Dear Lexi,
On a more serious note, I read your post re extinction of species....well done.
Noisy

Lexi
Why should we protect other life forms?
Interesting question which depends very much on what you mean by protection & how far we are willing to ensure that protection.
If we are to protect them from our cruelty i think its impossible.

Humans are the natural enemy of these animals for all the reasons you listed and more. So they only real way to protect them from suffering at our heads is for their to be none imop.
If there were a way to remove other creatures from this earth- that would be the only way to protect them

Dear Noisy,

Thanks - I'm glad that you like the new topic.

Dear Kerryanne,

It's a tough call all right. However, there is hope, in my opinion, at least. It's true that the most developed technologies for altering the natural environment, the highly advanced industrialized societies have caused the greatest destruction of planetary ecosystems in the past. Today, they are taking the lead - however slowly - in efforts to protect the threatened and endnagered species.

In fact, many countries - have had the vision to establish a system of national parks, wilderness areas, and wildlife refuges, and these areas are admired the world over for their awesome grandeur and the flora and fauna they protect. Australia also has its wildlife refuges and national parks. Of course there's always pressure on these lands by economic interests that claim the federal government is "locking up" land needed for oil exploration, logging, mining, or housing and recreation facilities. But hopefully - a balance can be reached.

Most of the plants and animals with which we share the earth have been here a great deal longer than we have. For a fleeting moment in planetary history, our technology has given us domain over them. In awe, respect, and humility, we hopefully might just let them be.

Lexi my Balt beauty at least we could look forward to nearing the end of horrid Japanese whaling, this from the ABC:
Updated March 09, 2007 14:21:00
"The Federal Opposition's environment spokesman, Peter Garrett, says a Labor government will take legal action to stop Japanese whaling.Mr Garrett was in Sydney this morning, welcoming the crew of the latest anti-whaling expedition by Greenpeace".

BUT NOTHING HAPPENED

Garrett had the drift way back in 2007; tell them what they want to hear. They got into government, had the time to rack up a historical deficit, but no time to tell the Jap whalers what’s what, but they told Greenpeace they would, should we rename Garrett "peter pinochio" then we would have a set, juliar, the truth Waynes, and peter pinochio.

Just a thought re the despotic movement that the Greens have evolved into since they became the puppets of the NWO. Bob Brown and partner are a poster couple for Greens ideology, two come into the world, and two go out of it, negative gain. Extinction.

Dear SOG,

I'm glad that you're no longer mad at me. Thanks for the Japanese whaling information. I was under the impression that Australia had
taken legal action against Japan on whaling. Perhaps things got
bogged down at The Hague. I'll have to look into it further. Or
perhaps the Government decided to tread water carefully with Japan
as we need their trade.

As for the Greens - and two coming into the world and two leaving it.
I guess that it may not be about "extinction" as such - but curbing population growth. Which is surely something worth considering. If world population continues to grow rapidly, if industrialisation spreads around the world, and if pollution and resource depletion continues at an increasing rate - and all these things are happening -
as I've stated previously - where is human society headed? The most optimistic answer to these questions would be, one way or another, sweeping social changes await us.