It seems extraordinary that we should still be debating whether nature is a luxury or a necessity. But we are. In a recent BBC Green Room editorial, “Wildlife: A Luxury We Can Live Without?” Jean-Christophe Vie, deputy head of the IUCN Species Programme, turns the familiar argument on its head when he asserts that, “Those who… think human ingenuity will solve all our problems, should be asked to demonstrate that they can live without nature.” A brilliant notion: Put the responsibility for proving that nature is expendable squarely on the shoulders of those who want to dispense with it.
Photograph of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, by Caroline Fraser
