ismore,marine life in rivers, lakes, seas and oceans, which feeds a great part of theworld’s population,
is affected by uncontrolled fishing, leading to a drastic depletion of certain species. Selective forms of
fishingwhich discardmuch ofwhat they collect continue unabated. Particularly threatened aremarine
organismswhichwe tend to overlook, like some forms of plankton; they represent a significant element
in the ocean food chain, and species used for our foodultimatelydepend on them.
41.
In tropical and subtropical seas, we find coral reefs comparable to the great forests on dry land,
for they shelter approximately a million species, including fish, crabs, molluscs, sponges and algae.
Many of the world’s coral reefs are already barren or in a state of constant decline. “Who turned the
wonderworld of the seas into underwater cemeteries bereft of colour and life?”
25
This phenomenon is
due largely to pollutionwhich reaches the sea as the result of deforestation, agricultural monocultures,
industrial waste and destructive fishing methods, especially those using cyanide and dynamite. It is
aggravated by the rise in temperature of the oceans. All of this helps us to see that every intervention
innature canhave consequenceswhich arenot immediately evident, and that certainways of exploiting
resources prove costly in terms of degradationwhich ultimately
reaches the ocean bed itself.
42.
Greater investment needs to be made in research aimed at understanding more fully the
functioning of ecosystems and adequately analyzing the different variables associated with any
significant modification of the environment. Because all creatures are connected, each must be
cherished with love and respect, for all of us as living creatures are dependent on one another. Each
area is responsible for the care of this family. This will require undertaking a careful inventory of the
species which it hosts, with a view to developing programmes and strategies of protection with
particular care for safeguarding species heading towards extinction.
IV.
DECLINE INTHEQUALITYOFHUMANLIFEANDTHEBREAKDOWNOFSOCIETY
43.
Human beings too are creatures of this world, enjoying a right to life and happiness, and
endowed with unique dignity. So we cannot fail to consider the effects on people’s lives of
environmental deterioration, currentmodels ofdevelopment and the throwawayculture.
25
CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES, Pastoral Letter
What is Happening to our Beautiful
Land?
(29 January1988).
