Ecology in Context
Vast arrays of environmental problems are now affecting the world. With the enclosure of more green spaces, global warming, and the extinction of animals, mankind seems intent on destroying any hope of leaving the world intact for future generations. If the world has any hope of survival we need desperately to begin to think more about ecology in order to make changes and save the world from certain destruction. Our usual understanding of the word ecology is that it advocates for the preservation of nature, but it actually comes from the Greek word “oikos” meaning house. Therefore, in thinking about ecology in terms of our house of nature, it is essential that we are careful to manage our house and its contents properly.With irrevocable damage being done to the environment every day, humanity as a whole needs to take notice of the amount of destruction we are doing to the environment. Oscar Wilde once wrote:Today more than ever the artist and a love of the beautiful are needed to temper and counteract the sordid materialism of the age . . . When science has undertaken to declaim against the soul and spiritual nature of man, and when commerce is ruining beautiful rivers and magnificent woodlands and the glorious skies in its greed for gain, the artist comes forward as a priest and prophet of nature to protest (8).
It is important for writers to address the dismal state of ecology. The newspaper article by Stuart Hunter entitled “Bear-protection program expanding south,” calls for more attention to ecology, as incidents in which human contact with the bear population are on the rise. This essay will look at the significance of the article by Stuart Hunter with the short stories “Swimming at Night” by Mark Hume and “The Clayoquot Papers” by Maurice Gibbons in an ecological context. Moreover, it will look at the issues each author raises and how persuasive they are in terms of stressing the importance of ecology in our modern world. The article by Stuart Hunter was in The Province newspaper on March 23, 2005. It outlines plans by Whistler to protect one hundred and twenty bears, and suggests that the idea is catching on throughout Vancouver’s North Shore. The plan involves setting up conservation officers to be responsible for areas with high bear conflicts. Hunter writes: “Water, Land and Air Pro…
…tive effects we are having on the environment there is still a chance that future generations will be able to look at a black bear, a steelhead salmon, or an old growth forest, and smile. Works CitedCannings, Richard. “British Columbia – A Natural History.” Vancouver: GreystoneBooks, 1996.
Gibbons, Maurice. “Genuius of Place-Writing About British Columbia.” Ed. Stouck, David & Wilkinson, Myler. Vancouver: Polestar Book Publishers, 2000.
Hume, Mark. “Genuius of Place-Writing About British Columbia.” Ed. Stouck, David & Wilkinson, Myler. Vancouver: Polestar Book Publishers, 2000.
Hume, Mark. “Adam’s River – The Mystery of the Adam’s River Sockeye.” Vancouver: New Star Books, 1994.
Hume, Mark. “The Run of the River.” Vancouver: New Star Books, 1992.
Hunter, Stuart. “Bear-protection program expanding south.” The Province. 23 March. 2005: A13.
Krebs, Charles. “The Message of Ecology.” New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1988.
Wilde, Oscar. Nothing . . . Except my Genius. Ed. Alastair Rolfe. London:Penguin Books, 1997.