The role of Ecology and Conservation in Today's Society

A friend and colleague who is a marine biologist and marine conservation activist recently said: “There is not anywhere on Earth not adversely affected by humans. Much, most, if not all, of the damage is irreversible, and it is proceeding faster and faster”. This sentiment is expressed by many nowadays, and it seems the enthusiasm for conservation that inspired me as a kid to go on and study marine biology is going extinct just like many coral species. It seems when Greenpeace and Jacques Cousteau were revolutionary, there was hope, whereas today resignation appears to spread. However, I take an entirely different view, and would go as far as emphasizing that today is as exciting an era as any before to be an ecologist, or engaging in any way in conservation.
 
You may have heard of the concept of shifting baselines, which basically describes that a paradigm shift takes place for every generation: for example, the healthiest Caribbean reefs I have seen have 45 % of live coral cover, while the previous generation of marine biologists was studying reefs that harboured more than 90 % living corals some decades ago. They have seen first-hand the enormous loss of fish abundance and coral cover, when I can only read about it. Psychologically their dominating sensation when swimming through today’s reefs is sadness, when I am still blown away to see what is there.
 
But here is the big point about why conservation is still important: The current reefs are providing what is called ecosystem services, which basically are all sort of functions that we need. For example, kelp forests provide food and habitat for fish; coral reefs protect the coasts from erosion, provide habitat and change biogeochemical processes that increase ecosystem diversity and productivity. We depend on a healthy environment for real estate (look at the lovely landscape where they build golf courses), livelihood (such as fishery, agriculture and tourism), and recreation. When a crucial part is altered, the results end up being catastrophic: When fishermen extirpated Californian sea otters, the urchin populations were left unchecked, and devoured the kelp forests that were acting as fish nurseries. The fish were gone with the otters and the kelp. There are enough examples for a separate article and books have been written about events like these...

So the question whether what is lost will recover or not is not our priority in conservation. We need what is still left, and more importantly, future generations will need what is left of our natural environment. The view that must define our environmental responsibility is what Jacques Cousteau emphasized: "We Do Not Inherit the Earth from Our Ancestors; We Borrow It from Our Children". So in that light it is an outrageous crime what poor environments we are leaving behind for the coming generations.

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​As to the question whether coral reefs will recover, fossil records show that reefs have gone through climatic catastrophes and recovered during millions of years. Somewhere, perhaps deep in the oceans some coral species may survive and may re-evolve to form reefs after millions of years. Not necessarily reefs as we know them, and in any case of no use neither to us today, nor future generations, nor perhaps our species. So I have to agree that for practical purposes we are irreplaceably losing important parts of our environment. Some parts may recover, or they may not. But I’d like to emphasize that what is left is still worth preserving...


To those who are wondering whether and how we can actually conserve significant parts of our natural environment against all odds, I would like to point out the radical changes in society during the last 4-5 decades. I am not only referring to the fact, that only a few decades back climate change was not in the news, cars had no catalytic converters, fisheries were almost unmanaged, and electric cars seemed a pipe dream. The changes in our society underwent are far more profound. Ecology as we know it is arguably a relatively young discipline that has transformed how we perceive our planet and the role and responsibility of mankind. We have exchanged the role of conquerors for one of stewards. Ecology, from the Greek word Oikos for “environment”, or simply “house”, is the science of interactions of organisms (including us) and their environment. It has transformed the way we live on so many levels, being reflected in our daily life through products we use and practices we deem acceptable. It has transformed politics and our economy deeply. Economic prosperity is important, but ultimately economy is a means to an end, where the end is freedom and quality of life for our and future generations. Economy and ecology are equally important to achieve that goal. This is why I think it is an exciting time to engage in ecology and conservation.
 
Sustainable development as an idea has luckily spread quickly through society, but existing economic-political structures have not yet caught up with the changes an overwhelmingly large part of society demands. But make no mistake, it is happening. Science and technology advance faster than policy can adapt to apply it and we have powerful tools at our disposal, that mainly require a new economy to apply. It is important to understand that sustainable development and economic prosperity are not mutually exclusive if one thinks long term. 
 
There is no doubt we will lose a great deal more of wondrous species, and amazing places will deteriorate further. But if the majority of society does the best each one can, then future generations will still enjoy a natural environment that inspires awe. There is much that can be done, and much that can still be protected. Every little success will benefit future generations.

Georgios Tsounis