[MPWG] Food for thought! Sustainable use - a farce?

[Center for Sustainable Resources]

Patricia, This is a good article. This will rage on for a while. I think it 
is good because it is an example of political attachment to serious issues 
in action. While the content is not very clear and it is unclear as to 
reference in the article what exactly is this persons position it does not 
seem to matter.
The underlying theme is political. It could be read ,"OK this sustainable 
thing has backfired because the cultures we wanted to destroy have taken it 
on".
It goes back to the difference between irbin civilation and rural 
civilation. It is the irbin folks who have the problem with being 
sustainable because they are not. Rural civilation takes care of that 
culture without reward and irbin culture has painted the picture that it is 
rural folks who beed to worry about this. It is the biggest myth of all 
because they can not take care of themselves. If they can not get what they 
need here for the price they want they simply rape other third world 
cultures with such things as contracts for using genetically modified seeds.
Irbin civilation needs us. We don't need them. All things of value that 
really matter are those things which sustain life. It comes down to 
resources produced from the sun.
If farmers of natural resources of all types ever get together and stop 
allowing USDA to manipulate them with shallow little cost share programs and 
such this will quickly come to light. You can't hold people down forever 
here or anywhere else. This is really what the wars in the middle east are 
about. It is not a matter of oil or religion but a matter of resentment 
about a wasteful greedy culture. They are not at war with hardworking 
farmers but with this wasteful urbin culture which patronizes evry other 
person on the planet. An oil based agriculture and natural resource system 
is not sustainable but that is what you depend upon. Roudup is just another 
part of that system of reduction.
No it is not just about animals, it is about politics and the lack of 
sustainability on the part of a guilty culture.
Your planned research by this Mr MgGraw is just another part of that. You 
don't want people to succeed with the ginseng industry so you set out to 
have someone prove that planting ginseng may be adverse to a natural 
population. The problem here is that you have no way of identifying a 
natural population unless you can do time travel and go back three hundred 
years to get your gentetic code samples. What would this accomplish anyway? 
It is just another attack rural culture veiled in the name of natural 
resources. If the writer of this article believes that the "wise use of 
natural resources" is a bad thing then he needs to be the first to stop 
using them.
Fred Hays


>From: Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
>To: mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org
>Subject: [MPWG] Food for thought!  Sustainable use - a farce?
>Date: Thu, 8 Jul 2004 10:04:46 -0400
>
>Dear MPWG'ers -
>
>The article below espouses that conservation is being forsaken in the name
>of sustainable use.  This topic is particularly apropos to our listserve as
>the MPWG mission statement is "to foster communication on issues of
>conservation AND sustainable use."  As usual, the article focuses on
>animals, but the concepts being discussed might just as easily be applied
>(or argued) to plants.
>
>Whether this is prevailing opinion or simply one extreme, at least two
>points come to my mind when reading this...
>
>1. Because "sustainability" is inherently subjective, it is subject to wide
>interpretation.
>
>Therefore, sustainability issues will be a continual cause of
>consternation.
>
>2. This is another example of taking a single concept (sustainable use) and
>applying it (often without reason and, in some cases, without merit) to
>every scenario.
>
>The idea that there is one "solution" is a losing battle.  Nothing in life
>is 100%.  "The critical issues around ecological sustainability that will
>determine the quality of life enjoyed by this and future generations"
>require a multi-pronged approach.  I'd like to think that, with MPWG, our
>mission to balance conservation and sustainable use combined with the
>diverse group that we have gathered, will enable us to take a reasoned
>approach toward these complex issues.
>
>-Patricia
>
>                  "Wildlife Conservation Has Been Hijacked"
>     Limerick conference on "sustainable use" as major threat to animals
>
>
>A group of the world's leading experts and academics gathered at an
>international conference on wildlife conservation at the University of
>Limerick in mid June 2004. Conference delegates discussed that the global
>conservation agenda has been hijacked and now poses a threat to the
>protection of wildlife and habitats worldwide.
>
>
>'Wildlife Conservation: In Pursuit of Ecological Sustainability' is the
>first in a series of international forums being hosted by IFAW,
>(International Fund for Animal Welfare). The IFAW Forum at Limerick ran
>from June 16 to 19 in the Jean Monet Theatre at the University.
>
>
>Dr David Lavigne, one of the world's leading marine mammal scientists, was
>among the array of eminent international experts presenting papers at the
>forum. He said, "Conservation has reached a turning point. It has been
>hijacked by the so-called 'wise-use' movement. This Orwellian takeover has
>stolen the mantle of conservation and abused it to promote trade in
>wildlife under the guise of ecological sustainability."
>
>
>"We need to scrap conservation as we know it, because it has become part of
>the problem, not part of the solution. It must be reinvigorated, revised
>and reinvented to do any good at all. The most obvious option is to adapt
>traditional conservation principles to deal with the realities of the 21st
>century," Lavigne said. "Perhaps both the word conservation, and the
>movement it inspired, should be abandoned and replaced with something that
>recognizes humans are a part of nature and that the future of our species
>and that of others are inextricably linked."
>
>
>The threat to animals under the current climate of conservation was
>emphasized by Professor Martin Willison, of Dalhousie University, Halifax,
>Nova Scotia, who pointed out that a quarter of the bird species that
>existed 10,000 years ago are now gone for ever and an eighth of those still
>surviving are listed as at risk of extinction. He added: "Most species of
>invertebrate animals, for example, have not been named. Un-named species
>are currently being wiped out en masse in the deep seas before they have
>ever been seen by human eyes."
>
>
>Other presentations explained how the commercial exploitation of species
>can destroy the harvest it seeks, as with cod which have declined by 90% in
>the North Sea since the 1970s, and the vast wealth of cod stocks off
>Newfoundland, Canada, that have crashed by 99.9% over the past 40 years.
>
>
>Vivek Menon, of the Wildlife Trust of India saw economic pressure as
>disastrous: "The sustainability of the ivory trade is a theoretical myth
>constructed by ivory tower economists that ignores market trends, trade
>perceptions and cultural beliefs. We can no longer ignore the precautionary
>principle in wildlife conservation."
>
>
>The conference was attended by about 85 scientists and other experts from a
>range of backgrounds spanning ethics to economics from all around the
>world. As one of the organizers Dr Lavigne, added: "The two dozen invited
>presenters represent a unique range of talent focused on wildlife
>conservation. This is a high-powered forum and a world first in bringing
>together such diverse knowledge and experience to discuss and debate this
>issue. Hopefully this conference will be a catalyst for change in the whole
>approach to wildlife conservation worldwide."
>
>
>Welcoming the convening of this conference at UL, Professor Roger GH
>Downer, President said, "We are delighted to have such a gathering of
>distinguished scientists on campus to address the critical issues around
>ecological sustainability that will determine the quality of life enjoyed
>by this and future generations."
>
>
>The series of invited presentations and supplementary papers will be
>published as a book.
>
>
>Apart from presentations, the conference featured a public lecture by the
>world-renowned ape expert, Dr Jane Goodall, entitled 'Reason for Hope' on
>June 18. More than 150 people attended  her talk. She is spoke of a new
>momentum which can be clearly perceived in mankind for conservation of wild
>species but she warned that there is no time to lose.
>
>
>End
>
>
>(Adapted from a press release by International Fund for Animal Welfare
>(IFAW)).
>
>
>Views and comments are welcome. Thereafter, I would like to place before
>this group developments in India seeking consumptive use of wildlife which
>is a nice way to say "kill and use".
>
>
>Ashok Kumar
>
>
>
>
>Patricia S. De Angelis, Ph.D.
>Botanist - Division of Scientific Authority
>Chair - Plant Conservation Alliance - Medicinal Plant Working Group
>US Fish & Wildlife Service
>4401 N. Fairfax Dr., Suite 750
>Arlington, VA  22203
>703-358-1708 x1753
>FAX: 703-358-2276
>Working for the conservation and sustainable use of our green natural
>resources.
><www.nps.gov/plants/medicinal>
>
>
>
>
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