3 Legal Ways to Kill Nature
All projects to destroy natural ecosystems need to be assessed to predict its impact on the biodiversity and ecological functions.
Ecologists go out on the field to harvest data. They check the habitat quality by looking for :
- Characteristic species. The abundance or absence of a species can be a consequence of some special environmental properties such as water acidity, humidity, soil texture.
- Keystone species. The beaver is a key species in rivers as it cuts trees and creates new habitats for other animals.
- Umbrella species. The wolf or other super predators have a large control (like an umbrella) on their prey population. Have you heard about the impact of the wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone ? Deer population decreased. Then, grasses and trees grew tall, and created new habitats for insects. The biodiversity of the park increased thanks to the wolf.
After getting these data, ecologists analysis them. They use indices to evaluate the plant and animal community similarity, the Shannon and Evenness indices for instance. They use maps to correlate the habitat quality with the species spatial distribution. They check the habitat rarity and the species endemism as well. They have a close look at the species vulnerability, if they are on a red list or if they are very sensible to disturbances for instance.
Then, ecologists compare their data and maps to what was done and written about the region in the past. They read old reports and studies, they talk to the project actors and to the people living there, they check previous project plans…
Only after this analysis, the building project is allowed to start.
1st way to destroy natural ecosystem legally
If no endangered or important species are found on the area and if the area does not include any sensible or rare habitat , the project can go on. It means that the building will be built without destroying important ecosystems. But don’t forget that it may destroy unimportant habitat and kill animals and plants from non-endangered species.
2nd way to destroy natural ecosystem legally
In the case, the building project is on sensible habitat and may kill endangered species, it cannot be carried on. The project manager have to find another place to build his thing.
Let’s take the example of a road. If the road goes through a protected area where many migratory birds stop to recover from their journey ; then, building the road is not allowed there. A deviation needs to be created and instead of disturbing beautiful birds, the road will go through an unimportant area. Of course, it also threatened plant and animal species on its new path. Fortunately, those are neither rare nor key species, so everything is ok.
3rd way to destroy natural ecosystem legally
Sometimes the project may destroy precious natural habitat and it is not possible to build it in another place. Despite threatening rare plant and animal species, this project will highly improve the life of the people living there. For this reason, the project is allowed to go on. The building is built and the people are happier. However, the company who have built on the sensible area have to pay some compensation. With this money, another area will be restored in a remote place.
Bonus : 4th way to destroy natural ecosystem (almost) legally
If your building is very important for you, you can offer some gifts to the ecologists. Delicious cakes, new computers, colorful pieces of papers… It may motivate them to report that there is no endangered species or vital areas on your building site. If nobody knows, everybody is happy… Except Nature, but who cares about Nature ?
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