pathogens, that are not hampered by natural enemies, local competitors or soil
pathogens, and create biodiversity-poor novel ecosystems.
Most likely, problems of water quality, quantity, availability, drought, severe
floods, tsunamis, damage and reconstruction of ecosystems, and diseases linked to
the environment have been and are the strongest environmental challenges for
humans, and human impacts are the strongest problem for the existence, survival
and evolution of biodiversity and ecosystems. However, because of a narrow
relationship between nature and culture a further loss of biodiversity might directly
be linked to a loss of cultural conditions and processes as well, i.e. the gradual loss of
knowledge, traditions, practices and aesthetics related to nature from cultures all
over the world.
3.2 Environmental Consciousness
Which historical landscape and environmental events and processes are important
for understanding the present? Survival into and organization for the future depends
strongly on perception and memory, on narratives, educated traditional and scientific
knowledge, and on the explanation of disasters and behaviour in disaster situations.
In general, this perception—environmental consciousness—is influenced by education, i.e. learning and communication, as well as by deeper human practices and
traditions, such as religious rituals and spirituality, and other forms of awareness.
In modern cultures, perception and interpretation of the environment changed
greatly during the transition from a religious-dominated worldview to a secular
worldview. Furthermore, during a very short time, communication channels changed
from the development of print media to the global use of modern digital technologies. The amount of available information—including scientific knowledge—simply
has exploded across the globe during these last decades.
Handling and filtering of information, in combination with a stronger focus on
ecosystems and biodiversity, will be key for the success of biodiversity conservation
management in the future. Big data, as an example, may also play a role in modern
conservation strategies. The analyses of datasets containing long-term and largescale species distribution patterns—and combining such datasets with other geographical, sociocultural and environmental data—may improve our understanding of
the scale change and guide us in developing scenarios for ecological restoration.
Our collective environmental consciousness is shaped by catastrophes rather than
continuity, by sudden events rather than uniformitarian change and by obvious rather
than creeping processes, even if the final effects may be similar.
Behaviour can be reactive and proactive: normally it is both. Our environmental
consciousness is the result of the interplay between evolution, communication about
environmental history, and social behaviour; it cannot guarantee avoidance of
further environmental disasters. This may be related to risk-taking in humans: the
benefits and risks from a particular environment have to be considered together—for
Land Use Change and the Future of Biodiversity
457
pathogens, and create biodiversity-poor novel ecosystems.
Most likely, problems of water quality, quantity, availability, drought, severe
floods, tsunamis, damage and reconstruction of ecosystems, and diseases linked to
the environment have been and are the strongest environmental challenges for
humans, and human impacts are the strongest problem for the existence, survival
and evolution of biodiversity and ecosystems. However, because of a narrow
relationship between nature and culture a further loss of biodiversity might directly
be linked to a loss of cultural conditions and processes as well, i.e. the gradual loss of
knowledge, traditions, practices and aesthetics related to nature from cultures all
over the world.
3.2 Environmental Consciousness
Which historical landscape and environmental events and processes are important
for understanding the present? Survival into and organization for the future depends
strongly on perception and memory, on narratives, educated traditional and scientific
knowledge, and on the explanation of disasters and behaviour in disaster situations.
In general, this perception—environmental consciousness—is influenced by education, i.e. learning and communication, as well as by deeper human practices and
traditions, such as religious rituals and spirituality, and other forms of awareness.
In modern cultures, perception and interpretation of the environment changed
greatly during the transition from a religious-dominated worldview to a secular
worldview. Furthermore, during a very short time, communication channels changed
from the development of print media to the global use of modern digital technologies. The amount of available information—including scientific knowledge—simply
has exploded across the globe during these last decades.
Handling and filtering of information, in combination with a stronger focus on
ecosystems and biodiversity, will be key for the success of biodiversity conservation
management in the future. Big data, as an example, may also play a role in modern
conservation strategies. The analyses of datasets containing long-term and largescale species distribution patterns—and combining such datasets with other geographical, sociocultural and environmental data—may improve our understanding of
the scale change and guide us in developing scenarios for ecological restoration.
Our collective environmental consciousness is shaped by catastrophes rather than
continuity, by sudden events rather than uniformitarian change and by obvious rather
than creeping processes, even if the final effects may be similar.
Behaviour can be reactive and proactive: normally it is both. Our environmental
consciousness is the result of the interplay between evolution, communication about
environmental history, and social behaviour; it cannot guarantee avoidance of
further environmental disasters. This may be related to risk-taking in humans: the
benefits and risks from a particular environment have to be considered together—for
Land Use Change and the Future of Biodiversity
457