MAN V/S NATURE - A FIGHT ALREADY LOST?

By H. Ramtohul, forestry_mauritius

Killer whales, man-eating sharks, mad cow, vampire bats, carnivorous plants. So many gruesome adjectives used to describe plants and animals. But there is one species that has a more violent and destructive nature instinctively that has tried to mask these behind ties and mimis; Homo sapiens.

Actually, our violent nature has been key to our survival. We have learned to kill for food, for survival, for courtship and so on. Yet, humans seem to have been a species that was set apart with a unique set of skills, facilitated by a higher intelligence, to develop tools for various reasons. Man v/s the sabre-tooth tigers, man v/s the mammoth, man v/s mountain gorillas-all matches where man is unlikely to come out alive. Yet history has proved the contrary as we are now estimated at 7.3 billion while many species have been sacrificed at the expense of human invasion. You probably are asking yourself where is the relation with forestry in all this? Well, there is!

According to the FAO Report “Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015”, Forest cover worldwide is estimated at 3.9 billion Ha down by about 2 billion Ha before the industrial era. Elephant, the largest living herbivorous animal, is certainly not to be blamed (after all, man has caused their numbers to dwindle to about only 2 million individuals worldwide according to the IUCN). Forests provide a wide range of goods and services so essential for man’s survival. However, a booming human population causing world demand for resources to skyrocket coupled with unregulated, unsustainable and at times illegal exploitation of forests is causing their demise.

Remnant Native Forest (Le Cabinet Nature Reserve)

In Mauritius, the forest cover has been reduced substantially from some 30 % of land area in the 1980s to 25 % to date, due to rapid economic development (housing, dams, roads and other infrastructural developments, etc.).  The pristine native forests had suffered so much from the onslaught of deforestation since man set foot on the island.  Today their remnants represent less than 2 % of the land area.  These forests still harbour a rich biological diversity of fauna and flora.  However, they are very fragile and are threatened by invasive alien species, habitat fragmentation and climate change. 

Mark Twain said “Mauritius was made first and then heaven; and heaven was copied after Mauritius” This beautiful quote however left a considerable responsibility on the Mauritian citizens. We are the ones who have to care for our island so that it continues to be the paradise Mark Twain experienced during his last visit. Not only for us or for the forthcoming generations, but also for the sake of nature itself, the unique fauna and flora that was present well before our ‘invasion’.