Environmental Sustainability and Development in Africa: An “Egbe bere ugo bere” Approach.

Abstract

The negative effect of human’s exploitative activities on the non-human aspects of the environment has become increasingly alarming. There is an ever growing need for the development and subsequent sustenance of the virtues of our environment. Mankind and other elements of the environment need each other in order to attain this all important environmental vision. Hence, this paper uses the Igbo maxim “Egbe bere ugo bere” as a springboard to articulate a philosophy of environmental conservation that is succinct and enduring in its effort to broker equilibrium between humans and other elements of the environment. It emphasizes the point that any of humans or other elements of the environment that refuses to accommodate the other will as a matter of necessity suffer the consequences. Employing the methods of critical analysis, conversational thinking, conceptual analysis and deduction, the paper demonstrates the fact that aspects of the environment beside humans need to be given the opportunity not only to exist, but also to live and fulfill the essence of their being. It is a call for sustainable development of the environment through a symbiotic interaction between humans and other elements of the environment.

Keywords

• Environment
• Sustainability
• Development
• Egbe bere ugo bere
• Environmental elements and Environmental resources

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