This article is the second in a series published by the Dominican Institute for Integral Development, Inc. (IDDI) as part of a public awareness program on the problems affecting human society in the hope that if we know more about the problems we can make the right decisions to solve them.
It is clear that the world is undergoing an ecological crisis of major proportions. Our biosphere can no longer meet the demands of an ever-increasing population, nor can it assimilate the waste that industrial mankind is producing out of control. The natural systems of our planet are in frank decomposition. It is difficult to become aware of this problem and realize its catastrophic consequences because the process of deterioration is gradual and in many ways invisible, but the figures speak for themselves.
The basic biological systems: forests, pastures, sea and arable land, which provide us with the resources that feed humans, are in a state of chaos. This is due to overexploitation by man. For example, we are exploiting marine life in such a way that its capacity for self-regulation and reproduction is being disrupted. This is evidenced by the fact that the extraction of fish per capita reached its maximum level in 1976 with 18.5 kilograms and since then it has been constantly decreasing and today it is only 15.0 kilograms.
Per capita production of timber from our forests was highest in 1964 at .67 cubic meters and today it is only .58. Per capita beef production peaked in 1976 at 11.6 kilograms, but today it is only 10. The same is true of per capita grain production, which was highest in 1978 at 351 kilograms, but today it is only 325 kilograms.
We already know, from archeological evidence, that when ancient civilizations such as those of Mesopotamia faced deforestation, soil erosion, overgrazing, salinization of aquifers, desertification, etc., economic paralysis and then social disintegration ensued. The same thing is happening now starting with Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia and other countries on the African continent. But there is a marked difference this time. In earlier times ecological problems were local and to a large extent, population migrations allowed natural systems to recover. Today the problem is global in scale and with a growing population, with nowhere to escape. We are trapped with no way out.
In order to save our way of life as far as possible and create an ecologically sustainable world, certain steps must be taken. The most important of these is to control population growth. There are certain limits to the ecological capacity to assimilate the demands of a growing population.
There are approximately 4.8 billion people on earth today and it is expected that by the year 2000 (15 years from now) the population will increase by approximately 1.6 billion more, for a total of 6.4 billion. The United Nations projects a world population of 10.5 billion before it stabilizes, more than double the current population (other projections are even higher). This implies a disastrous situation. For example, the population of Nigeria, which is 85 million today, is projected to reach 425 million, or almost the current population of the entire African continent. The projection for the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) will be 2.3 billion people, more than the world population in 1940.
The unfortunate thing is that the greatest population increases occur precisely in the poorest and most underdeveloped countries, which are precisely those that cannot sustain it. On the contrary, in the rich countries where a population balance has been achieved, it has not been specifically as a result of national family education programs, but because of their level of development in general in terms of education, employment and health. As a consequence of these developments, the population itself decided to have fewer children.
To control population growth, there are certain elements that are necessary. For example, providing more employment opportunities for women and getting them out of their homes, increasing the level of education and improving social conditions. In addition, governments can incorporate incentive programs or financial disincentives that tend to encourage small families. But above all, family education is the most important element and it should be emphasized that in these programs the active and conscious participation of the community, in all senses, is paramount.
As a second objective to achieve an ecologically sustainable world, it will be necessary to protect arable land, which is the main source of human food. Studies show that there has been a drastic reduction of arable land due to urban growth, construction of roads, dams, etc. Erosion of topsoil, deforestation, salinization of aquifers, desertification and others. It is obvious that these factors are closely related to the demands of a growing population and its economic needs.
Perhaps the best option to protect these lands would be zoning programs, designating areas of agricultural land preservation combined with an integral development for the inhabitants of these areas. This should include a real and effective agrarian reform that improves their socioeconomic situation, thus preventing the peasants from being forced to take refuge in the hills where, in order to cultivate, the land is cut down and then burned, which is catastrophic for the soils. Measures must also be taken to guarantee agricultural systems that do not deteriorate soil quality, such as the use of fertilizers, insecticides and chemical herbicides, irrational use of irrigation, inadequate drainage, planting methods that increase erosion, etc.
These and other measures are essential for both the authorities and the farmers themselves if we are to provide enough food for a population that is constantly increasing.
As a third objective in a plan to create an ecologically sustainable world, it is necessary to stop deforestation and begin the process of reforestation. It really doesn't take many words to describe how important this measure is. As a tangible example we have our neighboring country Haiti which is almost completely bare and is one of the main causes for the misery in which it lives. Every year the population of the world (all consumers of wood in one way or another) increases by the equivalent of the population of the country of Mexico and Central America combined, yet every year the forests are reduced by the equivalent area of the size of the country of Hungary.
In addition to their economic value, which is well known, since 40% of the world's population uses firewood for cooking and heating, their ecological role is immense. Forests prevent topsoil erosion (erosion being one of the main factors contributing to sedimentation of rivers and reservoirs) and allow rainwater percolation (thus preventing flash floods and other negative phenomena). The plant kingdom, represented by its forests, is the balance to the human kingdom in the sense that while humans inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, forests do the opposite. This balance has become unbalanced and the situation is getting even worse, as the Amazon region, called by many as the lungs of the earth, is suffering the effects of deforestation at the harsh hands of man.
However, there are excellent models of reforestation programs such as those in South Korea, Israel and even the state of Gujarat in India. In all three cases, the measures adopted directly and economically benefited the citizens involved in the programs. This motivated greater interest and participation, thus ensuring the long-term success of the efforts. The use of agroforestry farms, which are economically profitable, has also been successful in many cases. In addition to planting more trees, it is also necessary to implement measures to reduce the demand for wood, such as public awareness programs on conservation, the construction of efficient stoves, waste recycling, and others.
The point of recycling is vital and suggests to us the fourth objective which is the fact that we need to conserve more and waste less. There was a time, and it hasn't been long, when things were cheap and plentiful and any item that looked old was thrown away, thus producing a consumerist mentality. This has reached such an extreme that products designed for a limited time of use are manufactured with the intention that the consumer will soon have to buy another one to replace it. There are even products that are discarded after a single use. As a consequence, mineral, hydrocarbon, drinking water and other resources are diminishing rapidly, some of them being non-renewable.
The days of waste are over and societies that do not adapt to this change will suffer drastic consequences, such as economic paralysis and eventual social disintegration. To solve this, it is necessary, above all, to change our attitudes and not to throw away everything that seems old to us, but to conserve, repair, reuse and recycle it. In addition to carrying out this conservation at the family level, it should also be done at the national level. For example, the reuse of products such as bottles, paper, wood, metals, etc., should be mandatory. An exemplary case is Denmark, where the possibility is being studied of making all soft drink, wine, beer, juice, milk, etc. containers of a single type, facilitating their manufacture, distribution and reuse, thus saving time, money and energy.
But more than anything else, the quality of our industrial products has to improve to make them more durable. There was a time when there was a certain pride in the quality of one's work, but with the fast pace of life we lead, there is no longer time to work well and with care. We have to understand that the days of luxury are over and that it is essential to conserve what this planet of finite resources provides.
Concomitant with the conservation of the earth's physical resources we have to develop and implement energy conservation methods, our fifth objective. This, undoubtedly, is especially important in terms of conserving oil, which is wasted uncontrollably, being a non-renewable resource. The Dominican Republic is currently suffering the consequences of an irrational use of oil, since % of our foreign exchange is destined only to that bill.
To correct this imbalance it has been necessary to raise the price for the consumer, thus creating a chain of negative economic effects that are impacting the quality of life of all Dominicans. Sooner or later, and the future direction of our economy depends on it, we will have to seek and implement comprehensive measures to conserve the use of oil.
Authoritative sources indicate that there are proven oil reserves for use for a maximum of 38 more years (based on current demand) and undiscovered reserves estimated for use for no more than 70 years. Figures for natural gas indicate that this resource also has a limited life. Only coal presents a somewhat encouraging picture, but the exploitation and use of coal is ecologically very destructive. The imminent disappearance of oil presents a challenge of major proportions to our industrial civilization.
Conservation measures are too numerous to list here, however, they fall into two general categories which are:
- We need to run our activities more efficiently in terms of energy. For example, our vehicles, industries, buildings, etc. must be designed to consume less.
- It is necessary to eliminate many activities that involve the use of petroleum, such as turning off more light bulbs, driving less, etc. We should do what is essential and nothing more.
There are many opportunities to combine these two categories of measures to optimize conservation. Government can do much through financial incentive (or disincentive) measures and by creating mandatory conservation regulations, but the key is undoubtedly public awareness. In this way the people themselves will make the necessary decisions about what to do to ensure a more viable future world.
The flip side of energy conservation is the need to develop renewable energy sources and systems, the sixth goal of the global program to create an ecologically sustainable society. This is made more imperative by the fact that while energy demand will increase by 50% by the year 2000, our conventional sources of energy, such as oil, natural gas and coal, are finite. In addition, nuclear power, once seen as a solution, is no longer promising. Unfortunately, investments in this search for alternative energy sources are not really adequate and do not really respond to the reality of the crisis. Our economy, currently based on non-renewable energy (making up 79% of total consumption), will undergo a drastic and very severe change if we do not develop and implement alternative energy systems.
The possibilities abound as there are many sources in the biosphere such as the sun, wind, wood, rivers, geothermal energy, animal, human and organic wastes, etc. All these resources are renewable and can be exploited to the maximum for energy production. Much is already known about them, only a definitive decision is needed to adapt them to our needs. The key to the matter is time. The challenge is to start using more and more coal and diesel until the alternative systems are already in place, but there should not be the slightest doubt that the change will not be easy, nor traumatic, since transportation systems will be altered, the distribution of the population will vary according to the new energy sources, the relationship between the countryside and the city will be affected, the relative economic position of all countries (one with the other) will change according to their new resources (as happened with the OPEC member countries), etc.
In other words, we must prepare ourselves for a world that will inevitably continue to change radically, sometimes peacefully but also violently, since many have an interest in maintaining the "status quo", which is no longer possible in the slightest. The challenge is not only to accept and adapt to change, but to actively promote it by participating in the search for viable solutions, since transformation is inevitable. Although many do not perceive it this way, the world is going through one of its most critical periods (if not the most critical) in its history, as the problem is global in scale as never before. There really is not much time because the biosphere has limitations that man cannot surpass without catastrophic consequences. But that we survive there is no doubt, and that we are part of an indivisible whole, sooner or later we will unite in our efforts to welcome the New Era, the Era of the Ecologically Sustainable Society. That we must begin now, there can be no doubt. The journey requires perseverance and tolerance. Remember that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.