Humans are part of the biological environment of planet Earth. The human activities have the potential to affect the other members of the biotic environment either positively or negatively. As members of this community, humans have an obligation to both plants and animals. Rather than being the superior species among the species in a particular environment, humans should be a member with equal rights to any other species in the environment. Humans have a responsibility to care for the biotic environment, not because it has vital resources for their survival, but because the environment is vital for sustaining the lives of all other living organisms (Cafaro, 2001). Some of the human activities in the biological environment are not just to other living organisms. For instance, poaching of predators may affect the ecological balance since the prey would increase in population. In the long run, all the living organisms in that particular ecosystem would be affected by the imbalance. Humans are therefore obliged to desist from such activities that would cause such an imbalance.
Humans have always believed that they are superior to all other living organisms. This regard of being above all other creation by humans has led to their engagement in activities that tend to exploit other living organisms. Humans should not be considered different from other animals; rather they should be viewed as equal members in the ecosystem (Kymlicka, 2018). The rights of humans in the environment should not be such that they interfere with the rights of other animals. The human activities should be such that they aim to keep the environment conducive for the survival of all other animals, humans included (Lee, 2017). However, human species is more intelligent than any other animal species on the planet. Their behavior should be different from other animals such as the lions and ants. Animals such as the lions may not understand the importance of conserving the environment. Humans have the ability to understand how crucial it is to have a balanced ecosystem hence they should act differently from other animals.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Works Cited
Cafaro, P. (2001). Thoreau, Leopold, and Carson: Toward an environmental virtue ethics. Environmental ethics, 23(1), 3-17.
Kymlicka, W. (2018). Human rights without human supremacism. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 48(6), 763-792.
Lee, L. M. (2017). A bridge back to the future: Public health ethics, bioethics, and environmental ethics. The American Journal of Bioethics, 17(9), 5-12.