African Worldviews, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Development

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Workineh Kelbessa
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Environmental Knowledge ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Moral Obligations ◽  
Present Generation ◽  
Peasant Farmers

This paper explores the role of African worldviews in biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. African worldviews recognise the interdependence and interconnectedness of human beings, animals, plants and the natural world. Although it is not always the case that what one does depends on what one thinks and believes, indigenous African people’s ideas and beliefs about the human–nature relationship have influenced what they have done in and to nature. In African worldviews, the present generation has moral obligations to the ancestors and future generations. It ought to preserve the environment, which is rich in biodiversity, for posterity. This paper insists that it is extremely urgent that every effort be made to document the knowledge of peasant farmers and indigenous people in general. This paper further stresses that indigenous environmental knowledge makes a big difference to sustaining diverse environments, and it is imperative to preserve such knowledge before it dies out.

Rehabilitating Nature and Making Nature Habitable

1994 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 45-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Attfield
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Value Of Nature

Can nature be reconstituted, recreated or rehabilitated? And would the goal of doing so be a desirable one? There again, is wild nature intrinsically valuable, or are parks, gardens and farms sometimes preferable or of greater value? This cluster of questions arises from recent debates about preservation, restoration, wilderness and sustainable development. In discussing them I hope to throw some light on both the concept and the value of nature, and in due course on the attitudes which people should have towards it, the policies which should guide their practice, and thus on the proper role of humanity with regard to the natural world.

scholarly journals As palavras e os bichos: sobre o lugar do homem no jogo das representações científicas | The words and the beasts: on the place of man in the game of scientific representations

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milla Benicio
Keyword(s):  
Natural World ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Relationships ◽  
Scientific Representations ◽  
Complex Transformation ◽  
The Creation

RESUMO O principal objetivo deste artigo é traçar o itinerário científico e filosófico que permitiu à modernidade a criação de um novo campo de visibilidade dentro da ciência, enfraqueceu o antigo pressuposto da centralidade do homem em relação aos demais seres e levou a uma complexa transformação nas relações do homem com o mundo natural. Nosso foco será, portanto, a grande reorganização epistemológica e cultural do Ocidente, cujas quebras de paradigmas revolucionaram não apenas as noções ligadas à natureza, mas, principalmente, ao papel do homem nesse cenário.Palavras-chave: Reorganização Epistemológica; Homem; Mundo Natural.      ABSTRACT This article aims to draw the scientific and philosophical route which allowed to modernity the creation of a new field of visibility within science. This field weakened the old assumption of the centrality of human beings in relation to other and led to a complex transformation in human relationships with the natural world. Our focus will therefore be the major epistemological reorganization of the Western, whose breaking paradigms revolutionized not only the concepts related to the nature, but, mainly, to the role of the man in this scenario.Keywords: Epistemological Reorganization; Man; Natural World.

scholarly journals Role of specific geographic landscapes in city break destinations

2009 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snezana Stetic ◽  
Dario Simicevic
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Tourist Destination ◽  
Mass Tourism ◽  
Tourist Destinations ◽  
Big Cities ◽  
Further Development

Urban tourist destinations or City Break destinations are representing one of main destination products on tourist market. City Break destinations are big cities, administrative, economic and political centers of states and regions. These cities are 'open' 24 hours per day, seven days in week. Inside these tourist destination we can find different range of products (culture, entertainment, recreation, leisure, history, modern infrastructure). In these destinations season is not present and it lasts trough out the year. Promotional campaigns in City Break destinations are truing to create distinguished images in tourists mind as also as on investors, consumers and future residents. They emphasize advantages that those cities are delivering to their consumers, but often we forget that all these cities are having specific geographic landscapes. In the era of limiting of mass tourism to preserve resources for future generations and emphasizing the importance of sustainable development for tourism perspectives, the importance of specific geographic landscapes inside urban destinations for their further development as tourist destinations an their overall development is slightly neglected.

scholarly journals Theory and Practice in Nature Conservation – Where to Seek Sustainability?

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-82
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Mirek ◽  
Zbigniew Witkowski
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Subject

AbstractContemporary nature conservation is the subject of serious disputes, with biocentrists emphasising the superiority of the good of nature, while anthropocentrists believe that conservation space should also take account of the good of humankind. The dispute concerns two very important values perceived differently, and not resolvable within any scientifi c framework. The authors postulate a return to the Christian roots of our civilisation. It was God who gave human beings the goods He had created, expecting them to be used in line with His plan. The man who lost God’s plan, destroys the life of nature as well as his own. The postulated solution is the proper shaping of conscience, to condition biodiversity conservation in line with the idea of sustainable development.

scholarly journals Do we need an ethics of planetary sustainability?

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus Beisbart
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Conceptual Change ◽  
Moral Status ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Outer Space ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Ethical Theories ◽  
The United Nations

Abstract The politics of the United Nations aims at sustainable development (i.e., development that can continue with future generations). Andreas Losch has recently proposed to expand our current notion of sustainability to what he calls ‘planetary sustainability’, and he has urged an ethics of planetary sustainability. This comment article discusses these proposals. The proposed conceptual change is assessed, drawing on desiderata suggested by Carnap. To the extent to which the current notion of sustainability has excluded consideration of outer space, we gain in simplicity. To the extent to which it has been unclear about this issue, we gain in exactness. The proposed concept is fruitful because it points to important considerations, in particular if there are extra-terrestrial beings that share moral status with human beings. But to some extent this fruitfulness requires a clear deviation from the anthropocentric outlook of our current notion of sustainability, and costs regarding similarity arise. As far as an ethics of sustainability is concerned, we certainly need to address ethical issues that arise in relation to outer space. However, the notion of planetary sustainability is not likely to figure prominently in related thoughts because the notion of sustainability is not a key concept in known ethical theories.

scholarly journals A soundscape analysis for selected parks in Bydgoszcz

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 00097
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Sztubecka
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sound Level ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Subjective Perception ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
City Center ◽  
The City

Areas that are considered human-friendly are green spaces. The existing urban parks are designed to fulfill the role of relaxation, recreation, and entertainment. However, in many cases, these are historic places, which at the time didn't have much of an impact on external factors. Sustainable development issues are related to the quality of life and the usage of the environment and its resources by present and future generations. Noise and noise protection is an issue that is part of sustainable development. The inadequate implementation of the principles of sustainable development and non-inclusion of noise can noticeably lead to negative effects now and in the future. The aim of the paper is to analyze the soundscapes of two Bydgoszcz parks located in the city center. The values of the equivalent sound level for these areas were obtained from the existing Bydgoszcz acoustic plan. Subsequently, the resulting distribution of noise was compared with the results of subjective perception of sounds by visitors. On this basis, conclusions can be drawn regarding the ways of shaping such areas while taking into account the perception of visitors.

“A Life Worthy of Being Called Human”

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-332
Author(s):  
Catherine Larrère ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Environmental Ethic ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Second Stage ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Life On Earth ◽  
Ecological Transition

“Act so that the effects of your action are compatible with the permanence of genuine human life on Earth.” How can we understand Jonas’ “maxim”? Is it too anthropocentric to be of any interest for an environmental ethic? Is is too limited to survival to have a moral signification in a truly human ethic? One can argue first that it is not so much anti-Kantian than that it challenges the current prevailing “presentism” and obliges us to take into consideration not only future generations, but also the context in which one anticipates these future generations to be living. Therefore, we can distinguish two different interpretations of Jonas’ maxim: in a first stage, that of sustainable development, it was understood as taking into consideration not only the needs but also the rights of future generations; in a second stage, that of an Anthropocene and ecological transition, it means that making sense of humanity implies connecting human beings to the Earth and other living beings far from opposing them.

scholarly journals Knowledge sharing for sustainable development through biodiversity conservation in the Mesoamerican region

2005 ◽  
Vol 04 (03) ◽  
pp. C05
Author(s):  
Topiltzin Contreras-MacBeath
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
Environmental Stewardship ◽  
Global Environment ◽  
Future Generations

As recognized by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, the human community has reached a point in which it is faced with an array of choices that will determine the quality of our lives and the state of the global environment for present and future generations. One possibility is that at long last we will pave a path toward environmental stewardship and sustainable development. But it is also quite possible that we will travel a less enlightened course, running down the earth's natural capital and severely limiting the choices our descendants will face.

scholarly journals Writing Nature with Darwin, Darwinism and Jung

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Rowland
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Charles Darwin ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Critical Practice ◽  
Major Significance ◽  
Mother Goddess ◽  
Literary Darwinism ◽  
Definition Of

Charles Darwin and C. G. Jung were revolutionary thinkers about the role of human beings in the natural world. While Darwin’s Origins of Species (1859) sought to remove both God and “man” from the centre of the understanding of nature, C. G. Jung, one generation later, aimed to remove the ego from the central definition of human nature. Although both theorists have been explored for their conceptual ideas, neither has been seriously considered as writers, and in particular as writers of nature and human nature. This paper shows how similar these authors are in treating the unknowable in the psyche and history as of major significance. In particular, both writers require the resources of ancient myth, especially of nature as an Earth Mother goddess in order to represent the inconceivable. The paper also looks at the new critical practice of “literary Darwinism,” which, while viable in its own terms, suffers from being neither “literary,” nor “Darwinian.”

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