Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
seeking only their own financial gain have tried to exploit nature so as to earn more
money from it. The sincere respect of everything, bestowed by the people's eight
million
kami
, has been forgotten by these people, although most Japanese still love
the beauty of nature. Sustainable development of our Earth may well be achieved only
when all of Earth's people agree with the sustainable use of its resources, including
its biodiversity (Iwatsuki
2009
).
Sustainable Development for Island Futurability
RIHN, the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, and MAB share the
idea embodied in their names that a better relationship should be established
between nature and humankind. However, the strategies for achieving this goal dif-
fer according to the organization concerned. In considering environmental issues,
we need to recognize at least four basic concepts:
•
Environmental issues must be supported by all of the inhabitants of Earth. We
must remember that the ideal development of the Japanese Archipelago occurred
through the daily lives of the people living there. I do not know of any decision
makers who could have succeeded in leading the people to create the beautiful
zoning of the Archipelago, any scientists who could have designed the develop-
ment of the Archipelago in such an ideal way, or any journalists who could have
led the common people to live in this enhanced way. To promote general under-
standing of sustainability, we need to have more widespread dissemination of
information appropriate to our environment and nature.
Any action on environmental issues should be promoted under the concept,
•
“think globally, act locally”. All of the Earth's people should join together to act
on environmental issues, and local people should act in, and for, their own locali-
ties. However, a diffusion of responsibility and egoistic actions that consider
only people's own local districts may result in harm to Earth's environment, and
people should always consider Earth's environment as an entity at the same time
as they are taking action at the local level.
Sustainable science should be promoted to integrate information. Development
•
of science has been supported by the use of analytical methods and reductionism
to reach common principles through the application of facts. It is natural that
such a method should be promoted further in the twenty-first century. In addition
to this, however, we should turn to the establishment of integrated and pluri-
disciplinary investigation to develop a better understanding of such things as
life, the cosmos, and the environment. Scientific research can be promoted and
can succeed in each discipline, and interdisciplinary or even multidisciplinary
research should be promoted collectively by researching and interpreting the
available information as a whole. Integrated and holistic investigatory approaches
are increasingly popular in academic and research circles, especially in the
steady and rigorous establishment of the science of sustainability.
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