215
Chapter 12
Biodiversity and
Landscape Protection
12.1 MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS
OF NATURE PROTECTION
The protection of nature from anthropogenic pressures is a particularly difficult problem because it reflects the multiple dimensions of the interaction
between natural and social systems. Natural ecosystems and the landscape
as well as all kinds of human activities that disturb them present a great complexity. The damage caused by pollution is a significant part of the problem
(Chapters 7, 8, and 9) that is described quantitatively or qualitatively by the
relevant sciences (chemistry, toxicology etc.) and can be technologically dealt
with to an increasingly satisfactory degree (Chapters 10, 11). On the other
hand, various alterations of the natural environment (Chapter 5) besides
pollution, in addition to their complex physical, chemical, and biological,
quantitative or qualitative aspects, present serious social and cultural dimensions that often compose the basic core of the problem. The protection of
biodiversity and the natural landscape encounters social difficulties and
needs social approaches. The related issue of cultural environment conservation can be similarly considered, since the reasons for protection and the
methods employed for it are generally the same. The landscape, which is
the projection of our natural environment, is also the image of our culture;
moreover, the monuments, historical sites and traditional settlements give
additional remarkable and unique elements to this natural landscape.
12.2 PROTECTION OF BIODIVERSITY
AND THE LANDSCAPE AS A SOCIAL ISSUE
The efforts for biodiversity and landscape preservation imply limitations
to human activities and therefore often are in conflict with the value of
freedom . The principle that one’s freedom stops where the freedom of the
other begins is called upon to undergo one more limitation for the sake
of life in general or for the sake of ecosystems, of natural or cultural
DOI: 10.1201/b14609-12
Chapter 12
Biodiversity and
Landscape Protection
12.1 MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS
OF NATURE PROTECTION
The protection of nature from anthropogenic pressures is a particularly difficult problem because it reflects the multiple dimensions of the interaction
between natural and social systems. Natural ecosystems and the landscape
as well as all kinds of human activities that disturb them present a great complexity. The damage caused by pollution is a significant part of the problem
(Chapters 7, 8, and 9) that is described quantitatively or qualitatively by the
relevant sciences (chemistry, toxicology etc.) and can be technologically dealt
with to an increasingly satisfactory degree (Chapters 10, 11). On the other
hand, various alterations of the natural environment (Chapter 5) besides
pollution, in addition to their complex physical, chemical, and biological,
quantitative or qualitative aspects, present serious social and cultural dimensions that often compose the basic core of the problem. The protection of
biodiversity and the natural landscape encounters social difficulties and
needs social approaches. The related issue of cultural environment conservation can be similarly considered, since the reasons for protection and the
methods employed for it are generally the same. The landscape, which is
the projection of our natural environment, is also the image of our culture;
moreover, the monuments, historical sites and traditional settlements give
additional remarkable and unique elements to this natural landscape.
12.2 PROTECTION OF BIODIVERSITY
AND THE LANDSCAPE AS A SOCIAL ISSUE
The efforts for biodiversity and landscape preservation imply limitations
to human activities and therefore often are in conflict with the value of
freedom . The principle that one’s freedom stops where the freedom of the
other begins is called upon to undergo one more limitation for the sake
of life in general or for the sake of ecosystems, of natural or cultural
DOI: 10.1201/b14609-12