IICPH Newsletter  /  Fall 2002

“Man has lost the capacity to foresee and to forestall. He will end by destroying the earth.” -- Albert Schweitzer

Thirty years ago, Rachel Carson dedicated her history-making book – Silent Spring - to Albert Schweitzer. In it she wrote, “The control of nature is a phrase conceived in arrogance born of the Neanderthal age of biology and philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the convenience of man.”

David Suzuki, in his magnificent documentary -The Sacred Balance - describes an experience in Bali where this control of nature led to failure of the rice crops. Traditionally, Balinese farmers used natural spring water to irrigate their rice paddies. This water was replete with nutrients and natural fertilizers, including a good supply of nitrogen, all derived from being naturally filtered through limestone rocks. By following these age-old practices, large amounts of high quality rice, which not only fed the people but were also exported for a good price, were produced. But, the government, under pressure from outside sources, forced the farmers to use manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, which then led to an increase in pests, problems and the eventual failure of their crops. Only when farmers returned to traditional practices did the crops return to normal.

Today, thirty years after the alarm bells were first sounded by Rachel Carson and then by others (including our own Dr. Rosalie Bertell), the deterioration of our environment is apace. It would be easy to despair, especially for those of us who are “senior seniors” and still engaged in the struggle. Hope can be found, however, in the increasing grandchildren-generation who are becoming enlightened and engaged in the environmental health movement.

Last spring, IICPH endeavoured to evolve the Resource Centre into the Rosalie Bertell Library Environmental Health Library and received many donations for that purpose. This autumn, it is clear that we need to strengthen our website and translate articles into many different languages in order to disseminate the independent scientific research of Dr. Bertell and others as widely as possible. Today our goal is to support the evolving critical of those who understand the vulnerability of life on Planet Earth and are working diligently to save it.