"Anthony Wall - The Eden Mission (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wall Anthony)

"Please take your seats in the front row. OK, who cares about conservation?
Hands up."

Everybody reacted.

Bellingham pointed to Vanessa. "Why?" he demanded. Vanessa opened her mouth in
surprise. "Er ..."

The naturalist repeated his question, more gently. "Why, Vanessa? Why should
you care what happens in Africa, the Amazon, the Antarctic or anywhere else
that isn't your home? What's it got to do with you?"

He nodded encouragingly. "Well?"

Vanessa stuck out her chin. "Animals have as much right to be on earth as we
have. More--they were here first. And if we're the most intelligent creatures,
the only ones that are moral, it's our duty to look after the environment.
Besides, nobody owns the world. All living things are part of nature. So in a
way nature owns us ..."

Blushing, Vanessa tailed off. Without thinking, Susan started to clap.

Bellingham: "Bravo! You convinced me--and at least one other person." Now
Susan went pink.

Walking along the row, Bellingham added: "Anybody else want to speak up for
conservation? Yes, Gary."

"Well, Mr. Bellingham, I was just wondering about the Amazon. The way the
trees are being cut down--fifty thousand acres a day. Don't half of all plant
and animal species live there?"

The naturalist leaned towards him. "Quite right. Oh, and call me Ben."

Gary went on: "I've read that a lot of industry, agriculture and medicine is
based on jungle products--rubber, coffee, bananas, quinine and so on. Also
that the Amazon is a botanical treasure-house we've barely begun to explore.
It needs to be protected for everyone's sake. Another thing--people are
upsetting the world climate by felling those trees ..."

Bellingham chipped in. "Right again, Gary. But the situation is even worse
than that, I'm afraid, as you'll see for yourselves on this trip."

Norman put his hand up. "No one has mentioned the gene pool. If the number of
species keeps falling, the planet may not be able to evolve to meet changing
conditions--and life could die out."

Ben rubbed his chin. "Certainly done your natural history homework, haven't
you?"