world that align closely with indigenous environmental beliefs. If we can view rivers as the veins of the world, the mountains as ancient deities, the oceans as rich pockets of abundant life and our planet as our mother, we will begin to appreciate the interconnectedness of life and treat the world with greater respect.