We are all citizens of one earth, dependent on common resources and on one another. In particular, the pollution of the atmosphere and the oceans, our most precious shared resources, has made people begin to see the world as one. There is no longer any place to send wastes away, into the oceans, the atmosphere, or to other countries. We will eventually get it back again. And we can no longer isolate ourselves from the problems of people in distant parts of the world, for their actions affect our shared resources and therefore our own future.
Pollution does not respect political boundaries, and we must now recognize that even, small local events can have global consequences. A tree felled in one part of the earth, an automobile started, a refrigerator thrown on the garbage pile, a ship’s tanks dumped into the bay, human error at a nuclear reactor: all of these events are no longer each country’s and each person’s ‘own business’ but have become everybody’s business. Out of a common concern for our shared resources on the earth emerge a common responsibility and a new commitment to co-operate internationally as a global community. This is the meaning of the saying “from one earth to one world”.
Ecology is defined as the study of interactions in nature at all levels, from an individual plant or animal up to the ecosystem. Ecology gives an understanding of nature’s structure and function, changes over time, and reaction and recovery from various kinds of disturbances. In Europe, more attention has been given to identification and description of organisms and ecosystems (natural history) than to ecological dynamics (production and decomposition; food chains and energy flow; nutrient cycling; population growth and regulation; soil ecology; succession; evolution; and so on). Natural history is an important element of ecology, but it is not sufficient to give an understanding, even in general terms, of the impact of humans on nature and what comprises good ecological management. Knowledge of the ecological interactions and dynamics mentioned above is needed.
Ecology is not synonymous with environmental science, environmental management or environmental education. Ecology is usually treated as a ‘pure’ natural science discipline and does not include questions of economics, politics, behaviour, ethics, or culture (even though these are the forces steering most ecosystems). Ecology could therefore be taught as a part of a biology or natural sciences curriculum.