Contra la ética de la ecología del miedo

Por un cambio en los fines de la intervención en la naturaleza

Abstract

Humans often intervene in nature for anthropocentric or environmental reasons. An example of such interventions is the reintroduction of wolves in areas where they once lived in order to create what has been known as an "ecology of fear". In the first part of this article the reasons that have been put forward in favor of this measure are discussed, and we explain that they are incompatible with a non-speciesist approach. To do this we formulate the reasons why such a measure significantly harms animals such as deer, without being either beneficial for wolves themselves. Then we argue that if we abandon a speciesist perspective we must completely change the way we intervene in nature. Instead of intervening for environmental or anthropocentric motivations, our purpose in doing so should be to reduce the damage suffered by non-human animals. The idyllic view that nonhuman animals live idyllic lives in nature is totally wrong, and indeed there are compelling reasons to consider that suffering and premature death clearly prevail on the happiness of these animals. This makes it even more important for our purpose to improve their situation and give them our help, rather than harming them. This significantly comes into conflict with some fundamental ecological ideals whose defense is not compatible with the consideration of the interests of nonhuman animals.