Recognizing we are a part of the problem could be the solution to saving us.

Dumping our old models of wildlife conservation because killing one species to save another no longer will sustain a planet in crisis. It is time to recognize that we humans are the problem and move toward a more Earth-sustainable model while there is time. Ecological economics recognizes that humans are a part of this larger ecological system and not apart from it. Recognizing we are a part of the problem could be the solution to saving us.

Old models of wildlife management no longer sustain the Earth.

The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation is a set of principles that represent values toward wildlife, but does it work? Unlike many other nations, wildlife conservation in the U.S. and Canada is based on the notion that wildlife belongs to the people–not the government, private landowners, or individuals. The Model includes seven foundational principles: 1) wildlife resources are a public trust to be managed by governments for the benefit of all citizens; 2) unregulated commercial markets for wild game that decimate wildlife populations are eliminated; 3) allocation is by law, meaning that laws are developed by citizens. Source As an ideal, it sets up a standard, but in practice is subject to the whims of politics. Whose in power sets the agenda and laws; therefore, the model’s ideals fall short.

Take, for example, 2011 Act 169 that mandates wolf hunts in Wisconsin when gray wolves are not listed on the Endangered Species Act takes the decisions of gray wolf recovery out of the hands of the people by legislating how wolves are managed…forever. End of story, so to speak. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is mandated by that law to manage wolves. It is politics over wildlife management, not the people. One-party rule dictated how Wisconsin’s wolves are managed.

Severely out of balance.

“The people who have created this system, and who perpetuate this system, are out of balance. They have made us out of balance. They have come into our minds and they have come into our hearts and they’ve programmed us. Because we live in this society, and it has put us out of balance. And because we are out of balance, we no longer have the power to deal with them…” John Trudell

The history of life on Earth is punctuated by what researchers call the “Big Five” mass extinctions, a group that includes the dinosaur-killing Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction and several other, even more severe, events. Many scientists now want to add a sixth: the one that humans are causing all over the globe today. source Earth is out of balance cause of humans. Can we get it back into balance? Before it is too late?

The tipping point of no return. Consequently, any overshoot of the 1.5°C ‘dangerous climate change guardrail’ is extremely risky, scientists say.

Bringing temperatures down to below this mark, at a later stage, by sucking carbon out of the air, will do nothing to reverse tipping elements that have already tipped. The corollary of this is that a net-zero target of 2050 is far too late. Source.

What’s a solution to slow down the beginning of the end?

Ecological economics recognizes that humans are a part of this larger ecological system and not apart from it. Recognizing we are a part of the problem could be the solution to saving us. A sustainable future involves all inhabitants moving away from the consumer being the main driver to an ecological sustainability main driver.

Ecological economics starts with the observation that the human economy is a subsystem of the larger ecological life support system. It recognizes that humans are a part of this larger ecological system and not apart from it. Our current state of the economic system allows for growth at the expense of the environment. The environment is at risk in simple terms of overuse. To quote our current administration, “Drill baby Drill”, attitude only serves the industrial corporations, leading to higher greenhouse gas emissions. We keep growing our economy, and that growth implies an increase in quantity or size. Can our environment, our Mother Earth, sustain that growth? Should it be quality over quantity? In my research for this article, I found the solution must be quality, not quantity. A sustainable future involves all inhabitants moving away from the consumer being the main driver to an ecological sustainability main driver. Source

“We are a natural part of the creation, we were put here on the sacred Mother Earth to serve a purpose. And somewhere in the history of people, we’re forgetting what the purpose is. The purpose is to honor the Earth, to protect the Earth, to live in balance with the Earth. And we will never free ourselves until we address the issue of how we live in balance with the Earth. Because I don’t care who it is, any child who turns on their mother is living in a terrible, terrible confusion. The Earth is our mother, we must take care of the Earth.“ ~John Trudell, 1980