Here at La Vigne, we are all reading "The Creation" by E.O. Wilson. Helene has read it a couple times already, and thankfully has passed it on to me. After recently picking up the short book "Science and Spirituality" from a dingy shop in Singapore's Little India, I realize I love drawing upon the broken parallels between religion and science, and refocusing on the commonalities, more over, where we meet in the middle to move towards a common goal. This book is no exception and offers a mature approach to the proposition of setting aside some differences to focus simply on solving a problem.
Although I've just started "The Creation" myself, I can already tell its brilliance and enjoy the fact that it is not just a book for fellow biologists who toss around industry jargon, and leave out the novice laymen like myself in the process. No matter what one believes in regards to the creation of the earth, I feel it is never a waste of time to continue educating ourselves on controversial matters, especially when there is good at the heart of it.
The thing that most fascinates me as I further my learning on the biological processes of our ecosystem, is simply how we over look important tiny creatures who provide so much to the vitality of things like soil. Soil that we grow our food in...food that we consume. It's amazing to think about how everything works together so beautifully to work out the kinks of nature. And so sad to think we might be compromising that in our carelessness. I can see a bee or a butterfly, even those little rollie pollie's (pill bugs) that were so amusing to collect as a kid. But the biodiversity needed for rich and healthy soil is a lot more complex than meets the eye, and even those little micro organisms I don't realize exist are crucial to a thriving ecosystem.
In most countries, farming takes up more land than any other activity. It is clear to see that agriculture and biodiversity are interdependent. In most cases, farming is destructive to biodiversity richness. Sometimes resources are exhausted, or foreign species are introduced and contribute to depletion of local organisms. I suppose you can not control everything, and by the laws of nature sometimes certain species may not be needed anymore. But conversely, it scares me to think about our modern contribution to the extinction of types of species we can not observe as obviously as we can a large mammal on the endangered list. It helps me put it in perspective by realizing 21 new species were added to the extinction danger list this year. One being the Cheetah.
Such a beautiful, amazing animal. Doesn't it sadden you to think that once it is gone, it is gone forever? But what I just have been so ignorant to until recently, is how those little ugly organisms and bugs and worms, are just as important. Even if we can't see them, even if they are not as majestic.
And we hem and haw over the beautiful creatures that are splashed on the news and in the San Diego Zoo, but what about everything else? I will admit I've scoffed at the crazy environmentalist who denies a traffic relief plan to save some sort of rare bug that will be harmed by a new road. But why would I be so quick to write them off just because the mainstream public doesn't care about the complexity of ecosystems? Well it's just easier that's why. But I guess I'm turning over a new leaf.
And I am still learning a lot about all of this, furthermore I am only in Chapter 1 of "The Creation". I write this blog from the perspective of the most uneducated consumer, realizing there is a lot to learn, and appreciating even more greatly the efforts of farms and groves to be biodynamically certified, as La Vigne has chosen to do.
By Tracy Kinnaman
The thing that most fascinates me as I further my learning on the biological processes of our ecosystem, is simply how we over look important tiny creatures who provide so much to the vitality of things like soil. Soil that we grow our food in...food that we consume. It's amazing to think about how everything works together so beautifully to work out the kinks of nature. And so sad to think we might be compromising that in our carelessness. I can see a bee or a butterfly, even those little rollie pollie's (pill bugs) that were so amusing to collect as a kid. But the biodiversity needed for rich and healthy soil is a lot more complex than meets the eye, and even those little micro organisms I don't realize exist are crucial to a thriving ecosystem.
In most countries, farming takes up more land than any other activity. It is clear to see that agriculture and biodiversity are interdependent. In most cases, farming is destructive to biodiversity richness. Sometimes resources are exhausted, or foreign species are introduced and contribute to depletion of local organisms. I suppose you can not control everything, and by the laws of nature sometimes certain species may not be needed anymore. But conversely, it scares me to think about our modern contribution to the extinction of types of species we can not observe as obviously as we can a large mammal on the endangered list. It helps me put it in perspective by realizing 21 new species were added to the extinction danger list this year. One being the Cheetah.
Such a beautiful, amazing animal. Doesn't it sadden you to think that once it is gone, it is gone forever? But what I just have been so ignorant to until recently, is how those little ugly organisms and bugs and worms, are just as important. Even if we can't see them, even if they are not as majestic.
And we hem and haw over the beautiful creatures that are splashed on the news and in the San Diego Zoo, but what about everything else? I will admit I've scoffed at the crazy environmentalist who denies a traffic relief plan to save some sort of rare bug that will be harmed by a new road. But why would I be so quick to write them off just because the mainstream public doesn't care about the complexity of ecosystems? Well it's just easier that's why. But I guess I'm turning over a new leaf.
And I am still learning a lot about all of this, furthermore I am only in Chapter 1 of "The Creation". I write this blog from the perspective of the most uneducated consumer, realizing there is a lot to learn, and appreciating even more greatly the efforts of farms and groves to be biodynamically certified, as La Vigne has chosen to do.
By Tracy Kinnaman
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