Man and Nature in India: The Ecological Balance

This piece is extracted from "Man and Nature in India: The Ecological Balance," included in A Bird's Eye View: The Collected Essays and Shorter Writings of Salim Ali. Salim Ali Jaments the human tendency to over-exploit the environment and to kill creatures indiscriminately but what makes this essay extraordinary is that instead of suggesting various methods of nature conservation and reclamation of threatened resources, he recommends a revolutionary step. As the root cause of environmental exploitation and degradation is explosion of human population. tough measures have to be taken to check our numbers, and in achieving this aim bio-mimicry is an option that may be considered.

Bio-minicry means

Salim Ali begins the essay by saying that habitat destruction is the main cause for extinction of species. When we cut down forest for agricultural purposes, to fulfill the food needs of the overpopulated world it destroys the habitat of several species leading to extinction. Even after converting forests to agricultural lands, these areas are unscientifically used by farmers which lead to further destruction of already limited land resources. Thus it is not the scarcity of land resources that causes problems but the unscientific usage of it.) 60163

Sailm Ali explains how elimination of any species from the food chain can have serious impact on the ecological balance. This is because Nature has its own ways to maintain the ecological balance and when man interferes in this natural process it leads to serious degradation. For 219ng example, in the agricultural lands, Nature has its own natural mechanisms to control pests and insects. But when man kill or eliminate these natural elements of pest control then the need for chemical pesticides arises which leads to further environmental degradation. The reptile skin trade removes the snakes and lizards which are amongst the most severe natural checks on rats and other rodent crop-pests. Similarly, the trade in frogs legs removes one of the important regulators of the populations of harmful insects and other small animals. One observable effect of this commercial exploitation of frogs is the marked increase in land crabs, which destroy paddy seedlings, and whose numbers were kept in check by the frogs. Due to superstitious prejudice against owls and the diurnal birds of prey, man creates more problems. Their senseless destruction deprives agriculture and forestry of the services of some of man's help in battle against rats and locust.

When man removes these natural agents of pest control for economic gains then chemical pesticides has to be used which causes severe ecological imbalance. Having said this, Salim Ali, makes it clear that Nature has its own ways to maintain ecological balance. Thus even to solve the problem of human overpopulation we should look to nature and find ways from observing how other species regulate their population. The evolution of man, unlike that of other animals has, above all, been the evolution of his brain. This is what has enabled him to overcome the limitations natural to other animals. He meets and deals with his environment at two levels: firstly, the intellectual, aided by the vast area of knowledge available to him because of his intellect, and secondly, the physical level in which he is in no way different from other animals.

Man's reproductive capacity lies in the second plane and thus it is same as in animals. Thus to control overpopulation we should analyse the mechanisms in other animals.

Other animals control population naturally by seasonal reproductive behavior. We should research if it is possible in humans to permanently extend the inhibitory forces leading to

seasonal reproductive behavior. In insects such as ants and bees the majority of individuals are sterile; thus there is a built-in population control mechanism in the community. These bio mimicry techniques are not altogether impossible because humans have succeeded in reversing these mechanisms. For instance, the Red Jungle Fowl - the ancestor of our domestic poultry has, unlike the latter, a fixed and limited breeding season in nature. But we have successful changed the reproductive pattern of the hens and cocks today.

Sailm Ali ends the essay by warning of the urgency to control population which leading the whole Earth to a great disaster.