Creation, Crisis and Conservation

Simon N. Stuart

Yellow-eared Parrot Ognorhynchus icterotis

Why should we care for Creation?

Is this a Christian calling?

Christian Attitudes to Environmentalism

There are four different attitudes to the worldwide movement to conserve the environment.

Pygmy Hog Sus salvanius

Ethiopian Wolf Canis simensis

Environmentalism is inimical to biblical Christianity

This view holds that environmentalism is fundamentally anti-Christian, and is rooted in New Age, pagan and occultic thinking

Cycas tansachana

Environmentalism is irrelevant to biblical

ChristianityThis attitude does not hold that environmentalism is inevitably anti-Christian, but it is irrelevant, because Creation is destined for destruction by fire

Environmentalism is incidental to biblical

ChristianityThis view holds that environmentalism is legitimate, but is not something that we all need to be concerned about. It is fine for those who are called to do so to work on protecting God’s Creation, but for most of us, the priority is to get on with saving souls

Hyperolius rubrovermiculatus

Environmentalism is integral to biblical Christianity

This view holds that caring for God’s Creation is an integral part of our Christian calling

Bowmouth Guitarfish Rhina ancylostoma

The Biblical Basis for Creation Care

Wood Turtle Clemmys insculpta

God made everything. Genesis 1:1; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16.

Dlinza Forest Pinwheel Trachycystis clifdeni

God made everything very good.Genesis 1:31; Psalm 8:3.

St. Helena Redwood Trochetiopsis erythroxylon

Seychelles Scops Owl Otus insularis

The process of Creation is adornment. The beauty, diversity and complexity of Creation are beyond our understanding. Creation has a huge word stamped all over it: Design!

Harlequin Toad Atelopus varius

God has made people in His own image

Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:15

The ecological crisis is at root a spiritual crisis Genesis 3:17; Jeremiah 12:4; Ezekiel 34:17-19; Hosea 4:3; Revelation 11:18)

There is a mysterious way in which God’s saving plans extend to all of Creation. Romans 8:19-22; Colossians 1:19-20

Golden Toad Bufo periglenes

Though fallen, God loves and sustains his Creation, and stakes his ownership of itPsalm 24:1-2; Genesis 9:9-17; Psalm 104; Leviticus 25: 23

Boreal Felt Lichen Erioderma pedicellatum

In summary:1. God made everything2. God made everything very good3. God adorned and beautified His

Creation4. God made humans in His own image5. The ecological crisis is at root a

spiritual crisis6. God’s saving plans extend to all

Creation7. God owns His Creation, and loves

and sustains it

So Why Does Creation Exist?

Creation exists to display God’s glory. All things were made by him and for him (Colossians 1: 16).

Several psalms declare the glory of God as a result of what He has made (e.g., Psalms 19 and 148).

Caring for Creation• If we carelessly deface Creation, we

are cutting off part of God’s revelation to people.

• If God owns His Creation, and loves it and sustains it, and we are destroying it, we are working against God.

Crisis? What Crisis?

The world has recognized that biodiversity is continuing at unacceptable levels

In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development agreed the following target:

TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE THE RATE OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS BY

2010

To achieve the 2010 Target we need to know:

• What is the overall status of biodiversity?

• At what rate is biodiversity being lost?• Where is biodiversity being lost?• What are the causes of decline and

loss of biodiversity?

www.iucnredlist.org

Which species are in trouble?

The 2004 IUCN Red List contains 15,589 species threatened with extinction

•12% of birds

•23% of mammals

•32% of amphibians

•25% of conifers

•52% of cycads

•42% of turtles

•18% of sharks and rays

•27% of FW fish in E. Africa

How is the state of biodiversity changing?

85

90

95

100

1980 1988 1994 2000 2004

BirdsAmphibians

Red List Indices

Darwin’s Frog Rhinoderma darwini

Extinction in recent times

• The world’s list of documented extinctions continues to riseThe 2004 Red List includes

784 species listed as Extinct and 60 Extinct in the Wild

27 documented extinctions in the last 20 years

• Recent extinction rates exceed those in the fossil recordCurrent extinction rates are

100 to 1,000 times natural (background) extinction rates

Hawaiian Crow Corvus

hawaiiensis

Thylacine Thylacinus

cynocephalus

The Geography of Extinction

Where is the risk of extinction greatest?

Areas of threatened species richness

Which Ecosystems are Losing the Most Species?

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-70%

-60%

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-40%

-30%

-20%

-10%

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% converted by 1950 number of threatened vertebrates

The Tropical/Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forest Biome is by far the richest in terms of species and of threatened species

What are the causes of decline and loss?

The social and economic context

People and threatened species are often concentrated in the same areas

The social and economic context

The number of threatened species is likely to increase rapidly in regions where human population growth rates

are high

The social and economic context

Countries with the most threatened species tend to be those least able to invest significant resources into

conservation

What responses are in place?

a) Actions underway for globally threatened birds

62%

5%

16%

17%Partial implementation (732species)

Complete implementation (57)

Unknown implementation(192)

No implementation (205)

b) Actions that have directly benefited globally threatened birds

20%

4%

17%

26%

33% Some benefit (299 species)

Significant benefit (51)

Unknown benefit (204)

No benefit (305)

No/unknown actionimplemented (397)

For birds 67% of threatened species have some action underway; but these actions have only benefited 24% of species so far

Is the 2010 Target being achieved?

The findings of the 2004 IUCN Red List indicate very little progress so far, except at the local level