Transcript Moral, Ethical and Religious Considerations Concerning

Moral, Ethical and Religious
Considerations Concerning
Land husbandry
Module 556 Land Husbandry in Drought Prone Area
Jittima Poonnotog
RRM/ORD
Problems
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Deforestration in rain forest
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decrease the habitat, wildlife, wilderness
 create soil erosion, flooding, drought, famine
Diminishing fertile land due to erosion (wind and water)
and overuse of agrochemical (pesticide,herbicide)
 increase fertiliser use
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Increasing pollution
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depletion of ozone, global warming, contamination of food
chain
Reduction of natural resources
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unsustainable livelihoods
Global Religions
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Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Hinduism
Buddhism
Summary Concept
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God create the earth and it belongs to God *
Humans can use and modify natural resources but do
not have an ownership
Humans’ role is to protect, maintain and preserve
them - not to pollute and devastate
Live in harmony with nature
All species are interdependent and interrelated
Kindness towards people, animals, plants and the
earth
* Buddhism does not believe in God
Summary Concepts
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Islam - misuse of animals and plants results in
environmental degradation
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Hinduism
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not use anything in an amount that cannot be
replaced
not interrupt the system by using chemical manure,
pesticide, cutting the forests
cows are worshipped and protected
Development
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“ Sustainable development requires changes in values
and attitudes towards environment and development,
towards society and work at home, on farms, and in
factories.
The world’s religions could help provide direction
and motivation in forming new values that would
stress individual and joint responsibility towards the
environment and towards nurturing harmony between
humanity and environment.”
(Gosling, 2001)
Environmental Ethic
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Every part of ecosystem has its unique
function
Humans influence it more than we realise and
the result alters many other things
Land ethic includes soil, water, plants and
animals
It is a moral response to the natural
environment
(Wenz, 2001)
Environmental Ethic
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Same action may define either right or wrong
in different situation of common morality
The community land may wrongly practice as
people do whatever they want in order to serve
purposes and not recognise their
responsibilities
(Wenz, 2001)
Natural Resource Use
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Using non-renewable resource should base
upon
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good reason
not extinct
search for alternative resource
Resources are for human as well as other
creatures so we should not take everything
Human apply technology to the natural
resource in their environment
Towards Technology
Technological advances increases world crop
production
e.g.<400 mill tons(1900) to nearly 1.9 bill tons(1998)
(Wenz,2001)
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Irrigation through wells, pumps and dams can
direct water to agricultural land
Agrochemical (fertiliser, pesticide, herbicide)
prevent crop yield decline
Genetically modified plant and HYV (highyielding variety) increase output.
Effect from Technology
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Specialisation
 Grow crops for commercial use not for self
sufficiency
 depend on monetary system
 concentrate on intensive cropping or
livestock rearing
Effect from Technology
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Monoculture replaces agricultural diversity
 spend money on fertiliser and pesticide
 loss free animal manure
Loss traditional agricultural system
 crop rotation
 seed collecting
Effect from Technology
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New kind of crops
 spend money in buying seed
Use machinery instead of animal labour or
community labour
 spend money on fuel
Environmental Impact
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Water shortage; need make more / deeper
wells, dams
Reduce water table; pump
Chemical on crop land; pesticide/herbicide
Soil erosion
Soil infertility
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e.g.HYN wheat and rice in India
Society Impact
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Specialist depend on others to support his
requirement by monetary system. Money is a
tool for evaluation life.
People feel insecure due to incompleteness of
life’s necessities
Specialisation improve efficiency but not have
holistic world view. They tend to create
environment hazard.
The poor become poorer as they cannot afford
to protect their crop
Moral Impact
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Become privatism
Do not feel as a part of environment
No responsibility to environment