October 7, 2013 635
words
Humans
have been living off the land and its inhabitants for millenia. Over
time, certain animals and plants became a part of the culture of an
area, occupying roles that are necessary for the lifestyle and health
the community and the people within it. As climates and ecosystems
are disrupted, those plants and animals become threatened. Sometimes
they die off, either from natural events or human activities, and
sometimes they are placed in so much danger that people step in and
set up laws and regulations protecting the plant or animal. This is
usually beneficial to the endangered population but often has adverse
effects for the culture that relies on it.
One
of the biggest ways animals are present in a culture is in its
medicines and superstitions. Cultures often have beliefs that certain
parts of animals can heal or prevent sickness, cancer, impotency, or
disease. Tigers are killed for their organs, snakes skinned alive for
their gallbladders, rhinoceros and elephants butchered for their
ivory. Recently, the animal medicine trade has increased
exponentially and the animal populations, often already endangered by
habitat loss and human activities, are not able to support the
demand. Ironically, as the number of animals available falls the
demand for the animal rises. Although laws do exist to prevent these
animals being hunted or farmed, they are often not very well enforced
and smugglers have found ways around them. Animals are often treated
very inhumanely with painful traps, starvation, bad living
conditions, and brutal slaughter.
Regulation
on the use of endangered species is very beneficial to the animals
and their environment, but often it can result in harm to the
cultures that depend upon them. One example starts with the 2000 UN
conference on trade in endangered species. The UN sought to impose a
global ban on commercial whaling as whale populations are
dramatically declining. Norway and Japan objected to this law,
claiming that they should be exempt as whaling is an integral part of
their culture and heritage. Many villages that had hunted whales and
fish for hundreds of years depended on them for income. Without them,
the local economies could collapse and the traditional fishing
lifestyle lost. Norway refused the law on the grounds that it was an
imposition of other countries' cultural values that contradicted its
own. In some cases, the people have revolted against the law and gone
hunting anyway. A few years ago, native Innu in Labrador hunted and
killed sixty-four caribou who were in a protected area, protesting
that it was in violation of their traditional rights. The Red Wine
Herd of caribou numbers fewer than one hundred and is protected by
law in that area. A much larger herd was also in the area and that is
the herd the hunters went after, but the herds could have been mixed
and harm could have been done to the caribou population.
The
question is, which is more important? Preservation of culture or
protection of endangered or threatened species? Although both are
necessary, the prevention of pain, suffering, and loss of life to an
animal or species takes precedence. The disappearance of animal
species causes ripples throughout ecosystems and entire biomes. If
one species goes extinct, it could cause a chain reaction that does
more harm to human populations and cultures than the protection of
that species ever could. Laws and regulations need to be put into
place and properly enforced, and conservation efforts need to be
established to boost the populations of the threatened animals. Once
the population has recovered, regulated use of the animals can be
slowly re-introduced. Cultures do not face the loss of their heritage
forever. In fact, the protection of threatened species will ensure
that their practices, as long as they are reasonable and legal, can
continue for a long time yet.
Sources:
- Oliver, Moore. "Labrador Innu break hunting ban, kill 64 caribou." Globe and Mail. 20 Nov 2009: n. page. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/labrador-innu-break-hunting-ban-kill-64-caribou/article1370834/>.
- Nilsson, Greta. "The Endangered Species Handbook." The Animal Welfare Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Sep 2013. <http://www.endangeredspecieshandbook.org/index.php>.
- "Wildlife Protection and Cultural Rights."Globalization 101. SUNY Levin Institute. Web. 9 Oct 2013. <http://www.globalization101.org/wildlife-protection-and-cultural-rights>.
- Zielinski, Sarah, and Joseph Stromberg. "Ten Threatened and Endangered Species Used in Traditional Medicine." Smithsonian Magazine. 19 Oct 2011: n. page. Web. 9 Oct. 2013. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Ten-Threatened-and-Endangered-Species-Used-in-Traditional-Medicine.html?c=y&story=fullstory>.
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