Development destroys the natural world

Re: “Parkland levy could get bigger role,” Nov. 16.

I am eager to have the opportunity to contribute $20 as my part in supporting the Capital Regional District’s parks land acquisition fund.

Of the options to be offered to random responders in the March 2018 mailout, in case I am not randomly selected, let me state that I support land purchases only.

We do not need to intrude on every square metre of what’s left of wild(ish) land. We share this planet with other species that are under continual assault from exponential human population growth and associated expansion on finite land. It is necessary to leave some land inaccessible to humans.

The world’s human population has doubled since 1970 and now is about 7.6 billion humans, a number predicted to reach 10 billion humans by the end of the century. Because of human population growth and associated consumption and expansion on the land, hundreds of plant and animal species go extinct every day.

In Canada, half the wildlife species regularly monitored are in decline. The average population drop is 83 per cent since 1970.

We are far beyond the carrying capacity for humans on Vancouver Island. Human population expansion and its effects cannot continue indefinitely in a finite space; on an island, that should be more obvious than it might be elsewhere.

Animals and birds don’t need new trails, parking lots or washrooms. “Development” needs to be seen for what it is: destruction of the natural world. It’s not all about us. Diane McNally Victoria