A Vision for Conservation

There are two fundamental questions that from now on must inevitably haunt humanity. The first is: What do we want from the earth? The second question is much harder to define and requires a more nuanced understanding of both the natural world and our basic humanity. It requires us to presume that the natural world is finite and that human beings are no less tied to its rhythms of production and recovery than are the great whales that swim the world's oceans or the carnivores that race their prey across the great grassland plains. The second question forces us to consider the limits to human population growth, the choices we must make regarding our demands upon natural systems and the fact that human beings everywhere, regardless of opportunity or advantage, must ultimately and inescapably harvest from the natural world to survive.