• Question: To what extent do you agree with intervening with the biological environment? e.g. research which may affect migration patterns or cause some damage to habitats.

    Asked by anon-181673 on 20 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Liza Selley

      Liza Selley answered on 20 Jun 2018:


      Generally I think this is a bad idea. I worked for a marine conservation charity in Greece a couple of years ago and saw first hand what the introduction of non-native species can do to an eco-system. A type of sea grass had made it’s way to Greece all the way from Australia and had grown much faster and better than Greek sea grass. The problem was that many of the sea creatures that had lived among the Greek sea grass could not survive in the Australian sea grass and had died out. This had a huge impact on the food chain in the area and on the range of species that lived there.

      However…On the same trip I met a girl who was training to be a genetic conservationist. That meant she was studying animal’s genetics to try to protect rare species. In certain parts of the rainforest, humans have chopped down so many trees that groups of monkeys have been separated into small groups. When this happens, the monkeys are forced to breed with their relatives and gradually develop genetic conditions from inbreeding that can wipe out their species.
      By building bridges of trees between the different groups, my friend aimed to prevent inbreeding by increasing the chances of monkeys finding new mates.

      Overall, I think we really need to consider the consequences when it comes with intervening with nature!

    • Photo: Claire Donald

      Claire Donald answered on 26 Jun 2018:


      I agree with Liza that it is a bad idea to interfere with mother nature. Unfortunately, the human race has been pretty good at messing around with the environment to suit ourselves without really considering other species. By flattening forests and draining lakes so we can build houses and farm land, lots of animals have lost their homes. I read recently that 1 in 5 mammals in the UK face extinction due to the loss of their homes or feeding grounds amongst other things. Earlier this year the last male northern white rhino died leaving only 2 females left which is obviously not good news for people trying to save that species. The good thing is that I think we a lot more aware of the consequences of our actions now than we were but we have a lot to do to protect our environment and the other species that share it with us.

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