Shiva

In “What is Biodiversity and why is it So important” Shiva explains the connection between biological and cultural diversity. Reading her section made me feel kind of overwhelmed. She makes it clear what she is, and that is an activist for organic agriculture. One quote in general stood out to be on how I knew where she stood, “Globalization has accelerated the destruction of biodiversity to such a place and on such a scale that plants and animals that were common a few years ago have disappeared.” Shiva states that globalization is one of the main reasons biodiversity is failing, but believes that globalization had made not only the United States but several other nations prosper with their exports, international affairs, and imports.  Additionally, she has a bias view because she continuously insults the United States and Europe, but praises her home country of India. “India has a rich and ancient heritage of medical knowledge based on its vast resources of medicinal plant biodiversity.” Even though she gives us a lot of information, I still was not sure if I fully agreed that biodiversity is the most reliant resource to keep health food production alive. 

I tried to find a steady ground with Shiva, but it seemed when I started to lean her way she brought be back down to not enjoying what she had to say. Hitting at my sense of place, being from the west, she states towards the end two root causes, “The first arises from the ‘empty-earth’ paradigm of colonization, which assumes that ecosystems are empty if not taken over by western industrial man or his clones.” I do have mixed feelings with the fact that “For the last 500 years, colonization has been based on the idea of ‘emptiness’ of the earth and of other cultures,” but look at what has come out of that 500 years. Contributes like the settlements of North and South America, Australia, and many huge countries that contribute to this world. 

Globalization destruction of forest.

http://www.greenfudge.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Greenpeace-forest-destruction.jpg

India and other hindu people take part in medicinal plant biodiversity.

 http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00690/10VZVISKCITYREG2SAP_690429f.jpg