3B I O D I V E R S I T Y 5 ( 1 ) 2 0 0 4

A Manifesto for EarthTed Mosquin

3944 McDonald's Corners Rd.Balderson, ONCanada K0G 1A0Email: tedmosquin@gmail.com

Stan Rowe

June 11, 1918 to April 6, 2004Canada V0G 1S0Email: stanrowe@netidea.com

ABOUT THE AUTHORSTed Mosquin has a Ph.D. in Systematics & Evolutionfrom UCLA. He spent 12 years as a research scientistwith Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, and has taught at theUniversity of Alberta, and the University of Califor-nia, Berkeley. He served as editor of The CanadianField - Naturalist, and of Biodiversity. He is the au-thor or co-author of four books and of some 100 sci-entific and popular articles on ecology, natural his-tory, endangered species, biodiversity, and environ-menta l e th ics . A recen t a r t i c l e : The Ro les o fBiodiversity in Creating and Maintaining the Ecospherehttp://www.ecospherics.net/pages/MosqEcoFun5.htmlsummarizes part of the ecological foundation for thisManifesto. Ted has served as President and Director ofseveral national and regional Canadian environmental or-ganizations (More bio details at: www.ecospherics.net/pages/aboutauthors.html).

Stan Rowe was educated in ecology at the Universities ofAlberta, Nebraska and Manitoba. He has spent equal timeas a research forester with Forestry Canada, as a teacherat the University of Saskatchewan, and since 1985 as anemeritus Professor. A geo-ecologist and environmentalethicist with a background in silviculture and terrain(landscape) ecology, Stan authored Forest Regions ofCanada (1959), and Home Place: Essays on Ecology(NeWest Press, Edmonton, 1990; reissued 2002), as wellas numerous articles, book chapters and reviews. Someof his articles on ecology and ethics are posted atwww.ecospherics.net. He has served on provincial andfederal environmental advisory councils. (More bio detailsat: http://www.ecospherics.net/pages/aboutauthors.html).

PREAMBLEMany artistic and philosophical movements have producedManifestos, proclaiming truths that to their authors wereas manifest as their five-fingered hands. This Manifestoalso states self-evident truths, as obvious to us as the mar-vellous five-part environment land, air, water, fire/sun-light, and organisms wherein we live, move, and haveour being. The Manifesto is Earth-centered. It shifts thevalue-focus from humanity to the enveloping Ecosphere that web of organic/inorganic/symbiotic structures and pro-cesses that constitute Planet Earth.

The Ecosphere is the Life-giving matrix that envelopsall organisms, intimately intertwined w i t hthem in the story of evo-lution from the begin-ning of time. Or-ganisms aref a s h i o n e dfrom air,water, ands e d i -m e n t s ,which inturn bearo r g a n i cimprints.The com-position ofsea water ism a i n t a i n e dby organismsthat also stabi-lize the improbableatmosphere. Plantsand animals formed thelimestone in mountains whose sediments make ourbones. The false divisions we have made between liv-ing and non-living, biotic and abiotic, organic and in-organic, have put the stablity and evolutionary poten-tial of the Ecosphere at risk.

Humanitys 10,000-year-old experiment in mode-of-liv-ing at the expense of Nature, culminating in economicglobalization, is failing. A primary reason is that we haveplaced the importance of our species above all else. Wehave wrongly considered Earth, its ecosystems, and theirmyriad organic/inorganic parts as mere provisioners,valued only when they serve our needs and wants. A cou-rageous change in attitudes and activities is urgent. Di-agnoses and prescriptions for healing the human-Earthrelationship are legion, and here we emphasize the vi-sionary one that seems essential to the success of all oth-ers. A new worldview anchored in the planetary Eco-sphere points the way.

STATEMENT OF CONVICTIONEveryone searches for meaning in life, for support-ive convictions that take various forms. Many look tofaiths that ignore or discount the importance of thisworld, not realizing in any profound sense that we areborn from Earth and sustained by it throughout ourlives. In todays dominating industrial culture, Earth-as-home is not a self-evident percept. Few pause daily

T R O P I C A L C O N S E R V A N C YA R T I C L E S

EARTH, thedynamo of LIFE, withits swirling clouds, itsrunning rivers andocean currents, itsslow-moving crustalplates and, in the midstof it all, the OrganicDance!

4 T R O P I C A L C O N S E R V A N C Y

to consider with a sense of wonder the enveloping ma-trix from which we came and to which, at the end, weall return. Because we are issue of the Earth, the har-monies of its lands, seas, skies and its countless beau-tiful organisms carry rich meanings barely understood.

We are convinced that until the Ecosphere is recog-nized as the indispensable common ground of all hu-man activities, people will continue to set their im-mediate interests first. Without an ecocentric perspec-tive that anchors values and purposes in a greater re-ality than our own species, the resolution of political,economic, and religious conflicts will be impossible.Until the narrow focus on human communities isbroadened to include Earths ecosystems the local

CORE PRINCIPLES

Principle 01 The Ecosphere is the Center of Value for HumanityPrinciple 02 The Creativity and Productivity of Earths Ecosystems Depend on their IntegrityPrinciple 03 The Earth-centered Worldview is supported by Natural HistoryPrinciple 04 Ecocentric Ethics are Grounded in Awareness of our Place in NaturePrinciple 05 An Ecocentric Worldview Values Diversity of Ecosystems and CulturesPrinciple 06 Ecocentric Ethics Support Social Justice

ACTION PRINCIPLES

Principle 07 Defend and Preserve Earths Creative PotentialPrinciple 08 Reduce Human Population SizePrinciple 09 Reduce Human Consumption of Earth PartsPrinciple 10 Promote Ecocentric GovernancePrinciple 11 Spread the Message

and regional places wherein we dwell programs forhealthy sustainable ways of living will fail.

A trusting attachment to the Ecosphere, an aestheticempathy with surrounding Nature, a feeling of awefor the miracle of the Living Earth and its mysteriousharmonies, is humanitys largely unrecognized heri-tage. Affectionately realized again, our connectionswith the natural world will begin to fill the gap in liveslived in the industrialized world. Important ecologi-cal purposes that civilization and urbanization haveobscured will re-emerge. The goal is restoration ofEarths diversity and beauty, with our prodigal spe-cies once again a cooperative, responsible, ethicalmember.

CORE PRINCIPLESPrinciple 1. The Ecosphere is theCenter of Value for HumanityThe Ecosphere, the Earth globe, is the generative sourceof evolutionary creativity. From the planets inorganic/organic ecosystems organisms emerged: first bacterialcells and eventually those complex confederations ofcells that are human beings. Hence, dynamic ecosystems,

intricately expressed in all parts of the Ecosphere, ex-ceed in value and importance the species they contain.

The reality and value of each persons ecological or outerbeing has attracted scant attention compared to the philo-sophic thought lavished on humanitys inner being, thelatter an individualistic focus that draws attention awayfrom ecological needs and neglects the vital importanceof the Ecosphere. Extended to society as concern onlyfor the welfare of people, this homocentrism(anthropocentrism) is a doctrine of species-selfishnessdestructive of the natural world. Biocentrism that extendssympathy and understanding beyond the human race toother organisms marks an ethical advance, but its scopeis limited. It fails to appreciate the importance of thetotal ecological surround. Without attention to the pri-ority of Earth-as-context, biocentrism easily reverts to achauvinistic homocentrism, for who among all animalsis commonly assumed to be the wisest and best?Ecocentrism, emphasizing the Ecosphere as the primaryLife-Giving system rather than merely lifes support,provides the standard to which humanity must appeal forfuture guidance.

We humans a re consc ious express ions o f theEcospheres generative forces, our individual alive-ness experienced as inseparable from sun-warmed

Herds of Wildebeestand Zebras on the

Serengeti Plains ofAfrica testify to the

innate generativecapacity of Earths

natural ecosystems.(Photo by Tim Clark,

London, U.K. Website: http://

www.wildlifetravel.net).

5B I O D I V E R S I T Y 5 ( 1 ) 2 0 0 4

air, water, land, and the food that other organisms pro-vide. Like all other vital beings born from Earth, wehave been tuned through long evolution to its reso-nances, its rhythmic cycles, its seasons. Language,thought, intuitions all are drawn directly or meta-phorically from the fact of our physical being onEarth. Beyond conscious experience, every personembodies an intelligence, an innate wisdom of thebody that, without conscious thought, suits it to par-ticipate as a symbiotic part of terrestrial ecosystems.Comprehension of the ecological reality that peopleare Earthlings, shifts the center of values away fromthe homocentric to the ecocentric, from Homo sapi-ens to Planet Earth.

Principle 2. The Creativity and Productivityof Earths Ecosystems Depends on their IntegrityIntegrity refers to wholeness, to completeness, to theability to function fully. The standard is Natures sun-energized ecosystems in their undamaged state; forexample, a productive tract of the continental sea-shelfor a temperate rain forest in pre-settlement days whenhumans were primarily foragers. Although such timesare beyond recall, their ecosystems (as much as we canknow them) still provide the only known blueprints forsustainability in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.Current failings in all three of these industrialized en-terprises show the effects of deteriorating integrity;namely, loss of productivity and aesthetic appeal inparallel with the continuing disruption of vital ecosys-tem functions.

The evolutionary creativity and continued productivityof Earth and its regional ecosystems require the con-tinuance of their key structures and ecological pro-cesses. This internal integrity depends on the preser-vation of communities with their countless forms ofevolved cooperation and interdependence. Integritydepends on intricate food chains and energy flows, onuneroded soils and the cycling of essential materialssuch as nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus. Further, thenatural compositions of air, sediments, and water havebeen integral to Natures healthy processes and func-tions. Pollution of these three, along with exploitiveextraction of inorganic and organic constituents, weak-ens ecosystem integrity and the norms of the Ecosphere,the fount of evolving Life.

Principle 3. The Earth-centeredWorldview is Supported by Natural HistoryNatural History is the story of Earth unfolding. Cos-mologists and geologists tell of Earths beginnings morethan four billion years ago, the appearance of smallsea creatures in early sediments, the emergence of ter-restrial animals from the sea, the Age of Dinosaurs,the evolution with mutual influences of insects, flow-ering plants, and mammals from which, in recent geo-logical time, came the Primates and humankind. We

share genetic material and a common ancestry with allthe other creatures that participate in Earths ecosys-tems. Such compelling narratives place humanity incontext. Stories of Earths unfolding over the eons traceour coevolution with myriad companion organismsthrough compliance, and not solely through competi-tiveness. The facts of organic coexistence reveal theimportant roles of mutualism, cooperation, and sym-biosis within Earths grand symphony.

Cultural myths and stories that shape our attitudes andvalues tell where we came from, who we are, andwhere in the future we are going. These stories havebeen unrealistically homocentric and/or other-worldly.In contrast, the evidence-based, outward-looking nar-rative of humanitys natural history made fromstardust, gifted with vitality and sustained by theEcospheres natural processes is not only believ-able but also more marvelous than traditional human-centered myths. By showing humanity-in-context, asone organ ic component o f the p lane ta ry g lobe ,ecocentric narratives also reveal a functional purposeand an ethical goal; namely, the human part servingthe greater Earth whole.

Desert ecosystemscover huge regions ofEarth. Here picturedare two scenes of theMojave desert,California. Deserts areoften characterized byhighly specialized deeprooted shrubs, a greatmany annual,ephemeral plant generaas well as the mostunusual animals withunique adaptations forsurvival.(Photos byTed Mosquin).

6 T R O P I C A L C O N S E R V A N C Y

From the tropics topolar lands, the

presence ofmountains has

provided uniquecircumstances for the

evolution of novelorganic forms, andthe emergence of a

rich diversity of localhuman cultures

(Principle 5). This isa view of the ValhallaMountains in B.C. asseen from Idaho peak

to the east with thesmall delta town of

Silverton at the base.(Photo by

John A.Rowe).

Principle 4. Ecocentric Ethics areGrounded in Awareness of our Place in NatureEthics concerns those unselfish attitudes and actionsthat flow from deep values; that is, from the sense ofwhat is fundamentally important. A profound appre-ciation of Earth prompts ethical behavior toward it. Ven-eration of Earth comes easily with out-of-doors child-hood experiences and in adulthood is fostered by liv-ing-in-place so that landforms and waterforms, plantsand animals, become familiar as neighborly acquain-tances. The ecological worldview and ethic that findsprime values in the Ecosphere draws its strength fromexposure to the natural and semi-natural world, the ru-ral rather than the urban milieu. Consciousness of onesstatus in this world prompts wonder, awe, and a re-solve to restore, conserve, and protect the Ecospheresancient beauties and natural ways that for eons havestood the test of time.

Planet Earth and its varied ecosystems with their ma-trix elements air, land, water, and organic things surrounds and nourishes each person and each com-munity, cyclically giving life and taking back the gift.An awareness of self as an ecological being, fed bywater and other organisms, and as a deep-air animal

living at the productive, sun-warmed interface whereatmosphere meets land, brings a sense of connected-ness and reverence for the abundance and vitality ofsustaining Nature.

Principle 5. An Ecocentric WorldviewValues Diversity of Ecosystems and CulturesA major revelation of the Earth-centered perspective isthe amazing variety and richness of ecosystems and theirorganic/inorganic parts. The Earths surface presents anaesthetically appealing diversity of arctic, temperate andtropical ecosystems. Within this global mosaic the manydifferent varieties of plants, animals, and humans aredependent on their accompanying medley of landforms,soils, waters and local climates. Thus biodiversity, thediversity of organisms, depends on maintenance ofecodiversity, the diversity of ecosystems. Cultural di-versity a form of biodiversity is the historical resultof humans fitting their activities, thoughts and languageto specific geographic ecosystems. Therefore, whateverdegrades and destroys ecosystems is both a biologicaland a cultural danger and disgrace. An ecocentricworldview values Earths diversity in all its forms, thenon-human as well as the human.

Each human culture of the past developed a unique lan-guage rooted aesthetically and ethically in the sights,sounds, scents, tastes, and feelings of the particular partof Earth that was home to it. Such ecosystem-based cul-tural diversity was vital, fostering ways of sustainableliving in different parts of Earth. Today the ecologicallanguages of aboriginal people, and the cultural diver-sity they represent, are as endangered as tropical forestspecies and for the same reasons: the world is being ho-mogenized, ecosystems are being simplified, diversityis declining, variety is being lost. Ecocentric ethics chal-lenges todays economic globalization that ignores theecological wisdom embedded in diverse cultures, anddestroys them for short-term profit.

Principle 6. Ecocentric EthicsSupport Social JusticeMany of the injustices within human society hinge oninequality. As such they comprise a subset of the largerinjustices and inequities visited by humans on Earthsecosystems and their species. With its extended formsof community, ecocentrism emphasizes the importanceof all interactive components of Earth, including manywhose functions are largely unknown. Thus the intrinsicvalue of all ecosystem parts, organic and inorganic, isestablished without prohibiting their careful use. Diver-sity with Equality is the standard: an ecological lawbased on Natures functioning that provides an ethicalguideline for human society.

Social ecologists justly criticize the hierarchical organi-zation within cultures that discriminates against the pow-erless, especially against disadvantaged women and chil-

7B I O D I V E R S I T Y 5 ( 1 ) 2 0 0 4

This Manifesto is Earth-centered. It is precisely ecocentric, mean-ing home-centered, rather than biocentric, meaning organism-cen-tered. Its aim is to extend and deepen peoples understanding of theprimary life-giving and life-sustaining values of Planet Earth, theEcosphere. The Manifesto consists of six Core Principles that flowfrom ecological reality, plus five derivative Action Principles outlininghumanitys duties to Earth and to the geographic ecosystems Earthcomprises. It is offered as a guide to 21st Century ethical thinking,conduct and social policy.

Over the last century advances have been made in scientific, philo-sophical and religious attitudes to non-human Nature. We commendthe efforts of those whose sensitivity to a deteriorating Earth hasturned their vision outward, to recognition of the values of the lands,the oceans, animals, plants and other creatures. And yet, for lack ofa common ecocentric philosophy, much of this goodwill has beenscattered in a hundred different directions. It has been neutralizedand rendered ineffective by the one, deep, taken-for-granted cul-tural belief that assigns first value to Homo sapiens sapiens andthen, sequentially, to other organisms according to their relatednessto the primary one.

The recent insight that Earth, the Ecosphere, is an object of su-preme value has emerged from cosmologic studies, the Gaia hy-pothesis, pictures of Earth from space, and especially ecologicalunderstanding. The central ecological reality for organisms 25million or so species is that all are Earthlings. None would existwithout planet Earth. The mystery and miracle called life is insepa-rable from Earths evolutionary history, its composition and pro-cesses. Therefore, ethical priority moves beyond humanity to its in-clusive Earth home. The Manifesto maps what we believe is an es-sential step toward a sustainable Earth-human relationship.

WHY THIS MANIFESTO?

dren. The argument that progress toward sustainable liv-ing will be impeded until cultural advancement eases thetensions arising from social injustice and gender inequal-ity, is correct as far as it goes. What it fails to consideris the current rapid degradation of Earths ecosystemsthat increases inter-human tensions while foreclosingpossibilities for sustainable living and for the elimina-tion of poverty. Social justice issues, however impor-tant, cannot be resolved unless the hemorrhaging of eco-systems is stopped by putting an end to homocentric phi-losophies and activities.

ACTION PRINCIPLESPrinciple 7. Defend and PreserveEarths Creative PotentialThe originating powers of the Ecosphere are expressedthrough its resilient geographic ecosystems. Therefore,as first priority, the ecocentric philosophy urges preser-vation and restoration of natural ecosystems and theircomponent species. Barring planet-destroying collisionswith comets and asteroids, Earths evolving inventive-ness will continue for millions of years, hampered onlywhere humans have destroyed whole ecosystems by ex-terminating species or by toxifying sediments, water andair. The permanent darkness of extinction removesstrands in the organic web, reducing the beauty of theEarth and the potential for the future emergence of uniqueecosystems with companion organisms, some possiblyof greater-than-human sensitivity and intelligence.

The first rule of intelligent tinkering is to save all theparts (Aldo Leopold - Sand County Almanac). Actionsthat unmake the stability and health of the Ecosphere andits ecosystems need to be identified and publicly con-demned. Among the most destructive of human activitiesare militarism and its gross expenditures, the mining oftoxic materials, the manufacture of biological poisons inall forms, industrial farming, industrial fishing, and in-dustrial forestry. Unless curbed, lethal technologies suchas these, justified as necessary for protecting specific hu-man populations, enriching special corporate interests, andsatisfying human wants rather than needs, will lead to ever-greater ecological and social disasters.

Principle 8. Reduce Human Population SizeA primary cause of ecosystem destruction and speciesextinctions is the burgeoning human population that al-ready far exceeds ecologically sustainable levels. Totalworld population, now at 6.5 billion, is inexorably climb-ing by 75 million a year. Every additional human is anenvironmental user on a planet whose capacity to pro-vide for all its creatures is size-limited. In all lands thepressure of numbers continues to undermine the integ-rity and generative functioning of terrestrial, fresh wa-ter, and marine ecosystems. Our human monoculture isoverwhelming and destroying Natures polycultures.Country by country, world population size must be re-duced by reducing conceptions.

Ecocentric ethics that value Earth and its evolved systemsover species, condemns the social acceptance of unlimitedhuman fecundity. Present need to reduce numbers is great-est in wealthy countries where per capita use of energy andEarth materials is highest. A reasonable objective is the re-duction to population levels as they were before the wide-spread use of fossil fuels; that is, to one billion or less. Thiswill be accomplished either by intelligent policies or inevi-tably by plague, famine, and warfare.

Principle 9. Reduce HumanConsumption of Earth PartsThe chief threat to the Ecospheres diversity, beauty andstability is the ever-increasing appropriation of theplanets goods for exclusive human uses. Such appro-priation and over-use, often justified by population over-growth, steals the livelihood of other organisms. Theselfish homocentric view that humans have the right toall ecosystem components air, land, water, organisms is morally reprehensible. Unlike plants, we humansare heterotrophs (other-feeders) and must kill to feed,clothe and shelter ourselves, but this is no license to plun-der and exterminate. The accelerating consumption ofEarths vital parts is a recipe for destruction ofecodiversity and biodiversity. Wealthy nations armed with

8 T R O P I C A L C O N S E R V A N C Y

Some Historical Background

This Manifesto provides a unifying framework for earlierenvironmental/ethical thinking which, though mostlybiocentric, shows ecocentric tendencies. Three ex-amples:a) The Deep Ecology Platform http://www.deepecology.-org/deepplatform.html, developed in 1984 (slightly revisedin 2000) by Arne Naess and George Sessions. Althoughits first four Principles indicate a biocentric rather thanecocentric stance, the Deep Ecology Movement haschampioned the creativity of all Nature, viewing organ-isms and natural ecosystems as far more important thansimply providers of resources for humanity.b) The United Nations World Charter for Nature http://www.oceanlaw.net/texts/wcharter.htm written in 1982.Although it begins well, pointing out that life depends onthe uninterrupted functioning of natural systems, it pro-ceeds to emphasize utility for humanity as the chief rea-son for Earth care.c) The Earth Charter http://www.earthcharter.org, re-leased in March 2000, is a praiseworthy environmentalstatement. Its first two Principles Respect and Carefor the Community of Life and Ecological Integrity are commendably placed ahead of explicit humanisticgoals. It links maintenance of biodiversity and the re-covery of endangered species to protection of Earth andits ecosystems. In this Manifesto we emphasize aboveall else the primary values of the Earth.

powerful technology are the chief offenders, best able toreduce consumption and share with those whose livingstandards are lowest, but no nation is blameless.

The eternal growth ideology of the market must be re-nounced, as well as the perverse industrial and economicpolicies based on it. The Limits to Growth thesis is wise.One rational step toward curbing exploitive economic ex-pansion is the ending of public subsidies to those indus-tries that pollute air, land or water and/or destroy organ-isms and soils. A philosophy of symbiosis, of living com-pliantly as a member of Earths communities, will ensurethe restoration of productive ecosystems. For sustainableeconomies, the guiding beacons are qualitative, not quan-titative. Guard the health, beauty and permanence of land,water, and air, and productivity will look after itself (E.F.Schumacher - Small is Beautiful).

Principle 10. Promote Ecocentric GovernanceHomocentric concepts of governance that encourageover-exploitation and destruction of Earths ecosystemsmust be replaced by those beneficial to the survival andintegrity of the Ecosphere and its components. Advo-cates for the vital structures and functions of the Eco-sphere are needed as influential members of governingbodies. Such ecopoliticians, knowledgeable about the

processes of Earth and about human ecology, will givevoice to the voiceless. In present centers of power,Who speaks for wolf? and Who speaks for temper-ate rain forest? Such questions have more than meta-phorical significance; they reveal the necessity of le-gally safeguarding the many essential non-human com-ponents of the Ecosphere.

A body of environmental law that confers legal standingon the Ecospheres vital structures and functions is re-quired. Country by country, ecologically responsiblepeople must be elected or appointed to governing bod-ies. Appropriate attorney-guardians will act as defendantswhen ecosystems and their fundamental processes arethreatened. Issues will be settled on the basis of pre-serving ecosystem integrity, not on preserving economicgain. Over time, new bodies of law, policy, and adminis-tration will emerge as embodiments of the ecocentric phi-losophy, ushering in ecocentric methods of governance.Implementation will necessarily be step by slow step overthe long term, as people test practical ways to representand secure the welfare of essential, other-than-humanparts of Earth and its ecosystems.

Principle 11. Spread the MessageThose who agree with the preceding principles havea duty to spread the word by education and leader-ship. The initial urgent task is to awaken all peopleto their functional dependence on Earths ecosys-tems, as well as to their bonds with other species.An outward shif t in focus from homocentrism toecocentrism follows, providing an external ethical

Coral reef fishes(bottom) such as these

attest to the highproductivity of

undamaged reefecosystems wherecreative symbiotic

processes haveprevailed for hundreds

of millions of yearsand involving countless

different groups oforganisms.

Wetland ecosystems(top) are more

productive of plant andanimal biomass than

any other on the planet.Their secure presence onthe planet made possible

the stupendous array ofmarsh wildlife

waterfowl, plants, andinvertebrates, livingtogether in complex

food chains. No marshorganism could have

evolved without theseecosystems that are so

dependent on thesecurity of water supply.

Bruce PeninsulaNational Park, Ontario.Photo by Ted Mosquin.

9B I O D I V E R S I T Y 5 ( 1 ) 2 0 0 4

regulator for the human enterprise. Such a shift sig-nals what must be done to perpetuate the evolution-ary potential of a beautiful Ecosphere. It reveals thenecessity of participating in Earth-wise communityactivities, each playing a personal part in sustainingthe marvelous surrounding reality.

This Ecocentric Manifesto is not anti-human, thoughit rejects chauvinistic homocentrism. By promoting aquest for abiding values a culture of compliance andsymbiosis with this lone Living Planet it fosters aunifying outlook. The opposite perspective, lookinginward without comprehension of the outward, is evera danger as warring humanistic ideologies, religions,and sects clearly show. Spreading the ecological mes-sage, emphasizing humanitys shared outer reality, opensa new and promising path toward international under-standing, cooperation, stability, and peace.

The integrity(Principle 2) ofsavanna ecosystemsaround the world isprofoundly degradedthrough conversion tohuman utilitarianpurposes. This photoprovides an example ofa savanna ecosystemthat still retains asemblance ofnormalcy.

Barrier islands such asthese, created by oceanwave action over eons,make possible theemergence ofspecialized brackishecosystems, includingnursery beds. Theirpositive physical role ofthe barrier islands andsimilar dune areas is tocreate protectedshoreline wetlandswhich are among themost productive onEarth.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe thank the following persons for offering critical remarksand commentaries on earlier drafts of this article: Ian Whyte,Jon Legg, Sheila Thomson, Stan Errett, Howard Clifford,Tony Cassils, Marc Saner, Steve Kurtz and Doug Woodardof Ontario; Michelle Church of Manitoba; Don Kerr andEli Bornstein of Saskatchewan; David Orton of Nova Scotia;Alan Drengson, Bob Barrigar and Robert Harrington ofBritish Columbia; Cathy Ripley of Alberta; Holmes RolstonIII of Colorado; David Rothenberg of Massachusetts; Bur-ton Barnes of Michigan; Paul Mosquin of North Carolina;Edward Goldsmith, Patrick Curry and Sandy Irvine of theUK, and Ariel Salleh of Australia. Their helpful reviews donot imply endorsement of this Manifesto for which the au-thors take full responsibility.

Text only file at: http://www.ecospherics.net/pages/EarthManifesto.html. Text plus illustrations file at: http://www.ecospherics.net/pages/EarthManifesto.pdf