The cultural context of biodiversity conservation - Oapen

240
The cultural context of biodiversity conservation
ested in convincing people to manage the environment in any particular way would be
well advised to embed it in a rich texture of emotion and experience« (1996: 167).
Reason may help to decide between conflicting means to an end, but people's ends are
determined be needs and emotions, and perceptions are necessarily and inextricably
involved with feelings. By applying to Max Weber who saw modern society as having
become progressively »disenchanted« with the world, Anderson further asserts that
»we have lost the enchantment of life in a spiritual cosmos, we have cut ourselves off,
by a narrow rationality, from the great unity of things« (1996: 168). This implies that
any solution to the world ecological crisis must have not only economic but also psychological
dimensions. His suggestion aims at involving people in a genuine love of
their environments. The opposite approach – leaving ecology to ›scientists‹ and ›experts‹
is not viable, as they preach objectivity, rationality and dispassionate examination
of the facts: »Yet being human, they are impassioned and biased« (1996: 169).
Scientists and environmentalists have erred by assuming that people act in their rational
self-interest. By emphasising that humans are emotional beings, he further delineates:
»We know, more or less, how to manage the resources – at least how to conserve
them. The problem is now to motivate people to do it. Motivation is an emotional
matter. Knowledge is necessary, but knowledge without emotional drive does
not produce ›action‹« (1996: 123). In the end, he concludes, education of the public,
and in particular of the young, is the only hope. Human survival depends on educating
upcoming generations in ecologically morality. Specifically environmental education
must involve people in their environments directly. Current educational forms that reduce
them into »mindless, passive sponges for information, are counterproductive«
(1996: 179). As to future tasks, it has been similarly argued by Cajete that we need
to move beyond the idealization and patronization of indigenous knowledge, something that can inadvertently
lead to marginalization of the most profound indigenous epistemologies regarding interaction
of human beings and nature. Indigenous people must be supported in their collective attempts to restore
their traditions while also recreating and revitalizing themselves in ways they feel are appropriate in
contemporary society. One of the places where this can happen is in the area of indigenous-based environmental
education (2001: 637).