MissionsTech’s Weblog

In the March 6, 2008 edition of The Economist, the article “Use Them or Lose Them,” appeared.(http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10808550)  

The article argues that endangered species policy and specifically trade bans have done little to preserve the endangered species because they have resulted in higher black market prices for illegally obtained and traded goods.  The article goes on to assert that”the best way to save a species is to make it valuable to people who may have other uses for the land. “ One of the offered sustainable solutions is eco-tourism, “One way that suits everybody is tourism. The gorillas in the Virunga mountains of Rwanda attract a lot of money from visitors. They are doing well, unlike their cousins over the border in Congo which do not earn their keep, and are prey to hunters who want to clear them out and take their land. Tourism is one way to help the Indian tiger, which is much rarer than people thought.”  Clearly eco-tourism requires stable governments and sufficient infrastructure to allow wealthy tourists comfortable ingress and egress, so this may not be an immediate solution for every country, but as the examples in the article demonstrate, and as Costa Rica and Belize have shown, it does have its merits. (www.bzecotourism.com,  www.costarica-ecotourism.com )

The article goes on to state, “A second, less popular way to make money is to exploit animals sustainably. Killing individual creatures need not harm populations. Many animals may be farmed or ranched to create a valuable legal trade. That is what has happened with the vicuña, and with crocodiles and their kind. Rhino horns can be cut off without even killing rhinos.”  “Sustainable exploitation is not easy and it will not always work. To start with, you need a valuable product. You need the rule of law and government backing. Local people must feel secure in their ownership of the animals and what they produce if they are going to put in the effort to manage and protect them. But exploitation has a crucial edge over straight bans: it earns money. And that is why it can save animals.” 

The March 2008 edition of Scientific American contains an article, “The Bluefin in Peril.”  (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-bluefin-in-peril) The author, Richard Ellis, states in his subtitle, “The only way to save the bluefin tuna, one of the most marvelous and endangered fish in the ocean, may be to domesticate the species.” 

• “The surging popularity of sushi and sashimi has devastated the bluefin tuna. Overfishing has slashed populations in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, push­ing the species toward extinction. Regulatory bodies have failed to set sufficiently strict catch quotas, and illegal fishing is rampant.”  
• “Captive breeding of the bluefin could save the species, but the effort will be challenging. Research groups in Japan and Europe have bred the tuna in laboratories, and now an Australian company is attempting to perform the feat on a commercial scale.”

I was surprised by the coincidence of finding two articles in two very distinct publications with such a similar point of view.  The bottom line is in fact, the bottom line.  Conservation is best served cold with a side of practical capitalism.  The best way to conserve our natural resources, at least our living, breathing resources is to make them economically significant.  Bluefin is at the zenith of significance, bringing as much as $349 per pound for its meat on the legitimate market, but unless effective production means through domestication are implemented, there will not be any Bluefin to buy.

So here is the 500 pound gorilla in the MissionsTech room… what does the commercialization and domestication of conservation have to do with Missions?  I would argue quite a lot.  First, there is a distinct correlation between the unreached people groups of the world and the exploited ecosystems of the world.  These articles argue that there are financial and conservation rewards to be reaped through the effective implementation of sustainable domestication, utilization, and exploitation of animal and ecological resources.  The first benefactors of those rewards should be the unreached people groups who share the ecosystems with the plants and animals in question.  Therefore it is eternally and spiritually relevant for the Body of Christ to seek out these types of opportunities, to develop micro- (and macro-) enterprise solutions, and to implement them appropriately and efficaciously to the glory of God and the saving of souls.