Conservation, not consumerism, is key to our survival | Letters

We could all learn from the Knepp estate’s natural approach to farming and foodA point worth making about the activities of Knepp in West Sussex is that the estate manages to combine conservation with visitors and some food production, thus helping fund its activities while assisting food security (“Pioneering rewilding project faces ‘catastrophe’ from plan for new houses”, News). Purists might argue for a more fundamentalist approach but is this realistic?Environmentalists a few decades ago reckoned three or four fully used planets would be needed for everyone to have western lifestyles and jobs to afford them; a more recent estimate was 11, based on well-off US living standards, while rehoming climate refugees will apply further pressure. Combining conservation with careful use seems more likely to salvage something from the wreckage; tribal people have known that for millennia. As long as conventional economic wisdom boils down to “make more money, buy more stuff”, though, the natural world will be in desperate trouble.Ian ClimieWhitchurch, Hants Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2021/mar/28/conservation-not-consumerism-key-to-survival-letters #food #conservation #environment #food