July 2021
Having studied biological/ecological science for many decades, I feel a bit concerned about how some human activities effect the natural world.
When we express concerns about the environment that supports us, some with other preoccupying, often commercial, concerns, label us as “bunny huggers” or non-pragmatic ideologists. It is true that I did keep pet rabbits as a child and so did our children. However, there are a few provisos that need to be made clear. First, keeping rabbits or any other animal is an opportunity to understand their biology, and this led me into an advanced education in that science subject. Secondly, rabbits are not native to Britain, but were introduced here by the Normans in the 12th century for their meat and fur. Therefore, rabbits have not contributed to the maintenance of Britain’s primeval natural biodiversity and may even have harmed it. For example, Natural England, the Government’s advisory body on nature conservation, actually pays people to control rabbits on some of our National Nature Reserves (NNRs). This is because rabbits sometimes cause serious damage to the biodiversity of native species rich grasslands, such as those found on the downlands of Sussex.
Following on, it is the total natural biodiversity, from bacteria to blue whales that regulates population levels of almost every global living thing, within balanced limits. In the past, some humans have kidded themselves that removing certain organisms would make life easier. This naïve attitude to nature sometimes resulted in a knee-jerk reaction to kill “vermin” such as birds of prey and foxes. Other folk exploited animals such as beavers and little egrets to adorn themselves, such that they became extinct on these islands. As a result, our native ecosystems have become unbalanced, raising more problems for us to deal with.
Currently, the science of ecology is revealing solutions to these issues and other environmental problems such as climate change, disease transmission and the rapid decline of plants and animals that our parents knew and loved, such as marsh marigolds, nightingales and otters. Some of these species are now returning. One solution is the preservation of green and blue ecosystems such as the forests and oceans that provide the oxygen that we breathe. It is a solution that we can all contribute to.