What is Biodiversity and Why is it Important?

“Our ignorance of the ecological functions of diverse forms of life is no excuse for us to push species to extinction, or to manipulate them without concern for the ecological impact.”

 (Shiva 41)

http://www.adweek.com/prnewser/5-of-the-bestest-practices-learned-from-social-media-in-2014/106118

This statement is completely correct. Ignorance about an issue is never a good enough excuse. That goes for any aspect of life. In school, just because you say you weren’t aware an assignment was due doesn’t mean you won’t be held accountable for not turning it in. Personally, I know I am unmindful of some of the environmental issues that go on around me. That is something that I must take full responsibility for. To be considered a respectable citizen, I need to keep myself educated and informed about current issues in my local area. Whether or not I realize it, I make an ecological impact every day. My goal is to become more aware of my own “controllable” actions that I have over the environment and the species that live in it.

 “Creating clones of Western forms of industrial production and excessive consumption is called ‘development’ but is actually ‘maldevelopment’.” (Shiva 57)

http://www.waletejumade.com/business-development-and-management/

Here Shiva states her opinion upon development of the modern world. I can see two sides to her story, but I think she may have taken this statement a little too far. As times are changing in the world, how can you expect different parts of the world not to revolutionize the way they go about development. Parts of Western civilization are ahead of the game. To be able to compete in today’s economy you have to catch up to what everyone else is doing if you want to be viable in the business world. This is where the disagreements occur because business minded people and environmentalist clash. A balance between the two needs to be struck.

 “The value and functions of living organisms are important at higher levels of organization.” (Shiva 42)

http://www.warrenhills.org/Page/4475

I feel like this statement contradicts other ideas that Shiva has presented. Earlier in the reading she stated, “The smallest microbe plays a critical role in maintaining the ecological processes that create the conditions of life for all species, including, of course, our own” (Shiva 41). So which way is it? Are all organisms equally important in our environment, or do humans take priority? Overall from the reading, I took away that human’s greed and power influence them to think they are the dominate being.  I’m not convinced that is completely true, but I also think that each organism has its own special place in the equation. While humans seem to have the control, they also need to know that they have a particular place in the ecological system as well.