Pioneer of Modern GREEN Movement - Aldo Leopold and his Land Ethic

Aldo Leopold’s thoughts and ideas were a long way ahead of the times he lived in – the first half of the 20th century. As probably the first acclaimed and acknowledged environmentalist and ecologist, Leopold had stated way back in 1949 that, humans needed to adopt a new approach toward the land that sustains them and learn to love and respect all the elements that constitute land in its entirety. Right from microbes to flora and fauna, humans, right on top of the food chain, have a responsibility to preserve and sustain land in as pristine a condition as they can.

“Land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land.” This famous statement by Aldo Leopold, (“Leopold’s Land Ethic.” AldoLeopold.org.) the father of modern environmental and ecological movements, is like gospel to conservationists, the world over. A born environmentalist, Leopold grew up under the careful guidance of his father who taught him to value the land and everything that it sustains. He is the first contemporary conservationist who advocated a course correction in land use from the traditional economic standpoint to one that encompassed ethical issues related to sustaining the land and the eco-system that it supports.

The traditional economic approach toward land was and continues to be indiscriminate exploitation of its resources without any concern about its sustainability. In purely economic terms, there is no scope for feeling, understanding or loving a resource base like land or any other resource because it only studies the productive capacity of the said resource and doesn’t consider any other virtue that it may have. Leopold urged a change in this approach and explained that humans should consider themselves as just a part of land like the flora and fauna and all the other elements that it supports. They should not think of themselves as the central element with exclusive rights.

Leopold’s land pyramid 

A simple stratification of Leopold’s land pyramid indicates four broad categories of elements that are a part of the ecosystem of the land – at the bottom are the tens of billions of microbes; above this is the mind boggling flora spread all over the land; the next strata on top includes fauna of all varieties; and finally, right on top of the pyramid are humans. However, humans should not take their position at the top for granted and recklessly exploit the land for all its resources but feel for the land and utilize it judiciously to minimize the impact of human habitation (“Leopold: Biotic Drama.” 04 Oct. 2012. Earth’sEye.wordpress.com.) This would only be possible by introducing ethics in any and every interaction with land that humans are involved in. 

Ethics are essentially a set of principles, that guide us in our conduct and instills in us a sense of what we should do or not do based on what we believe to be right or wrong. Therefore, we need to be aware of what is wrong in our conduct in relation to land especially when it involves indiscriminate exploitation of land for our economic needs. The fundamental plank in this thought process is that humans should consider themselves a part of the land’s biotic community and not as an exclusive entity. If the human body is taken as an example, no part can be compromised or frittered away unless it becomes a medical necessity to save the individual’s life.

Carrying capacity of land 

Humans are also a part of land and its biotic environment and cannot act against this mother element that sustains all other entities. The ‘conqueror of land’ mentality has contributed in a major way to large areas of land being exploited to an extent where nothing can grow. Many such areas have been turned into deserts as they have been shorn off all their assets. Such adverse effects of human intervention on land have severely limited the capacity of land in these areas to sustain life in any form. Therefore, human encroachment on pristine land should carefully look at what is it is uprooting, what it should avoid doing altogether and how it intends to make good for all the things it has displaced or destroyed.

Land ethic as propounded by Leopold, is a highly advanced concept which is the precursor to the modern conservation movement and all that it has managed to achieve despite spiraling growth in population and pressure on land and its resources like never before. There is no doubt that a great deal more needs to be done because the effects of shrinking green cover over vast stretches of land has had a devastating effect in the form of global warming, weather changes and rising instances of natural disasters. Land ethic teaches us to respect the eco-system of the land we live in and take as little from it as we can.

References 

1. “Leopold’s Land Ethic.” AldoLeopold.org. 12 Dec 2012 <http://www.aldoleopold.org/AldoLeopold/LandEthic.pdf>

2. “Leopold: Biotic Drama.” 04 Oct. 2012. Earth’sEye.wordpress.com. 12 Dec. 2012 <http://earthseye.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/leopold-biotic-drama/>