COP15-Sec-Gen-2096

Ecological hypocrisy
and point of no return

The world that we know will cease to exist and most species we recognize today will be long gone

By Georges Dupras

March 9, 2023

Governments worldwide are eager to attend global climate meetings to solidify their environmental commitment. Their political agendas, however, rarely mirror anything near what they profess.

Whether the issue is climate change, this country’s pivotal role in the international mining industry, the felling of old-growth forests in British Columbia, the Tar Sands, or La Bay du Nord (Newfoundland and Labrador), the outcome will be the same. There isn’t an area in this, or in most other jurisdictions, that isn’t under some form of environmental attack.

Governments worldwide are eager to attend global climate meetings to solidify their environmental commitment. Their political agendas, however, rarely mirror anything near what they profess.

The “Royalmount” project in the Town of Mount Royal will be our newest example of greenwashing*. This will be accomplished by adding an aquarium, as if Montreal, with its poor record, needs another such facility. Wildlife officials are systematically eliminating the Cormorant from the Presqu’ile region (southern Ontario) in the interest of sport fisheries. The wilful destruction of the butterfly fields behind the Trudeau International Airport only adds to our growing list of ecological hypocrisy.

Why the emphasis on endangered species?

Since this world came into existence, over forty billion years ago, earthly changes have been a constant, but never at this rate. We have become so obsessed with economic growth that we have begun to re-design the very genetic patterns of species.

I suspect that we protect endangered species because we like to be identified with the exceptions rather than the common. Another argument is that endangered species are “big business”. If we were to conduct an overall business review, I doubt we would survive. The World Wildlife Fund has stated that we have lost 60% of our known species in the last 50 years. Other international organizations have tabled even more dire percentages.

Options and priorities

I would suggest that most funds designated for wildlife conservation are for endangered species programs. This has been our practice since the mid-70s and despite this prioritized allocation of funds, programs continue to fall well short of expectations.

‘The World Wildlife Fund has stated that we have lost 60% of our known species in the last 50 years. Other international organizations have tabled even more dire percentages.’

As these programs face a multitude of problems, including the increasing loss and fracture of habitat, military activities, economic interests, political manoeuvring, etc., our losses increase. During this time, more of the common species find themselves closer and closer to being designated as a species at risk.

Choice

That said, we should re-consider our approach by investing more of our energies in species that are still viable, whose habitats can still be designated as protected, and in species that can adapt to rapid change. We should discourage placing an emphasis on popular capital species, at the expense of others. This would be but one of several steps that should accompany re-classifying wildlife from a resource to a more fitting designation, and introducing a different approach in the manner we teach about the natural environment and humankind’s place within that continuum.

I note that on February 27, 2023, the Federal Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, is recommending an emergency order to protect the last three spotted owls known to exist in the wild in Canada. This recommendation has yet to be approved by the Cabinet. The habitat for the spotted owl includes the old-growth forests now being cut thanks to the BC provincial government. The delay in action by our federal authorities is of no surprise to those who understand that the politics behind the lumber industry far outweigh any concern over owls, spotted or otherwise.

Also noted is that the Federal Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada has promised to lead Newfoundlanders 500 years back by re-vitalizing the commercial seal hunt. While others move forward, the Hon. Mr. Pierre Polievre is stuck in reverse.

‘… we should re-consider our approach by investing more of our energies in species that are still viable, whose habitats can still be designated as protected, and in species that can adapt to rapid change.’

Point of no return

Those of us truly concerned about the health of our environment must come to realize that the future holds many changes in the years to come. The world that we know will cease to exist and most species we recognize today will be long gone. The general population will no more miss the wood bison than we the mastodon or woolly mammoth. A few specimens held in zoos, aquariums, museums, or other display modules will remain but only as reflections of their wild cousins.


* Greenwashing occurs when you take a wild species from the wild and transfer him to a captive environment inside.


Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WestmountMag.ca or its publishers.


Feature image: UN Biodiversity, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Georges Dupras

Georges R. Dupras has advocated for animals for over fifty years. A member of the International Association for Bear Research and Management (IBA), a Director of the Animal Alliance of Canada (AAC), Quebec Representative of Zoocheck Canada and past Board member of the Canadian SPCA, he worked on the original Save the Seal campaign in 1966 that culminated in the founding of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) in 1969. Georges Dupras has published two books, Values in Conflict and the eBook Ethics, a Human Condition, and currently lives in Montreal, Canada.



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