The text of this post isn't going to be very long and I don't think this is very topical, but it appears to me that sometimes incentives are needed to take care of the Earth's resources. Personally, I want the Earth to be in a good condition and to be taken care of for its own sake. The topical connection is the possible threat of petrol shortages in the UK if drivers decide to strike.
Other resources we use are related to medicine and, though I am not heavily into alternative medicine, it has to be recognised that many therapies we use today were originally derived from the natural world - this includes cancer drugs and medicines that combat malaria. Even aspirin was, of course, originally from a tree. Occasionally, we may even find that people we may consider uneducated (by our standards) and lacking the technology we take for granted have been using a natural remedy for generations that appears to have some effectiveness against one ailment or another. As part of my MSc ethnobotany was (and is) an area I looked into, though I fully accept there can be potential issues with levels of application. It should also be remembered that herbal treatments are not automatically safe - deadly nightshade doesn't have that name by accident and, though not plants but fungi, the death cap and destroying angel are well named.
I just think we can learn a lot from others and we never know when we may need nature's pharmacy for the next wonder drug.
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