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'We are not that special'

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April 27, 2023

Will there be an end to man as the despot of the food pyramid? Clemens Driessen is a philosopher at Wageningen University. He investigates how moral considerations take shape in agriculture and nature management. How will our attitudes towards nature and animals change over the next 25 years? In a conversation with Roland Duong on the podcast from VPRO's Tegenlicht (in Dutch), Clemens Driessen argues for a fundamentally different approach.

(The text below is a translation of the Dutch text by Roland Duong) from https://www.vpro.nl/programmas/tegenlicht/kijk/podcast/2023/clemens-driessen.html. There you can also listen to the podcast (in Dutch).

As humans, we tend to place ourselves outside nature. We see ourselves as superior to other species. We think we can control and influence nature to our advantage. But meanwhile, we are up to our ears in ecological crises: the collapse of biodiversity, the pollution of rivers and global warming. What we have forgotten is that we are also an integral part of nature. Indeed, nature is crucial to our survival.

In this conversation with Roland Duong, Clemens Driessen argues for a fundamentally different approach. Isn't it wiser to see nature more as a partner with whom we can achieve our goals together? Driessen talks about the results of fruitful cooperation between humans and animals on water management and humidification. The beaver released in the Netherlands can contribute enormously to the humidification of dry areas with its industrious dam building. But the same beaver can cause some areas to flood too much. That is why the 'beaver deceiver' was invented: a tube of running water under the beaver dam that ensures the beaver does not build its dam too high so that floods remain manageable. By engaging in 'dialogue' with the beavers, so to speak, these kinds of creative solutions for wildlife management were devised.

To get the most out of such collaborations, Driessen says we need to question our selective love for so-called 'charismatic animals': our cats, dolphins and panda bears. He himself cared for snails for a befriended artist for a year. A world opened up to him. If we continue to cultivate our curiosity about nature, we increase our engagement. Because, as Driessen says, 'there is no safe zone, but that is no excuse to look away and consume as much as possible until the lights go out.'