O is for Overexploitation

     Take a moment and look around at the room you are sitting in as you read this post. If you are in a kitchen, you may notice wooden cabinets, various types of food, and cooking utensils. In a bedroom you may have a wooden desk, bedding, books, and pictures. Regardless of where you are, everything you are surrounded by required environmental resources (plants, animals, rocks, minerals, etc.) to make it. That's the beauty of nature- it provides us with so many different necessities and luxuries that we need to live and thrive. It is important to remember that as we take from the environment, we must give back so that there is a balance between giving and taking. Unfortunately, we are currently taking more from the environment and not equally giving back what we take. This problem is called overexploitation, and the National Wildlife Federation defines it as "the over use of wildlife and plant species by people for food, clothing, pets, medicine, sport and many other purposes. " 
     Although it is a current issue in today's world, overexploitation is not new. Evidence of this has spanned all of history. Take, for example, the American Bison that once roamed the West in huge numbers. The American Bison Society shows a timeline of how the populations of these animals drastically declined once settlers began moving West. Before the 1700s, roughly 25 to 30 million bison roamed the plains; by 1889, a survey counted only 1,091 bison in North America. Why? Settlers were killing off these animals for their hides...aka money was the driving force behind the entire situation. Since then, not much has changed. Of course I have to bring up the currently declining tiger populations, for not only are they falling victim to habitat loss but they are also being killed for their pelts. Other animals killed for certain body parts, for sport, or for food include but are in no way limited to rhinos, elephants, fish, seafood, whales, cheetahs, and so forth. We cannot leave plants out of the picture either. Several types are excessively harvested for medicinal purposes, for food, and for lumber. They too form links in nature, and we must work to preserve and protect all elements of the environment.
     Not convincing enough? Allow me to quote Rachel Carson once again, because she knows what she is talking about when it comes to human impact on the environment (and she's awesome). The following quote of hers emphasizes the need for humans to cautiously exploit resources from the environment: "The earth's vegetation is part of a web of life in which there are intimate and essential relations between plants and the earth, between plants and other plants, between plants and animals. Sometimes we have no choice but to disturb these relationships, but we should do so thoughtfully, with full awareness that what we do may have consequences remote in time and place" (Carson 64). There you have it- it isn't bad to use the resources nature provides, but we must be careful about how much we are taking and why we are taking it. Animals shouldn't be killed off and wasted just because someone wants their tusks for money. Furthermore, we must in some way replace what we took; trees that were cut down should be replaced with another tree, and fish that were harvested for food should be replaced with more fish.

     So the big question is, how can we stop overexploitation of resources? I know I say this every time, but is SO important. Educate yourself and raise awareness.  Those are two powerful things that each of us have the potential to do, and it does make a difference. In the case of overexploitation, I also encourage you to be careful about what you are buying. Some decorations may be made with ivory, which is obtained from elephant tusks, and say no to any type of animal furs, especially those made with the fur of exotic animals. In order to become more understanding and passionate about this issue, check out the new show on Animal Planet called "Battleground: Rhino Wars." The link takes you to the page for this show and displays an extremely touching, shocking, and emotional video about the effort to save these rhinos. "Whale Wars" is another good show to watch on Animal Planet, giving you an upfront view of those fighting to stop whale poaching out at sea. I hope that these two shows and additional research will spark you with motivation to get out and fight for those species being harmed by overexploitation. Remember, these plants and animals cannot protect themselves from humans trying to harvest them for resources. Only we can give back to the environment we are taking from. So, let's start the trend of giving back to environment and save the tigers, the trees, and the earth.

Reference: Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1962. Print.