It’s not surprising that, over the last decade, evaluations regarding the impact of human activities on the environment have been alarming. Although many societies have achieved high degrees of technology, hygiene and literacy, among other indicators, the majority have a difficult debt to pay: the poor management and abuse of natural resources.
Next, we will show you some indicators that reveal sustained intervention and deterioration of ecosystems and their resources, along with their non-sustainable use.
– To satisfy the growing demand for food, agricultural expansion has caused an adverse impact to forests, prairies and wetlands in large proportions. Soil degradation affects at least two billion hectares around the world, and around two thirds of agricultural lands in the world.
– Drinking water is increasingly scarce in many countries due to agricultural activities, which consume 70% of the drinking water that is used in the world. However, only 30% of the water supply is really used for plants and crops. Unfortunately, the remaining quantity is wasted.
– More than 16,000 animal and plant species (according to the IUCN – International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) are considered threatened, and almost 800 have been extinguished due to habitat loss. Another 5,000 species are potentially threatened.
– Almost 27% of the world’s coral reefs have been lost, due to direct or indirect human intervention and the effects of climate change. It is estimated that another 32% of reefs could be practically devastated in the next 30 years if the appropriate actions are not adopted.
Demographic explosion and sustainability
Since 150 years ago, the human population has experienced an accelerated growth. Scientific and technological processes, such as immunizations for diseases formerly considered deadly, or water purification, have benefited man’s continuance and his continually increasing life expectancy. Statistics indicate that the world population reached 6 billion by the year 2000, and that by 2025 it will have increased to 8 billion.
However, the human population increase will inevitably bring about considerable environmental problems. Greater levels of contamination and waste, the indiscriminate use of resources and energy sources, and the practice of excessive species capture are only some of the activities that create a strong pressure on the environment.
In addition, the increase in world population produces an unequal distribution of wealth. So, while industrialized countries consume almost 80% of resources, more than half of humanity has to survive in precarious conditions and close to a third live in a situation of absolute poverty.
Looking at this statistics, it seems unlikely that a nation with problems of inequality and poverty will integrate the concept of sustainable development into its priority activities. However, starting with small communities it is possible to generate some changes that benefit the growth of a nation as much as the care of its surroundings. Measures such as providing economic incentives for fulfilling an adequate use of resources to rural people that inhabit fragile ecosystems, or implementing housing plans that decongest urban concentration, can help decompress the pressure placed by man on nature.
Also, the management and reuse of household waste, the modification of consumption guidelines by legal measures (such as taxing fossil fuels) and the use of new energy sources promote the balance between the population and its surroundings.
Water crisis: the need for efficient use
In spite of the fact that our planet is composed of almost 75% water, this vital element constitutes a scarce resource for man. Water in seas and oceans can’t be used for consumption (due to its high saline content), for which reason usable sources are reduced to fresh water found in rivers, lakes and in enormous ice blocks, such as those found in the polar ice caps in zones such as the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, in the extreme south of our country.
If we add to this the fact that the majority of rivers and water courses in our planet are intervened and contaminated, and that in addition others are drying up, we can perceive that the water sources man depends on are reduced to a minimum quantity. This not only puts the maintenance of life at risk, but also alters the dynamic of ecosystems and detains the economic and social growth of countries.
For example, we can affirm that a community without drinking water is highly vulnerable to contracting diseases, above all infectious diseases. This is what happens in Africa, the continent with the greatest problems with water supply and cleanliness, where every day children and adults die from the lack of this vital element (to drink or for hygiene).
For this reason, water is considered a fundamental element for the sustainable development of each region. Its reasonable use and management promotes the reduction of poverty and the economic growth of countries (access to health services and drinking water are an indication of development), as well as the maintenance of ecosystemic integrity.
According to United Nations statistics, it is estimated that in the next 20 years the use of fresh water on the part of man will increase by almost 40%. In addition, 17% more water will be needed for the production of food for the population. For the same reason, forecasts are not encouraging, as an extensive shortage of this vital resource is predicted for the future. By 2025, the number of people that will be confronted with a water shortage will reach 3,500,000,000.
Among measures for sustainable use, the following can be emphasized:
– in the regions where water is scarce, crops which need little water should be preferred, or crops which have a high value in comparison with the water used. Where appropriate and profitable, it is preferable to import goods whose production requires a lot of water from the regions where it is abundant.
– to protect the quality of drinking water, intensify the treatment of waste water and promote environmental policies that consider water as an elemental and scarce resource that must be preserved.
– to educate the population to use water in an efficient way. Simple actions such as turning off the faucet while we brush our teeth promote good use of the vital resource.
Water purification and treatment
To use and consume water without any obstacles, it must be drinkable. For this reason, it should be subjected to a series of physical and chemical processes, eliminating contaminating substances that it could have, and disinfecting it to destroy pathogenic organisms.
In addition, to drink water it must fulfill a series of requirements in its physical, chemical and biological quality. From a physical point of view, it must be transparent, with minimum turbidity and color, while its chemical quality is measured by the absence or low quantity of elements such as ammonia, iron, magnesium, lead and zinc, among others.
In the case of the treatment of waste water which comes from different human activities, the process basically consists in the elimination of contaminants dissolved in water (such as nitrates, pesticides, heavy metals, detergents and others), by way of decanting, the oxidation of organic material and the use of chemical substances.
Even if an effective reuse of this vital resource is achieved by way of these processes, total purification is improbable, for which reason treated waters are generally used in agricultural activities (watering).
Forest resources
Natural forests are being converted more and more quickly into agricultural lands or for other types of exploitation. The worldwide deforestation rate during the 90’s is estimated at 14,600,000,000 hectares per year, which represents a loss of approximately 4% of the world’s forests during only the last ten years.
This situation is not only directly related to the loss of the planet’s plant biodiversity, but also impacts other areas. Remember that trees fulfill important functions, such as diminishing soil erosion, supplying oxygen to the environment (it is estimated that in one year, a tree exhales sufficient oxygen for a family of four people) and providing habitat and protection to native species, among other actions.
It is recognized that an inadequate use of forest and lumber resources is found in the majority of South American countries. Since the 19th century, their exploitation has been managed by standards quite similar to those in mining, who center activities on the extraction of commercially valuable species and forget the great impact that this action brings to different ecosystems.
The vegetation that didn’t serve for commercial activities was cut down and burned, as it was lacking in value from an economic point of view, and this caused significant alterations in natural surroundings and soil use. In this way, a large amount of terrain that was originally home to important forest formations was transformed into ideal sites for developing agricultural and cattle-farming activities.
Fortunately, since the end of the 20th century, concern for making both lumber extraction and the use of temperate and tropical forest ecosystem resources sustainable has taken greater force. Although reducing the overuse that has been carried out to this day is considered improbable, (it is estimated that to compensate tree loss from the last decade, we would have to plant 1.3 million km2 of trees, a surface area similar to that of Peru) it is possible to diminish our impact on nature.
One of the most widespread measures is the reforestation of intervened zones. This allows the repopulation of zones that were formerly covered by forests with species that can be endemic or introduced that can even have an economic use. This last situation is what happened in our country during the 80’s, when the introduction of eucalyptus and pines, along with their commercial exploitation for sustaining industries such as the cellulose industry experienced a boom. With the support of the World Bank, reforested zones began to increase, which not only helped our country’s economy, but also allowed the conservation of remaining original forests and promoted the conservation of habitats and the protection of biodiversity.
Organic agriculture
Though agriculture can be seen as an activity in which the natural plant cover is removed and which inevitably alters a specific habitat, in recent years a technique that’s less damaging to the environment has been developed which incorporates natural elements, making a crop extension into a zone of sustainable economic development.
This method is recognized as organic agriculture, and according to the FAO, it corresponds to “a global production management system that promotes and enhances the health of ecosystems, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity, using agronomic, biological and mechanical methods, counteracting the use of synthetic materials”.
In this way, in addition to working for a profitable production, emphasis is placed on the conservation and maintenance of soil properties and fertility, excluding toxic substances in the agricultural process, and the constant search for new production alternatives that cause a minimum impact on the environment. This is achieved by way of natural fertilizer, special irrigation systems, the maintenance of some natural plant species that favor crop growth, and controlling plagues in a normal way (introducing the natural predators of the plagues), among other measures.
In our country, it is estimated that there are approximately over three thousand hectares of crops considered organic, which are distributed between the Region of Coquimbo and the Region of Los Lagos. This incipient industry began to develop in the 70’s and was initially destined for private consumption and to improve the supplies of some rural areas. By the 80’s, organizations that promoted this method of agriculture had already been created, exporting organically-grown kiwis for the first time in 1993.
Currently, the crops with greatest extension are rosehip, raspberries, medicinal plants and asparagus.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that their commercial value has increased in recent years, organic crops are not widespread in our country. The lack of promotion from some institutions and the shortage of information, for agriculturists as well as for consumers (who even confuse this type of products with transgenic foods) have made a wider projection for organic business more difficult.
Productive management of wild life
The impact of human activities on the conservation of wild species is also a topic involved in policies oriented towards sustainable development. If the growth of societies is based on the extraction of natural resources, whether as a source of raw materials or as food, among other uses, this activity should be carried out in a way that favors their use in a permanent way (without using up species).
For this reason it is useful to recognize the species (plant and animal) that are most critical in terms of survival, their main threats, the conservation measures that can be implemented, protection zones, etc.
The use of these organisms should start out on the basis of an extensive analysis carried out in order that future generations will be able to use it equally.
In this context we can point out the case of sustainable fishing, which is a method intended to produce the same economic gain while conserving the integrity of resources and natural surroundings. Considering the activities of the fishing industry as some of the most abusive and widespread exploitations of species, the implementation of some measures is necessary in order to conserve and adequately manage marine life.
For this reason, the state of the population and other biological aspects (such as reproductive cycles) of extracted species are evaluated, defining exploitation limits and the conservation of resources (considering their natural regeneration). In addition, technology with a lower environmental impact is used.
Environmental education
None of the above points are relevant if society doesn’t become aware of the real value of natural resources and the significance of the support of each and every one of the people who live on the planet, even by small initiatives.
It’s for this reason that environmental education acquires great importance in times in which certain species are on the border of extinction, some resources (such as water or certain fossil fuels) are scarce and ecosystems are highly degraded. Many propose that the concept has arisen thanks to the environmental crisis that has been affecting our planet for decades, however, its use and overcrowding date from the end of the 60’s, when ecological awareness on the part of the population was generated.
In 1970, the Education Commission of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) defined environmental education as “the process that consists of recognizing, valuing and clarifying concepts with the purpose of promoting necessary skills and attitudes to understand and appreciate interactions between man, his culture and his biophysical environment. Environmental education also entails active participation in decision-making moments and in the development of a behavior code in respect to questions related to the quality of the environment.”
The concept involves as much children as those that make policy decisions related to the environment and the use of its resources.
It involves a process of becoming aware and understanding the good management that we should all use in terms of our natural surroundings, and of the road that should be followed to achieve society’s full growth, starting with the protection, preservation and conservation of our planet’s natural systems.
