UP TO THE ADVENT OF CIVILIZED MAN, THE BIOSPHERE OF THE WORLD CONSISTED OF A COMPLEX PATTERN OF BIOTIC COMMUNITIES RESPONSIVE TO A VARIETY OF ENVIRONMENTS. THE HARMONY PREVAILING BETWEEN THE BIOTIC AND PHYSICAL REALMS WAS THE RESULT OF HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS OF EVOLUTION AND ADJUSTMENT OF ONE ORGANISM TO ANOTHER AND OF EACH TO THE HABITAT IN WHICH IT LIVED. THIS RELATIONSHIP WAS IMPERATIVE AN OCCASIONAL OUTBREAK OF A SPECIES AS A RESULT OF SOME TEMPORARY ADVANTAGE, OR A CATASTROPHE TO A POPULATION AS A RESULT OF CHANGE TO THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT WERE NORMALLY BROUGHT TO A BALANCE. PRIMITIVE MAN OCCUPIED A NICHE AND ASSUMED A ROLE COMPARABLE TO OTHER ANIMALS AND THE ECOSYSTEM MAINTAINED IN A HEALTHY CONDITION.
MODERN MAN, HOWEVER, HAS INITIATED A NUMBER OF ABRUPT CHANGES DURING THE LAST FEW CENTURIES BEYOND THE CAPACITY OF THE ECOSYSTEM TO ADJUST ITSELF TO THESE FORM OF CHANGES. HE HAS BECOME THE DOMINANT ORGANISM, IN THE BIOSPHERE, FORCING CHANGES TO FIT HIS NEEDS AND DESIRES, AND CREATING ECOSYSTEMS DIFFERENT THAN ANY THAT HAVE EXISTED BEFORE. EMERGENCE OF NEW COMMUNITIES IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE GEOSPHERE, BUT THE REPLACEMENT OF THE BIOSPHERE BY AN ANTHROPOSPHERE IS UNIQUE IN THE SPEED AND EXTREME CHANGES PRODUCED. THIS ACQUISITION OF DOMINANCE IS THE RESULT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY EVALUATION IN MAN OF INTELLIGENCE, INGENUITY AND USE OF TOOLS. HE HAS GREATLY MODIFIED OR REPLACED THE NATURAL PROCESSES THAT CONTROL STABILITY AND BALANCE WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM WITH NEW PROCESSES AND MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS WHICH THE ENVIRONMENT CANNOT ABSORB. AS A RESULT THERE IS A GREAT DETERIORATION IN THE QUALITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND A POPULATION EXPLOSION OF THE HUMAN SPECIES, AND A DISHARMONY IN THE WORLD ECOSYSTEMS WHICH CLEARLY INDICATES AN IMMINENT CATASTROPHE.
THE NEXT FEW DECADES WILL DECIDE WHETHER MAN WILL SURVIVE AS A DOMINANT ORGANISM OR BE REDUCED TO THE ROLE HE OCCUPIED AS A PRIMITIVE MAN OR HE MAY BECOME EXTINCT. THERE IS A CONFLICT BETWEEN THE DEMANDS OF MAN FOR EXPANDING POPULATION, PRODUCTIVITY, POWER AND PLEASURES AND THE FUNCTIONING OFF NATURAL LAWS FOR MAINTAINING STABILITY AND EQUILIBRIUM BETWEEN THE LIVING AND THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT.
CONSERVATION OF AN ECOSYSTEM, VERY OFTEN MEANS ITS MAINTENANCE IN ITS NATURAL STATE. IN A NATURAL STATE, AN ECOSYSTEM HAS A BALANCED POPULATION OF PREDATORS AND PREY, DOMINANT AND SUB-DOMINANT SPECIES. EACH SPECIES IN SUCH AN ENVIRONMENT WILL COME TO TERMS WITH ALL THE OTHER SPECIES OF THE AREA. MANY OF THE ANIMAL AND BIRD SANCTUARIES ESTABLISHED IN SEVERAL PARTS OF OUR COUNTRY AND THROUGH OUT THE WORLD AIM AT MAINTAINING THE ECOLOGICAL BALANCE. IN FACT, THERE IS NO BETTER METHOD OF CONSERVATION THAN LETTING THE ECOSYSTEM BE AS IT IS.
IMMEDIATE PROBLEMS OF CONCERNS IN THE PRESERVATION OF NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ARE THE ELIMINATION OF AIR, WATER, SOIL AND NOISE POLLUTION; THE DISPOSAL OF SOLID WASTES; AND CLIMATE MODIFICATON ON A GLOBAL SCALE. POLLUTION CAUSED BY MAN'S ACTIVITIES CHANGES THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERS THE NORMAL FUNCTIONING OF AN ECOSYSTEM. IN ORDER TO ATTAIN STABILIZED AND BALANCED ECOSYSTEMS WORLDWIDE, HUMAN POPULATION HAS TO BE CONTROLLED AND REGULATED AND THE HABITAT OF THE COMMUNITIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS HAS TO BE CONSERVED. THE IMMEDIATE NEED IS TO FOCUS ATTENTION ON IMPLEMENTATION OF NECESSARY REMEDIAL MEASURES WHICH WILL INVOLVE INTEGRATED EFFORTS OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, LAW, SOCIOLOGY, POLITICS AND ECONOMICS.
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