Introduction

I decided to research on this topic because I wanted to find out how we can protect our vulnerable
ecosystems, but in order to be able to do this, it is important to know and understand the root causes
of why these ecosystems become vulnerable in the first place. With the world rapidly changing, it
brings a new age wherein organisms are pushed to quickly adapt to survive, but what these
organisms, humans for this matter, often do not realise or have not the care to do so, is that the ways
of adapting may be greatly affecting the ecological equilibrium.

There are a lot of things that threaten the ecosystems, but these can be categorised into three main
issues: human activity, natural developments and global warming. Although these issues are listed
separately, they are interrelated, and can affect one another. For example, under human activity,
there are a number of causes, as told by Kent State University (2018). They have listed
overpopulation as one cause because as the population turnover decreases with better life
expectancy and quality, the problems that come with an increasing population multiply as well.

Another cause that they listed is the developing agriculture, particularly in the aspect of the
domestication of animals and genetic modification. The domestication of animals caused
environments to change drastically because non-native species were introduced to new areas,
therefore affecting the local food chain, and thus allowing other plant and animal species to be
propagated more than the others, which disturbs the ecosystem’s natural balance. Moreover, genetic
modification also affects the balance. In the agricultural environment, genetic modifications are made
to crops to make them less affected by herbicides, but this has caused an increase in herbicide use
which actually makes weeds more resistant to it and ecosystems contaminated, as told by the
International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (2018).

These 3 situations are interrelated because the main motivation of the domestication of animals and
genetic modification is so that the quality of life of humans improve, thus increasing the population
growth rate. Environmental changes, like land reclamations, high-rise buildings, and such like these
also is a factor. These may be causing the loss of biodiversity because they are losing their homes
and it can be said that these are interrelated to natural developments like the behaviour of organisms
to name one because when humans alter the landscape to improve the quality of life, these also
affect the behaviour of wildlife. For example, the research article of Flack, Fiedler, Blas, et al (2016)
stated that the migration behavior of White Storks have changed in the course of the past decades
due to human-induced changes. Instead of travelling further to their intended destination, their
tendency was to travel to near places because of human trash and other causes in which they have
found a food source in, which is bad as it alters their natural instincts.

The causes mentioned also boil

down to global warming. As we
all know, global warming is
caused by the excess
greenhouse gases, most notably
carbon dioxide, in the
atmosphere. This excess is
causing Earth to heat up,
resulting in very unpredictable
freak natural disasters, the
destruction of the environment,
and loss of biodiversity, among
The 2014 carbon dioxide level greatly surpasses the highest carbon dioxide
others, which we are
experiencing now (US Resilience
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Toolkit, 2019). This will also lead to the depletion of available resources which would cause famines,
outbreaks of diseases and eventually, it may create a conflict between the nations, as told by Homer-
Dixon (n.d.). With not enough crops and meat to feed everyone, people will start dying and
eventually, the uprisings will occur and a race for more land and resources will ensue.

Environme Domesticat Caus

Overpopul Genetic Behaviour

Human Global Natural

Activity Warming Developm

Ecosyste

Destructio Loss of Depletion

n of Biodiversit of

Homelessn Freak Wars Famine

Pandemic
Consequenc

Global Perspective
Of course, most of the countries know these consequences. Governments, organisations and
individuals around the world are doing a lot to protect the ecosystems so that these consequences
would not be experienced. An example of a way to protect the ecosystems is by educating the public.
The Department of Conservation (DOC), under the Government of New Zealand, has integrated
environmental conservation and sustainability education in their schools’ curriculums. These include
teaching kids about the environment, making them actually learn in the environment and then
applying the skills they learnt for the environment. Their focus is mostly kids in their early childhood
stages, so that as they progress into their primary and secondary, up to their adult years, they would
have a strong foundation in protecting the ecosystems.

Another way is through the public’s actions. The public can get involved in saving our ecosystems by
supporting environmental protection foundations. The TreePeople organisation in the United States of
America, specifically focused in Los Angeles, offers volunteer work for all ages. They deal with the
planting and caring of trees, harvesting the rain, and renewing depleted landscapes. According to
TreePeople (n.d.), they have now planted over 3 million trees thanks to their volunteers.

Another foundation is the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) of UK. This charity works on the
protection of seas, shores, and wildlife (Marine Conservation Society, n.d.). People can donate to
charities like these if they do not have time to volunteer. MCS also offers the adoption of sea turtles
and seahorses, but this ‘adoption’ does not mean that people will get to bring the turtle or seahorse
home, it just means that they will help sponsor the turtle or seahorse species over a period of time.

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But of course, these would also not be possible without the support of the government. Local and
international funding, research, programmes, and laws made by the government could really prove
helpful for the protection of the ecosystems. The Department of Communications, Climate Action &
Environment (DCCAE) of Ireland has a delegated fund for the environment. As told by DCCAE
(2017), this is used to fund their local environmental protection schemes, natural heritage projects
and approved international agencies and organisations like the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA).

National Perspective
Philippines has several laws in place to lessen the harms done to the ecosystems. A few examples of
such laws are RA No. 8749, known as the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 (Lawphil, 1999), RA 6969,
which is the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990 (Lawphil,
1990), and PD 1586, requiring project proposers to submit an environmental impact statement
justifying why the project should be implemented, which is to be approved by the government, before
they can proceed with the project (LawPhil, 1978) (Triple i Consulting, 2012).

The current president, Rodrigo Duterte, has also announced a series of rehabilitations of the heavily
polluted bodies of water, one of which was a clean up drive in Manila Bay (Presidential
Communications Operations Office). On January 27, 2019, a total of 5000 government workers and
volunteers were reportedly able to collect 11 truck-fulls of trash, and up to now, parts of Manila Bay
are still closed to the public. Boracay has also seen Duterte’s efforts to rehabilitate its environment.
On April 26, 2018, it was closed from the public to be able to undergo the 6 month rehabilitation
process (BBC, 2018) (Department of Tourism, 2018). Another major tourist attraction undergoing
rehabilitation is El Nido, Palawan. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources saw to the
removal of establishments impinging on easement zones and forest lands near the end of 2018
(Fabro, 2018).

Personal perspective
My family practises reducing our waste, carbon footprint and other harmful impacts. Starting from our
household, It is mostly powered by solar panels which greatly reduces our electricity consumption.
This lessens the fossil fuels being burned to produce electricity. Next, our household also has a
cistern. It collects rainwater and the excess water from our plants, and is then used for flushing our
toilets. The family business is also located in our house, which helps us save fuel, not needing to
commute from the house to the workplace. We also recycle the glass bottles, cans and plastics from
our food stuff. During our monthly grocery shopping, we opt to use cardboard boxes from the grocery
instead of plastic bags, as we believe that it is more useful for our household, as well as more eco
friendly.

Personally, I also try to do my part by reducing my waste. I only take short showers and use metal
and glass straws instead of plastic or paper straws when buying beverages. I also bring my own
water bottle and glass container, instead of using plastic bottles and plastic containers.

Conclusion
There are a lot of efforts being done to help these vulnerable ecosystems, but it is not enough.
Ecosystems are still being destroyed beyond recovery and are disappearing quickly. There should be
a more global effort for the protection of these ecosystems. I also think that what people lack is the

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initiative of being active in protecting our environment. Instead of just waiting for and relying on the
government and environmental protection foundations, we should take action.

Possible Courses of Action

From my research, I concluded that the best way to go is, for the lack of a better term, brainwashing
the youth. We could look to Japan’s example in changing the behaviour of their people. According to
Gordenker (2004), in order to instill good morals to Japan’s people, the government has included
moral development in their national curriculum. Through light chores such as cleaning, as well as
extracurricular activities like volunteering, the Japanese youth has learnt good values and morals. As
a result, Japan is considered one of the most disciplined countries in the world. In this concept, we
should integrate environmental protection and conservation into the lives of the youth. It may not be
an instantaneous effect, but the youth is the future, if we discipline the youth at their early childhood
to develop these habits, then protecting the ecosystem would be very possible.

Mostly, the approach to this issue now, is making laws and policies to protect the ecosystems, and
then implementing it and expecting people to just follow the rules. Those who do not follow get
punished with fines or jail time, but while making these set of rules, and letting people know that there
is a consequence to their actions is also good, it is not the best approach. It is just basically forcing
something that does not come naturally to people.

A good way to go as well is lessening the human impact on the world. More effort on research has to
be made, especially in researching and developing sustainable and fully biodegradable alternatives
for single use materials to lessen pollution. You may have heard about the biodegradable or
compostable plastic bags, but according to Laville (2019), after 3 years, they still have not
decomposed fully and are still considered as litter. Scientists should put more focus on making these
materials fully decomposable, while maintaining its effectiveness and function.

Developing the layout of our buildings as well could prove useful. According to Anselm (2006)
buildings’ designs could be made more ecological and vernacular, making the most out of the sun,
wind, and rainfall to provide for the occupants’ water and energy needs, as well as using sustainable
materials to build these. They can also be made to blend in or adapt to the ecosystem as to further
lessen human impacts.

Reflection
As I have said time and time again, efforts are still lacking. Most of the things being done are just
shallow endeavours of obligation, rather than a deeper will to truly help ecosystems, and at the end of
this project, I realised that I, too, am still one of those people, who are just obligated, rather than
passionate. I should also go a little out of my way to help with what I can, because eventually, if this
would become a regular occurence, it would not anymore be something “out of the way”, rather, it
would be the normal thing to do. I have learnt so much more ways to do my part in helping the
ecosystem survive and thrive, while researching for this paper.

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