436
Y. Wang
nor in-depth enough regarding what “harmony between man and nature” really means
and how to achieve it.
We hope science and technology can help us raise the resource and energy efficiency and create more wealth to change this situation, but sci-tech advancements
are usually a double-edged sword on the environment with both pros and cons.
Micro plastic particles in the ocean, natural disasters caused by climate change due
to greenhouse gases…these problems have only drawn close attention in the past
few decades. Natural resources include renewable, non-renewable and sustainable
resources, and the utilization of them shall be intensive, efficient and rational based on
their respective properties. For renewable resources, mainly bio-resources, we must
enhance their biological productivity on the basis of protection and nurturing, and
the exploitation and utilization thereof shall not exceed their speed of growth, thus
ensuring sustainable use. For non-renewable resources, mainly minerals, we must
economize on them and carry out cyclic utilization. Humans should learn from the
natural ecosystems in their productive and living activities, so as to realize the process
of material consumption that generates almost zero waste thanks to the circular chain
of producers, consumers and decomposers, with solar energy being the only resource
used—a world where all creatures truly live on the sun. The waste-less city that’s
being promoted now is working in this direction.
In addition to rational utilization of various resources, the diverse functions of lifesupporting systems must be maintained to realize harmony between man and nature,
including climate adjustment, water and soil conservation, pollution control, wind
prevention and sand fixation, disease and insect control, natural material circulation
(including the circulation of water, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen), among others.
This mainly refers to maintaining the functions of different types of ecosystems,
including forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers, lakes and oceans. To that end, the
mankind should cherish land, avoid increasing farmland and building all kinds of
facilities with the increase of population, which will encroach upon the land for
natural ecosystems. Human activities inevitably affect natural ecosystems, but these
effects and interference shouldn’t exceed the limit of ecological stability, meaning
they cannot cause structural imbalance and serious functional deterioration of ecosystems in a large scope. We must work hard to increase natural capital and keep up
the productivity and biodiversity of ecosystems. Roy Morrison wrote in his Ecological Democracy that ecological civilization, on the operational level, can be simply
defined as follows: “economic growth means ecological improvement and the regeneration of natural capital.” At the moment, it seems that human efforts can improve
other indicators, but the trend of diminishing biodiversity is hard to curb. According
to a research report by World Wildlife Fund in 2016, the per capita ecological footprint of mankind reached 2.6 global hectares in 2012, which had to be sustained by
the natural resources and ecological services of 1.6 earths, and the number of vertebrate population dropped by 58% from 1970 to 2012. To realize harmony between
man and nature, the human society must make substantial and fundamental changes.
Y. Wang
nor in-depth enough regarding what “harmony between man and nature” really means
and how to achieve it.
We hope science and technology can help us raise the resource and energy efficiency and create more wealth to change this situation, but sci-tech advancements
are usually a double-edged sword on the environment with both pros and cons.
Micro plastic particles in the ocean, natural disasters caused by climate change due
to greenhouse gases…these problems have only drawn close attention in the past
few decades. Natural resources include renewable, non-renewable and sustainable
resources, and the utilization of them shall be intensive, efficient and rational based on
their respective properties. For renewable resources, mainly bio-resources, we must
enhance their biological productivity on the basis of protection and nurturing, and
the exploitation and utilization thereof shall not exceed their speed of growth, thus
ensuring sustainable use. For non-renewable resources, mainly minerals, we must
economize on them and carry out cyclic utilization. Humans should learn from the
natural ecosystems in their productive and living activities, so as to realize the process
of material consumption that generates almost zero waste thanks to the circular chain
of producers, consumers and decomposers, with solar energy being the only resource
used—a world where all creatures truly live on the sun. The waste-less city that’s
being promoted now is working in this direction.
In addition to rational utilization of various resources, the diverse functions of lifesupporting systems must be maintained to realize harmony between man and nature,
including climate adjustment, water and soil conservation, pollution control, wind
prevention and sand fixation, disease and insect control, natural material circulation
(including the circulation of water, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen), among others.
This mainly refers to maintaining the functions of different types of ecosystems,
including forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers, lakes and oceans. To that end, the
mankind should cherish land, avoid increasing farmland and building all kinds of
facilities with the increase of population, which will encroach upon the land for
natural ecosystems. Human activities inevitably affect natural ecosystems, but these
effects and interference shouldn’t exceed the limit of ecological stability, meaning
they cannot cause structural imbalance and serious functional deterioration of ecosystems in a large scope. We must work hard to increase natural capital and keep up
the productivity and biodiversity of ecosystems. Roy Morrison wrote in his Ecological Democracy that ecological civilization, on the operational level, can be simply
defined as follows: “economic growth means ecological improvement and the regeneration of natural capital.” At the moment, it seems that human efforts can improve
other indicators, but the trend of diminishing biodiversity is hard to curb. According
to a research report by World Wildlife Fund in 2016, the per capita ecological footprint of mankind reached 2.6 global hectares in 2012, which had to be sustained by
the natural resources and ecological services of 1.6 earths, and the number of vertebrate population dropped by 58% from 1970 to 2012. To realize harmony between
man and nature, the human society must make substantial and fundamental changes.