The Earth does not belong to man; Man belongs to the Earth
| “The Earth does not belong to man; Man belongs to the Earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” — Chief SeattleDear reader,
The above quote from a Native American Indian should help us to remember, and revere, the theme, “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care”, as we celebrate the 43rd World Environment Day. The theme could not have been more apt. While many of the ordinary lot of the 7 billion peoples that inhabit Earth may care to observe this day to remember that they owe their existence to the Planet and should, therefore, consume only what they need in order to survive without compromising the environment and the needs of others, is it possible to really consume Earth’s resources with care? Our highly politicised and monetized world has created artificial values that defy the natural environment. It is also teaming with mega multi-national companies, marketers, timber companies, oil and mining giants, agro-industrial enterprises which encourage reckless consumption, and groups of people who would not care less for sustainable consumption. We think then that these groups should be the targets of the slogan “Consume with Care.” Mother Earth is losing its building blocks at some 50 species every day so the concept of conserving our planet should be mainstreamed to the sectors in possession of technologies that tend to destroy rather than exploit resources sustainably. Those who believe that they lead the world in knowledge and sophisticated technologies should try to change their environmentally-harmful behaviour towards Earth’s largesse to humans and other species. With ERuDeF’s wildlife conservation interventions and fragile ecosystem restoration and research, we aim to win over local communities, authorities and enterprises managers for nature-based solutions. With boosting Corporate Social Responsibility obligations, we also aim with our Green Leaders Corporate Award campaign for environmental and societal issues to become cross-cutting themes taken into consideration by businesses and policy makers as well as individual consumers. Wish you all a very green World Environment Day! |
