Conservation versus exploitation in a developing country

Abstract

Developing countries like Greece are struggling under the pressure of progress and of rapid economic development. Under this economic pressure, land and resources are used and developed so as to yield owners the maximum profit. The economic ethic is the motivating power for the decision makers and planners who deal with the development processes, as it most certainly is for the landowner and public. As a result of following this principle, the well being and diversity of a country’s natural resources is sacrificed. Incomes and monetary costs are now the ultimate criteria determining human actions, to the degree that the natural world has no significance beyond that of resources ripe for exploitation. However, there comes a time when resources are depleted; then the country must face the result of overexploitation and mismanagement, and the ecological consequences of this type of development become apparent. Ecological damage causes economic and social damage; it is obvious that development cannot be achieved by great leaps, especially when these jumps are made without consideration of the ecological consequences. All evidence indicates that development without ecological consideration is not as positive as it was once thought to be; on the contrary, in the long run, it has its heavy price which includes environmental degradation, resource depletion and biological death. At that stage, the luxury of conservation becomes a necessity. The new goal, that shall someday become an ethic for the developing countries, is to integrate conservation into the developmental processes of the country. In other words, an ethic by which development will occur in harmony with the environment, will conserve resources and employ technologies that do not abuse natural ecosystems. The question that arises then is ‘how far are we from this new environmental ethic? How can we make it part of our lives?’