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Quotes about Biodiversity from the world's top natural health / natural living authors

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"But that is an argument from nutritionism, and there is a better one, one that takes a broader view of health. biodiversity in the diet means more biodiversity in the fields. To shrink the monocultures that now feed us would mean farmers won't need to spray as much pesticide or chemical fertilizer, which would mean healthier soils, healthier plants and animals, and in turn healthier people. Your health isn't bordered by your body, and what's good for the soil is probably good for you too. Which brings us to a related rule: OiEAT WELL-GROWN FOOD FROM HEALTHY SOILS." - Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto (Get the book.)

"All fruit people are propelled by the notion of protecting biodiversity, whether through documenting wild species or propagating the plants at home. Bringing rare fruits home is a safety net against the pitfalls of extinction. Susan and Alan Carle have spent nearly three decades undergoing extensive collecting expeditions into endangered forests in order to protect disappearing species that they grow on their Australian property, called the Botanical Ark." - Adam Leith Gollne, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession (Get the book.)

"Meanwhile, such discoveries speak to the importance of protecting our plant and animal biodiversity. Ironically, many of the same factors that are precipitating today's autoimmunity epidemic—environmental degradation and chemical pollution both on land and at sea—are threatening to extinguish plant and animal species that may one day turn out to hold the very cures we seek for autoimmune disease. GLUCOSAMINE." - Donna Jackson Nakazawa, The Autoimmune Epidemic (Get the book.)

"This code requires that we take care of nature and adapt ourselves to its patterns and refrain from reducing biodiversity, disturbing natural balances, and modifying or destroying vital energy and information flows. However, a sound planetary ethic must adopt a dynamic rather than a static view of the biosphere. More is involved than maximizing the sus-tainability of the systems of nature as they are presently constituted. In the dynamic view, the biosphere and its systems undergo structural and functional changes, some piecemeal and linear, others more radical and nonlinear." - Ervin Laszlo, Quantum Shift in the Global Brain: How the New Scientific Reality Can Change Us and Our World (Get the book.)

"With its rain forests, mountains, deserts, savanna grasslands and ocean coastlands, the country is a hotbed of biodiversity. Its countless wild plant and animal species would make it a prime ecotourism destination—if only it were a little more visitor-friendly. The transport infrastructure consists of dirt roads that swallow vehicles whole. Stoned teenaged soldiers with Kalashnikovs roam around at night. Transparency International places Cameroon between Iran and Pakistan in their list of the world's most corrupt nations." - Adam Leith Gollne, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession (Get the book.) "The following morning, I make my way through lush foliage and brilliant sunshine to the entrance of the Mount Cameroon biodiversity Conservation Center. At the front desk, a painted sign offers visitors "Nature Interpretation for Maximal Enjoyment." The cursive letters recommend hiring a guide: "Otherwise everything will just be green and nice or strange and spectacular—without meaning." Not wanting everything to be merely strange and spectacular, I take on the services of thirty-seven-year-old Benjamin Jayinjomi, a colleague of Joseph's." - Adam Leith Gollne, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession (Get the book.) "Only a tiny fraction of fruit biodiversity is for sale: 90 percent of the foods we eat derive from only thirty plant species. Manifold reasons account for this bottleneck: most fruits aren't dependable. They don't ship well. They aren't precision calibrated. They don't produce anywhere near the volume required by national chains. They may not even produce any fruits some years. They are soft and juicy—they can't be stacked because they'd bruise each other. Certain heirloom fruits are like water balloons. Coe's Golden Drop is a forgotten plum variety that is too juicy to actually be bitten into." - Adam Leith Gollne, The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Adventure, Commerce and Obsession (Get the book.)

"Protecting biodivetsity does not necessarily require sacrificing productive agricultutal land because soils with high agticultutal productivity tend to support low biodiversity. Convetsely, areas with high biodiversity tend to be areas with low agricultural potential. In general, species-rich tropical latitudes tend to have nutrient-poor soils, and the world's most fertile soils are found in the species-poor loess belts of the temperate latitudes." - David R. Montgomery, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (Get the book.)

"Meanwhile, hundreds of varieties of Mexican corn, which comprise the biodiversity of corn as a food staple, have been virtually eliminated and contaminated by genetically modified corn crops. The Situation in the World Today Today, famine threatens over fifteen million people in various regions of Africa. Cargill's plan is to force Africans to accept genetically modified food they do not want to eat. Our government is a big sponsor of this genetically altered food, although most of the world does not want to eat it (as explained in Chapter 15)." - Byron J. Richards, Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA's Betrayal of America (Get the book.)

"Estimating how many people Earth can support involves assumptions about trade-offs between population size, quality of life, and environmental qualities such as biodiversity. Most demographic estimates anticipate more than ten billion people on the planet by the end of this century. Whether we endorse the National Conference of Catholic Bishops' apparent belief that the world could comfortably support forty billion people, or Ted Turner's view that four hundred million would be plenty, feeding even the middle range of such estimates ptesents an impossible challenge." - David R. Montgomery, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (Get the book.) "Tucked away out of sight, soil-dwelling organisms account for much of the biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Plants supply underground biota with energy by providing organic matter through leaf litter and the decay of dead plants and animals. Soil organisms, in turn, supply plants with nutrients by accelerating rock weathering and the decomposition of organic matter. Unique symbiotic communities of soil-dwelling organisms form under certain plant communities." - David R. Montgomery, Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations (Get the book.)

"After their successful land grab in the United States and Europe, big agricultural corporations have focused their efforts on controlling biodiversity and genetic resources or seizing agricultural land throughout the developing world. This book traces how merchants sold the first commercial fertilizer, Peruvian bird guano. It describes how nineteenth-century miners, merchants, and industrialists tried to convince farmers that mining and industrial-waste products were highly valuable fertilizers. In the following quote from his book Potash, J. W." - Will Allen, The War on Bugs (Get the book.)

"The use of chemical-dependent farming methods has not only adversely impacted soil and water but also reduced the biodiversity, nutrient quality, and taste of our foods since synthetic nitrate fertilizers cause nitrate to bind to water, which makes the produce look good but lessens its flavor. Organic farming practices work to preserve and protect the environment by maintaining a restorative and sustainable biosystem, which improves soil quality, preserves water purity, encourages biodiversity, and, by nourishing the soil, produces plants rich in flavor as well as nutrients." - Michael Murray, N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D., The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods (Get the book.)

"Leaving aside the biodiversity issue and looking just at existing manufacturing techniques, an ethanol wedge in Socolow and Pacala's analysis would require 250 million hectares being devoted to corn or sugar cane plantations, an area equivalent to one-sixth of the world's croplands. Given that world food stocks are already at historic lows because of population growth and droughts, devoting more of our best farmland to growing fuel for cars seems close to insane." - Mark Lynas, Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet (Get the book.)

"In many countries the farmers are keenly aware of the importance of interplanting and maintaining biodiversity for the health of the land and of their families. "Shade-grown" and "Bird-friendly" were concepts well known to small farmers long before international environmental groups took an interest in the coffeelands. These beautiful and varied landscapes can also be subject to nature's immense fury, as earthquakes, mud slides, hurricanes, and tsunamis destroy crops, roads, warehouses, and lives. The economic situation of coffee communities is varied, as well." - Dean Cycon, Javatrekker: Dispatches From the World of Fair Trade Coffee (Get the book.)

"Another hot spot of biodiversity - and yet another World Heritage Site threatened by global warming - is the Cape Floristic Region of South Africa. Covering a huge coastal arc inland from Cape Town, it is home to the greatest concentration of higher plant species in the world outside the tropical rainforests. Its inauspicious rocky soils and arid Mediterranean climate support 9,000 different plants, more than 6,000 of which are found nowhere else on the planet. The most iconic plants in the region are the proteas." - Mark Lynas, Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet (Get the book.) "According to a team of researchers based at South Africa's National biodiversity Institute, just small changes in climate could have a devastating impact on the remaining strongholds of the proteas and other endemic species. Using the UK Hadley Centre's model for climate changes in the region by 2020, the scientific team concluded that up to a third of protea species would become threatened or endangered, whilst four would become completely extinct. In North America too, one degree of climate change could push a threatened species over the brink to extinction - and this one is cute and furry." - Mark Lynas, Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet (Get the book.) "Much of the mountain's world-famous biodiversity (Kilimanjaro hosts twenty-four different species of antelope alone) will also be threatened by the weather changes. As the snows disappear, so will much of the wildlife and the verdant forests that tourists currently trek through on their arduous journey to the roof of the African continent. Ghost rivers of the Sahara Far to the north of Kilimanjaro, in the Sahel, another drought-stricken area could by this time be experiencing some blessed relief." - Mark Lynas, Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet (Get the book.)

"Grass is a natural resource that, with a little rainfall and energy from the sun and when managed properly, can actually increase in density and promote tremendous biodiversity. Grass is the basis for the entire food chain. If you are a cattle rancher and you don't manage your land right, you won't be able to raise as many cattle on it. My father [Mel Coleman, Sr.] pioneered the concept that we are essentially grass managers. When we increase grass density, we provide more forage for wildlife and reduce erosion, which improves watershed quality." - David Steinman, Safe Trip to Eden: Ten Steps to Save Planet Earth from the Global Warming Meltdown (Get the book.) "It wasn't perfect and the nation was still battling to maintain its biodiversity. But after learning more about the Costa Rican experiment, I felt that if Costa Rica could transform itself as it had done and was continuing to do, many other nations could as well. At least, I hoped so. I knew that the fires of rainforest destruction across the globe were burning far too brightly for me to be lured into blissful heaven. In the morning, we climbed into an overcrowded VW bus that quickly made us feel hot and sweaty. We soon left the city behind." - David Steinman, Safe Trip to Eden: Ten Steps to Save Planet Earth from the Global Warming Meltdown (Get the book.) "Bryant began working on biodiversity issues in 1990. With his background and ease at world travel, it was only natural that he should visit sites throughout the world, and he studied illegal logging operations for the World Resources Institute (WRI). In 1997, while at the WRI, Bryant began working with a team of top scientists to map out just how much of the world's forests had been cleared and how much was still intact "frontier forest." "We found that half the planet's forests had been cleared and that most of the destruction occurred in the twentieth century." - David Steinman, Safe Trip to Eden: Ten Steps to Save Planet Earth from the Global Warming Meltdown (Get the book.)

"Campbell Suite 325 Tucson, AZ 85719 (520) 327-9123 North American Indigenous Peoples' Project biodiversity Project 2105 First Ave. South Minneapolis, MN 55404 (612) 870-3411 Occidental Arts and Ecology Center 15290 Coleman Valley Road Occidental, CA 95465 (707) 874-1558 Organic Consumers Association 6771 S. Silver Hill Drive Finland, MN 55603 (218) 226-4164 Organic Trade Association 50 Miles St." - Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., What's In Your Milk?: An Exposé of Industry and Government Cover-Up on the Dangers of the Genetically Engineered (rBGH) Milk You're Drinking (Get the book.)

"However, with humanity's spread, increasing population, and overconsumption, biodiversity has come under attack. Introduced species, habitat degradation, overhunting, deforestation, and pollution imperil species, speed the rate of extinction, and decrease biodiversity." - The New York Times, The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge: A Desk Reference for the Curious Mind (Get the book.)

"And then Vandana Shiva, physicist, activist, and author, tells us how she became involved in the biodiversity movement—and why you should, too! Read on—this is an interesting.buffet of Flipster entrees. A Conversation on the Bridge with John Robbins The only son of the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cteam empire, John Robbins (www.foodrevolution.org) was groomed to follow in his father's footsteps but chose to walk away from his commercial inheritance to "pursue the deeper American Dream . . ." - David H. Rippe, Jared Rosen, The Flip: Turn Your World Around (Get the book.)

"If the fish escape —which millions invariably do every year—they can end up in the wrong ocean (Atlantic salmon in the ^¦^^^^^^^^^^^^^^M Pacific Northwest, for example), compete for resources, and spread diseases like sea lice to wild fish, and, when they mate with wild fish, change the genetic basis of the population and reduce biodiversity. The Coastal Alliance (its Web site is www.farmedanddangerous.org) insists that you are much better off eating wild salmon for reasons of safety, health, and environmental protection." - Marion Nestle, What to Eat (Get the book.) "The cost is in loss of flavor, texture, and, perhaps, nutritional value, along with the loss of biodiversity and community. Growing fruits and vegetables on local farms has intangible values that are worth a lot to people who care about such things. But from the standpoint of the supermarket business, price has to be the dominant consideration. If stores can keep prices low, yours will also seem low, and you will be more likely to buy their products. Even the best stores play tricks to make prices seem lower than they are. The tricks show up in the produce section, as well as everywhere else." - Marion Nestle, What to Eat (Get the book.)

"To researchers who emphasize points such as these, natural nutrients recommend themselves as both plentiful and safe—and their rich biodiversity offers the possibility of many as yet undiscovered synergistic benefits. Research conducted on Maharishi Amrit Kalash (MAK-4 and MAK-5), the two herbal food supplements mentioned in the Introduction, has strongly supported the natural view. At Ohio State we compared the free radical-fighting ability of MAK to known anti-oxidant substances." - Hari Sharma, Freedom from Disease: How to Control Free Radicals, a Major Cause of Aging and Disease (Get the book.)

"La frontera entre Ecuador y Peru es una de las areas biologicamente mas diversas en el mundo siendo un "biodiversity hotspot'' por excelencia. Partes bajas de la cordillera andina permiten intercambios faciles entre la flora y la fauna de la cuenca de la Amazonia y las tierras bajas del Pacifico. Ademas, la region se caracteriza por una transicion rapida entre los bosques humedos y montanosos de los Andes y los bosques deciduos y deserticos de la costa peruana. Importantes logros se ha realizado en el tratamiento taxonomico de la flora del pais en general l'-2-3-4!." - Rainer W. Bussmann and Douglas Sharon, Plants of Longevity, The Medicinal Flora of Vilcabamba (Get the book.)

"Researchers commissioned by EFSA into how stakeholders view the authority, interviewed the scientific Panels [of the EU member states] and reported that 'GMO was mentioned as one very complex issue and there was some concern that the isolation of the safety assessment from other debates (socio-economical, biodiversity ...) was somewhat artificial and that the EFSA "safe" stamp could potentially be abused for political purposes to legalize GMO.'..." - Jeffrey M. Smith, Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods (Get the book.)

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