According to Aldo Leopold, the land ethic is a concept that extends the boundaries of communities to include waters, soil, animals, plants, or jointly: the land (Leopold, 1989). Land ethics defines a new relationship between nature and people, and set the stage for the current conservation movement. Leopold (1989) argues that ethics direct people to cooperate with one another for the mutual gain of all. His argument that land is a community is a foundational concept of ecology; however, the argument that it should be respected and loves is an ethical extension. As a result, land ethics reflects the presence of ecological conscience; that in turn mirrors the conviction of personal responsibility for the welfare of the land.
Leopold (1989) advances his philosophy basing centrally on the assertion that quitting the deliberation of decent use of land is an economic problem. The sole weakness as of land as a conservation system centered entirely on economic motives is that lacks an economic value (Leopold, 1989). “In Leopold’s mind, economics did not have a satisfactory way of handling concepts like wilderness or beauty or land health” (Lin, 2013, p.24). In fact, most members of the land community lack an economic value because they cannot be put into economic use. For example, some higher animals and plants such as Songbirds and Wild-flowers, have a consumption level of barely five percent. They are entitled to existence; because they are members of the biotic system that depends heavily on them for stability.
In conclusion, the economic wellbeing of individuals cannot be separated from the health of their environment; therefore, it is critical to have an adjacent personal relation with land. In essence, individuals can only be ethical in relation to something they feel, see, love, understand, or believe in; in this case, land. Therefore, a land ethic alters the role of individuals from the individual who conquered the land; the community, to a member of the community or citizen. It infers respect for other members of the community as well as the community itself.
References
Leopold, A. (1989). A Sand County almanac, and sketches here and there. Oxford University Press.
Lin, Q. F. (2013). Aldo Leopold: Reconciling Ecology and Economics. Minding Nature, 6(1), 23-34.
