Vandana Shiva, an environmental activist and physicist, discusses the importance of biodiversity and the need to shift away from a mechanistic, reductionist view of nature.
“For me, biodiversity is the web of life”, she says. “It’s not a number. It’s not a thing. It’s not an object. It’s the relationships between diverse beings.”
Shiva – a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award (a.k.a. “Alternative Nobel Prize”) – shares her experiences with the Chipko movement in the Himalayas, where women protested against deforestation by hugging trees, recognizing the ecological functions of forests beyond just timber.
Watch the video to find out why Shiva calls for a shift in thinking, moving away from a masculinist, mechanistic approach and recognizing the intelligence and technologies of nature, women, and peasants.
