Someone Asked Me What Good do Human Beings Do for the Environment

Believe it or not humans do on occasion impact their environments in positive ways, even from an entirely ecological perspective. Throughout human history there have been instances where human beings have created entire landscapes that have been integral to the success of many species. One example that comes to mind off hand is the experience of native tribes in North America before the Colombian exchange. There is clear evidence that native tribes did not live in a "pristine" untouched environment before Europeans landed on their shores (for evidence please read the article "the Pristine Myth"). In fact native tribes altered their landscape in quite remarkable ways. Sometimes these alterations degraded the environment, and sometimes they enhanced specific characteristic to the benefit of certain species.

Perhaps the most notable of these positive alterations was the creation of the North American prairie grasslands. Evidence shows that had Native Americans not used techniques like controlled burning, that much of the species rich grassland would have persisted as a woody forest. Though, obviously, in our times of destruction of forests and increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere a woody forest would be considered more desirable, that was not an issue in the 16th century. The result of their techniques of land management was the establishment of many unique flowering plant species and the increased success of North American ruminants such as the Bison. True that this was for selfish reasons, because it was an animal that was very useful to them, but nevertheless, their practices had a positive effect on the biodiversity of North America.

Modern examples of purely positive effects are harder to find, but much of the work being done in the field of environmental management and conservation is of a positive nature. We are, unfortunately, not talking about big business here or any strictly money making endeavour, but there are countless small scale environmental projects that are designed to reap benefits for the planet as a whole. Off the top of my head I can remember a specific project being undertaken in Israel in the Mediterranean sea. Scientists there have created a coral farm in shallow waters off the coast of Israel where they nurture corals to maturity. Once ready they take them to the reef and give them a head start on life. I would, without a doubt, consider this to be a positive impact. Would these corals, be in trouble if it had not been for us in the first place? Perhaps not, but it is important to note that not all environmental shortcomings are anthropogenic in nature. Events happen beyond our control that have just as detrimental effects as anything we are capable of.

We, like all other species on this planet, are a part of the ecosystem and have a role that has both positive and negative impacts. Through modern agricultural & industrial practices we have, unfortunately, severely tipped the balance toward negative impacts, but that does not negate the fact that we are part of the biota of this planet and an equal partner with all other living things in the care of it.

Image completely unrelated to the post. I just felt like it.