Stuart Marsden gave a lecture some time ago, discussing over-exploitation in it’s different forms, and how human’s are causing massive damage to nature, sometimes without even realising it. [1], [2], [3], [4], [5].
He began by showing a slide of photographs, representing the various forms of exploitation we have: fishing, hunting, trophy hunting, science, pet trade (wild animals) and culling; all of these conjure different images but in essence they all mean taking animals from the wild through captivity or death.
Many of these forms of exploitation are considered necessary, whilst others are ingrained in cultural practices within different countries; such as in Indonesia where a man is sometimes only considered complete if he has: ‘a wife, house, knife, horse and bird’.
Stuart went on to question the room on what is ‘right and wrong’, when showing the different forms of exploitation. Ask yourself, what is worse?
- Is it worse to make bears dance, or test pharmaceuticals on them?
- Accidentally catch hundreds of dolphins, or purposefully catch hundreds of thousands of fish (many of which don’t get eaten)?
- Wear fur, or have hats made of rare bird’s feathers?
- Trophy hunt, or farm many times more meat than we could ever need?
“A lot of conservation organisations struggle with ethics.”
This statement stunned me… How can this be something that conservationists struggle with? Isn’t it their job to be ethical?
Unfortunately there are some conservation bodies that compromise in order to fund their efforts, such as by allowing controlled trophy hunting, or in one case by catching and illegally selling parakeet in order to fund their reserve.
Even the IUCN (Internation Union for Conservation of Nature), aim for sustauinable exploitation, rather than ending unnecessary exploitation altogether, and this is the opinon of many conservation bodies.
As frustrating as it is they’re not wrong, it would be too difficult and cause too much uproar if all exploitation was limited/ stopped. With too much resistance no real good can be done.
But exploitation is growing all the time… Can we afford to take a middle ground on this topic?
This lecture really shocked me
Although exploitation has always been an obvious feature in the world, it is often unimaginable at how low it goes at times. It makes me realise that conservation doesn’t just save the environment and nature, it is also about freeing animals from pain and harm.
As I have said in several other blogs, I would be deeply honoured if I had the opportunity to help stop any of these exploitative behaviours and conserve nature, and I would be more than happy to pursue this as a career path.
Lukas Edwards, 19th February 2020
Biology Express: Zoology 