User:Gunz tapiwa/sandbox/SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT BY GUNZ

QUESTION: DISCUSS THE RATIONALE FOR SUSTAINABLY MANAGING THE ENVIRONMENT. The term sustainable refers to the use of resources in a well catered manner that benefits the present generation at the same time without compromising future generations to come whereas, manage refers to a process of controlling and overseeing the functions of a certain body, having this definition in mind gives a clear view of a duty attributed to humans to take care of the natural ecosystem in a way providing and catering for its various needs as a manager does to his subordinates, at the same time the environment gives goods and services to the manager (human).Despite the introduction of modern-day technology that include electricity, motor cars, tractors and modern day reinforced buildings such as skyscrapers humans need not grow ignorance towards their environment and surroundings since most if not all of these “modern-day” technologies that the depend upon also depend upon the natural environment which for a fact does not hold everlasting and totally renewable resources altogether thus at any unnamed time they could go scarce and extinct thereby there is dire need to control them in a two way beneficial manner that benefits the humans and at the same time benefiting the environment as well for future generations to come. One of the reasons why human beings should safe keep the environment and use the resources wisely is that the whole environment known as the ecosystem perceived from a geographical angle is “self sufficient” to the extent that it having sunlight ,water and air without human interference is enough for its survival and existence. Contrary human beings having to leave on their own without the environment, survival and existence is not guaranteed thus proving a point ;due to the fact that human beings depend on the environment for life they should sustainably manage the environment. According to Rolling (1995) “In a balanced condition, ecosystem functioning is self- regulating and self-sustaining. This dynamic nature of ecosystem is dependent upon a number of factors including flow of energy, cycling of materials and perturbations, both intrinsic and extrinsic.”Since humans can’t leave without the environment they are then made take extra care when handling it thus carrying out sustainable management. Further on, the environment should be well taken care of by the humans that depend on it mainly because some of the resources it offers are non-renewable such as minerals and oil thus there is need to prolong their highly recommended presence. Minerals such as gold, diamonds, chrome, oil among many others are all usable to extinction if not harnessed by people. An example is seen in the Marange area in accordance to the (iharare.com) is now running out of minerals due to too much pressure on the resources: ‘ZANU PF’s economic recovery programme buoyed by mining revenues appears to be a pipe dream as expert sources say the Marange diamonds fields are fast drying up due to the severe depletion of surface gem deposits.” Most of them despite having monetary value they also serve a purpose of providing building materials like iron which humans require. Having put this across, a need to extend these non-renewable resources’ lifespan is seen in order to benefit the future generations as well. Moreover the environment provides humans with goods and services that are essential for their welfare and survival .Most of these goods and services if not taken care of might run out eventually thus the need to safeguard and use these wisely .Some of these goods include; food, medicine, timber, fuels and minerals .Most of these are clearly needs not wants thus in a way humans cannot do without them as an example food and medication. On the services side there is transport, waste absorption and purification .These processes or services are essential to the health of human beings, an example is the decomposing of human wastes and other solid wastes by bacteria and vast micro organisms in the process safekeeping human health standards .With this in hand a view of the environment doing humans a favour is portrait and there is no point in failing to return the favour as well through re-afforestation ,gulley filling and many other sustainable activities as well. A very tangible example of good sustainable management by humans to the environment is that of the tree planting day which is to be carried out officially on the first Saturday of December annually. This reduces the effects of deforestation that include soil erosion among many others which affects farmers in the end. Furthermore, from a cultural view the humans have a pivotal role to play in management of the environment because it holds their heritage and a history of their origins thus being a social cement. Nationalities such as root Africans and Native American Indians both have their history and heritage anchored in the environment, in accordance to Anderson in his article states, "The Indians were, in truth, the pioneer ecologists of this country,". This shows how well these people were attached to their environment such that any modern disturbances on it will highly cause fatalities on their culture and history as a clan .To further illustrate there is the case of the bushmen from Botswana who culturally worship, respect and take their environment to be sacred in a way that without rainfall, animals and trees their culture is fully distorted .Different beliefs lead to these clans worshiping mother nature aspects such as rainfall for the bushmen in Botswana .If then there is any disturbances on the water cycle due to activities like deforestation desert conditions will occur thus disturbing these cultural beliefs in the end. To add on, management of the environment is essential since it serves a purpose of controlling poverty within the human kind. The whole concept of economic prosperity and the environment is intertwined .In a way if there is environmental degradation and the land suffers from human irresponsibility poverty is prone to strike without fail whereby people depend on farming such that without it economic recession takes place so if the environment is sustainably managed the whole poverty issue is avoided. To prove significance of the above point the opposite is true whereby if there is poverty most people tend to misuse the environment through poor farming methods, illegal mining and also deforestation as well a good example is that of the people living in Alaska a place in Chinhoyi Zimbabwe who are highly suffering from effects of disposing gases in the atmosphere and hazardous wastes in rivers after they mined dolomite at (Alaska Dolomite Mine),currently the mine is closed but there is no longer vegetation growing in the area even small scale subsistence farming is now impossible to practice thus leading to poverty on these people .According to Ding ‘Poor people have little income, so they are compelled to use increasingly natural resources for their survival, which again diminishes the natural resource base. A lower resource base then reduces the flow of services generated, which worsens poverty. ’This then shows the need to sustainably manage the environment is seen. To add on, there is need for human kind to take good care of the environment and safely manage wet lands which are of high importance to them both socially and economically .The wetlands hold up aquatic life and are also used to the advantage of attracting tourists, if they are to be disturbed aquatic life is destroyed and also funds are blocked as well thus affecting future generations as well. An example is the learning blocks and lecture rooms built at Midlands State University (RSSB) blocks which were built on a wetland ,a geographical perspective would show that a lot of natural habitats and aquatic life was disturbed for the reason of benefiting the present generation whilst disadvantaging the future generations to come thus failure to sustainably manage the environment .With these wetlands intact there is economic growth through tourism and also humans benefit food from these as well thus generating a very strong reason to take care of these wetlands. Moreover sustainable management has to be taken into practicality by human kind in order to avoid creation of barren lands due to the exhaustion of soils by mining, farming, and also land clearing .These mentioned activities if left unchecked often lead to the creation of gulley’s and soil erosion will take place at will in the end the earth will then be left infertile and barren not being able to produce any plants. Effects such as low food production are noted thus poverty and starvation is attracted. In order to avoid all this trauma humans have to practise safer ways of mining without much harm to the environment ,also sustainable farming without exhausting the land ,these are achieved through crop rotation. An example of the effects are seen on the people in Kitsiyatota area Bindura are now suffering from infertile lands that are barren due to illegal mining and overpopulation thus too much pressure on the resources. According to FAO, “The expansion of cultivated areas to compensate for declining yields and the lack of well-adapted agricultural technologies are identified as major factors in declining soil fertility Another reason for humans to sustainably manage the environment is that there is need to maintain the balance in the ecosystem food chain and functionalities .Human activities if unchecked might lead to the destroying of most grasslands thereby leading to the starving of low-feeders (grazers) which without doubt will affect the whole ecosystem flows .Without the grazers lions and other carnivores will die and so will the humans as well thus a reason enough to sustainably manage the environment without causing harm through uncontrolled fires which destroy grass and many species of animals .As stated in the Bulawayo 24news (24 May 2017) the E.M.A (Environmental Management Agency) urged people in Zimbabwe to stop veld fires backing up their decree with a $500 fine policy to anyone caught off guard. With such policies the grasslands are surely to be safe. Investigating further it’s noticeable that human beings are to also suffer from the effects imposed on the food chain since we are already part and parcel of it. Further on, the environment is one of the sources of income to most governments thus being an essential part of the economy .With this it has to be well managed and used wisely and conservatively. Tourism capture vast position in the economy of many countries such as Zimbabwe having 8, 1% of the Gross Domestic Product in accordance to the World and Regional Statistics. These figures will be emerging from nature wonders such as Victoria Falls, Hwange National Park among others. Without secure management these resources will perish as an example; animals may get extinct thus the need to safeguard and use them sustainably for future generations also. In countries such as China after every two weeks a coal power station is built, and these exert a heavy burden on the environment due to air pollution caused in a way that carbon dioxide is emitted in huge amounts into the atmosphere. This leads to ozone depletion that causes further effects of global warming at the end. Instead the use of eco-friendly energy sources such as solar powered plants and wind powered plants as well is advisable. As an example of sustainable management, in Ghana they built a huge solar powered plant that is eco friendly and serves well without causing environmental harm. According to the Union Of Concerned Scientists, in 2011 utility coal plants in the United States emitted a total of 1.7 billion tons of carbon-dioxide. This clearly shows that the use of coal power plants is harm to the environment so people must take steps to use more eco-friendly energy sources. To add on, there is need for people to take care of the environment and use its resources wisely in order to avoid health hazard activities such as veld fires that are as a result of ignorance. Due to this ignorance most farmers tend to start uncontrolled fires in the name of field clearing. In the process a lot of damage is done to the environment whereby microorganisms are killed and also soils are baked .These effects however do not only end here but also lead to various respiratory problems thus humans at last are seen being compelled to manage the environment for their own safety as well. Baden argues that the main issue behind the environmental bullying by farmers is due to ignorance. Sithole states that the E.M.A (Environmental Management Agency) urged people in Zimbabwe to stop veld fires backing up their decree with a $500 fine policy to anyone caught off guard thus they can be credited for their efforts in trying to control these problems.

Having the benefits of sustainably managing the environment outweighing the cost involved as reason enough for the humans to manage their nature sustainably for future use. Benefits include services, goods and also monetary gains as well whilst the environment only needs gentle care such as afforestation, preservation, conservation and also human protection. Having these in thought the reason for sustainably managing the environment becomes clear. In a way one other school-of-thoughts might say it is impossible to balance the use of resources with the safekeeping of them as well, whereas it’s not a matter of producing equity and fairness but rather merely an awareness campaign pointed on the reduction of ignorance among humans. Having one to sustainably manage what can be managed as an example we have trees which are renewable and can be easily planted thus an act of sustainable management. However this whole conserving for the future generations benefiting is somehow failing to apply, on non-renewable resources such as minerals we can’t do without saying we are saving for those to come. A conclusion can be drawn from the above essay saying a number of these sustainable management methods are applicable but rather the problem remains centered on human-kind’s ignorance and failure to imply these methods.

Reference Anderson (1970) A History of the Indians of the United States. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. Baden, etal (1981): Conservation Native American Style The American Indian as a Resource Manager. Economic Inquiry 19(1): 132-43.

Sithole (2017) 24news Yifan Ding (1990) ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT – Vol I - Impacts of Poverty and an Inability to Manage the Environment Union of Concerned Scientists (2013): Environmental impacts of coal power: air pollution FAO: Vol. 17–2012 Rolling (1995), Ecosystem Functioning: Self Regulating, Self Sustaining iharare.com (2013) Zimbabwe running out of diamonds