A lecturer at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, Michelle Pressend has advocated an end to governments still having extractive mindsets, which has caused damages to natural habitats.
She called on governments, people to embrace nature and end activities meant to destroy it.
Pressend, a lecturer in environmental sociology, made these assertions while answering questions from the Executive Director of Health of the Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), Rev. Nnimmo Bassey.
In a recent webinar titled “Conversations of Nature” Pressend assessed how beautiful nature was before colonialism and how it is presently dying as a result of human activities.
She said, “What was life like before colonialism? the place was fertile, people grew healthy crops and no one was angry with the outcomes.
“But now, the soil is degraded by fertilizer and monoculture.”
Speaking on the rights of nature, she noted that nature has the rights to exist, stressing the need to learn from indigenous people on their understanding of nature.
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She also commented on the manipulation of nature by governments who have set up policies to serve their interests but indirectly working against the preservation of nature.
She noted that there is need to move from monoculture to polyculture in diversity, to get policy makers do better for nature.
According to her, “Government have not been doing the right things all these years.”
She also added that there is need to change how relationships with nature away from an extractive mind-set.
Pressend who explained her recent works in Ecovarsity, said Ecovarsity is the way of giving knowledge or ideas of regeneration.
“It entails bringing nature to the classroom, at the universities.”
Rev. Bassey in his remarks, also urged that humans have an an obligation to not disrupt nature.
