ENVIRONMENTALISM

ECOLOGY AND

ENVIRONMENTALISM

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

CAMBRIDGE IGCSE P1

WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONEnvironmental protection is a practice of protecting the natural environment for the benefit of both the environment and humans.

Due to the pressures of overconsumption, population and technology, the environment is being degraded.

Governments have begun placing restraints on activities that cause environmental degradation.

There is no agreement on the extent of the environmental impact of human activity so protection measures are usually debated.

Climate activists blockade British Airports Authority's headquarters for day of action

ENVIRONMENTALISM AND ECOLOGYEnvironmentalism or environmental rights is a philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment.

Ecologism is more commonly used in continental European languages while ‘environmentalism’ is more commonly used in English-speaking countries.

"March Against Monsanto", Vancouver, Canada, May 25, 2013

ENVIRONMENTALISM AS A MOVEMENTEnvironmentalism is a social movement that seeks to influence the political process by activism and education in order to protect natural resources and ecosystems.

The word was first used in 1922.

Part of a protest march held in 2003 voicing opposition to genetic engineering, making its way up Queen Street

ECOLOGY, HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTSIn various ways (like protests), environmentalists and environmental organizations seek to give the natural world a stronger voice in human affairs.

Environmentalists advocate the sustainable management of resources, and the protection and restoration of the natural environment through changes in public policy and individual behaviour.

Environmentalism is centered around ecology, health, and human rights.

NEW ISSUES IN ENVIRONMENTALISMEnvironmentalism continues to evolve to face up to new issues such as global warming, overpopulation and genetic engineering.

TREE SITTING AS A FORM OF PROTESTTree sitting is a form of activism in which the protester sits in a tree in an attempt to stop the removal of a tree or to impede the demolition of an area with the longest and most famous tree-sitter being Julia Butterfly Hill, who spent 738 days in a California Redwood, saving a three-acre tract of forest.

Sit-in is a form of activism where one or any number of people occupy a place as a form of protest.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS IN NEW ZEALANDThe environmental movement in New Zealand started in the 1960s, a period of rapid social change.

The environmental movement eventually spawned the Values Party, which was the first political party with a strong focus on environmental issues to contest national elections.

The Values Party eventually morphed into the Green Party of AotearoaNew Zealand.

MANAPOURI POWER PROJECTA number of commentators consider that the earliest major environmental issue in New Zealand was the national campaign to prevent the raising of the levels of Lakes Manapouri and Te Anau as part of stage two of the development of the Manapouri Power Project.

A "Save Manapouri Campaign" ran from 1959 through to 1962, involving organisations such as the Forest and Bird Protection Society and the Scenery Preservation Society, resulting in two petitions to parliament and the formation of the Nature Conservation Council, a government advisory body.

CAMPAIGNSOther major issues have included nuclear energy, preventing native forest logging and halting the growing of GE food crops.

Logging protests occurred in Whirinaki, Pureora, and on the West Coast of the South Island.

As of 2017 the environmental movement is active in many areas, including opposition to new large-scale hydro dams, protecting conservation land from mining and preventing overuse of water resources.

ORGANISATIONSThe largest conservation organisation, formed in 1923, is Forest and Bird. Greenpeace New Zealand carries out advocacy and direct action in and around New Zealand.

Environment and Conservation Organisations of Aotearoa New Zealand (ECO) is an umbrella organisation of about 70 environmental organisations.