Task: Human activity has negative effects on plant and animal species. Some people think it is too late to do anything about this problem. Others believe effective measures can be taken to improve this situation. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

One of the most tragic results of the outstanding industrial and technological progress people have made is the detrimental impact this progress has had on the natural world. While some measures can be and are being taken to mitigate the impact, I believe that the scale of the damage done is such that it can no longer be reversed.

It cannot be denied, however, that measures to protect the world’s flora and fauna exist. One is the creation of natural reserves where all human activities, including but not limited to industrial production, construction, logging, hunting, and farming, are prohibited. This measure would allow plants and animals to remain unaffected and undisturbed, thus giving them a chance to reproduce safely. Another measure, one that would further strengthen the first one, is the creation and funding of breeding in captivity programs. Species whose numbers are critically low can be bred in captivity to be later released into natural habitats. Such programs, having been implemented in some parts of the world, have proven successful and could thus be expanded.

This notwithstanding, I believe the negative effects on plants and animals are irreversible by now as the measures outlined above, while admittedly effective to some extent, cannot work at the required level. The main reason for this is that people have been doing the harmful activities with total disregard to the impact on biodiversity for decades – since long before the impact became known. This is further exacerbated by the fact that these activities happen on a much wider scale than any conservation efforts. Every day, tons of household garbage as well as industrial waste are incinerated, landfilled, or dumped into water, contaminating and destroying natural habitats even in the most remote locations of the planet. No conservation efforts currently match the scale of the pollution and are unlikely to do so in the future, not least because people rely on the polluting activities for food, clothes, leisure, and many other, if not all, aspects of their lives. All of this shows that plants and animals are being driven to extinction at a rate higher than that at which they can reproduce in sufficient numbers, even with the help of special conservation programs.

To conclude, it is true that attempts to protect biodiversity are being made. Yet, in my opinion, they can only offset the damage to a very limited extent: they do and will fall short of what is needed to address the ever-increasing detrimental impact.

Irina Lutsenko

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