Lecture 3 Sustainability Indigenous People Indigenous native people

Lecture #3 Sustainability

Indigenous People • Indigenous (native) people are often the least powerful, most neglected people in the world. – At least half the world’s 6, 000 distinct languages are dying. – Indigenous homelands may harbor vast percentage of world’s biodiversity. – Recognizing native land rights and political rights may often be a solid ecological safeguard as indigenous people have a rich knowledge of local habitats.

Question: So there are problems in the environment…. Why does this matter? ? ?

So how do we change things? • The goal of Environmental problem solving is to achieve a Sustainable Society. • Sustainable society- a society that functions in a way so as to not deplete the energy or material resources on which it depends.

Sustainability- refers to whether a process can continue indefinitely without depleting the energy or material resources on which it depends. Sustainable world - a world in which human populations can continue to exist indefinitely with a high standard of living and health. •

In a sustainable world • Habitats would be preserved • Garbage would be turned into harmless substances • Nonrenewable resources would be used sparingly and efficiently. • Renewable resources would be used no faster than they could be replaced.

Sustainable Development • “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. ” • This idea isn’t about reverting back to primitive ways. It is about moving forward to a different human-earth relationship.

Sustainable Development: Can we do it? Many ecologists view continual growth as impossible in the long run due to limits imposed by non-renewable resources and the capacity of the biosphere to absorb wastes. Others argue that through the use of technology and social organization, we can manage to meet our needs and provide long-term (but not infinite) growth.

Three simple steps to save the world First basic principle of Ecosystem sustainability • For sustainability, ecosystems dispose of wastes and replenish nutrients by recycling all elements. • Ex: Rainforests: Have virtually 100% efficiency recycling of nutrients. There are very few mineral reserves in the soil. – When the forest is cut down and burned, the nutrients that were stored in the detritus is washed away by heavy rains, leaving the land unproductive. • We need to model our actions after those seem in nature (ex: nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle, phosphorous cycle, biodegradation)

Second basic principle of ecosystem sustainability • For sustainability, ecosystems use sunlight as their source of energy. – All major ecosystems use sunlight as the major energy input. • We need to utilize solar energy as our major energy input for two reasons. – It is nonpolluting! Light from the sun is a form of pure energy. It contains no substance that can pollute the environment. – It is non-depletable! The sun’s energy output is constant. We will not ‘run out’!

Third Basic principle of ecosystem sustainability • For sustainability to occur, the sizes of the consumer populations are maintained so that overgrazing or other overuse does not occur. • Overgrazing- In a grazing situation, the animal eats grass faster than it can re-grow. This can cause the grass to disappear entirely (due to erosion) and the animals will starve, causing collapse of the ecosystem. • In order for human kind to become a sustainable society, consumption cannot exceed production. There must always be STANDING BIOMASS. • In natural populations that are sustainable, consumers eat no more than a small proportion of the total biomass available.