... be harnessed for such human purposes as growth and economic development. Humans have taken over, and despoiled, too much of the earth, all in the name of progress. They have clear-cut old-growth forests, destroyed animal habitats and entire ecosystems, dammed rivers, turned forested mount sides into ski slopes - all the while heedless of the effects of their actions on animals and plants, and the long-term health of the ecosystems that sustain them. Ecologism criticises this kind of 'anthropocentric' or 'humanistic' approach to nature. It is the concern for ourselves at the expense of concern for the non-human world that is held to be a basic cause of environmental degradation and potential disaster. They emphasise that the human species is linked to, and deeply dependent upon, other species of plants and animals. All are interdependent participants in the cycle of birth, life, death, decay and rebirth. And all the participants ...

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