WHY ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY?

• We are unnecessarily loosing biodiversity in just about every environment on this planet by the hour.
• Less and less fuel is getting to a smaller and smaller motor.
• Politically correct science (main stream science) is telling us not to worry, because with all our high tech answers, through to nuclear power and gene technology, we only need a small efficient motor, and we can make our own fuel to run it

Please let me tell you about the planet where I still play a minor role in resource management:

We do not have to know the name of every organism, just like we do not have to know the name of the people down the street or where they come from, to know that they wish for their great nieces and great nephews to grow up in healthy secure surroundings.

We do however need to realise that each and every one of us is contributing to those surroundings in the way we make our day to day decisions (ranging from changing the disposable nappy to surfing the stock market).

To have meaningful influence in any situation, it helps to look at the bigger picture.

So when in Rome we looked at

DINING AREA
STORE ROOM
KITCHEN
BED- & BATHROOMS

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and we found a

HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR PARTY ANIMALS

COMMUNITY DYNAMICS
ENERGY FLOW
MINERAL CYCLE
WATER CYCLE

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THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF THESE 4 PROCESSES DETERMINE THE HEALTH OF ANY ENVIRONMENT

...We can take any environment on this planet and simply look at four important letters of the environmental alphabet: Four fundamental eco-system processes...

Their exact meaning and the order of listing is irrelevant at this stage. I only wish to get some points across.

Is the venue welcoming or is it hostile? Are species wanting to come in or are they trying to get away?

We may be foreigners and totally ignorant of Italian, but we can begin to "read" what is going on in this place and what to ask next.

We are looking at something highly complex like a party going on.

Our options range from observation or mingling to halting the party and questioning individuals. In an ecological context we have similar options: we can observe and learn; we can learn as we go along, or we can analyse. Each option has its moments of merit.

Some points however, make our human experience different to other parties:

This is a "one of " party in time.

• We are responsible for the hiring and firing of staff; for the catering, ushering, entertainment, power supply and sanitation.
• There is no insurance on the infrastructure, but the maintenance of the premises is our responsibility.
• We did not choose the venue, nor did we send out the invitations.
• None of us will walk out of here alive.
• If we stop the party to ask questions, the party is over.

As by looking into certain rooms in Rome, we can do something similar in any environment on the planet. By looking at four fundamental processes that underpin the functioning of any environment that supports biological life, we get some clues as to what is actually going on. We also get to identify the weakest link.