Essay - Analyzing the Sustainability Problem

Essay 2 The Florida Everglades is a two-million acre, subtropical, wetland ecosystem that

stretches from Orlando all the way to Florida’s southern tip. Well known for both tourism and wildlife, the Everglades are home to over 350 different species of birds and many endangered species such as the leatherback turtle, Florida panther and West Indian manatee. An estimated 279 million tourists come to the Everglades annually to take advantage of its numerous outdoor activities (Plumb 2011). While the Everglades is still a significant part of Florida’s economy and biodiversity, it has been under siege by farmers and others who have been exploiting its resources in the pursuit of economic dividends. With the alarming rate at which the Everglades are shrinking, this is clearly a sustainability problem that must be properly analyzed.

Adverse effects and affected stakeholders

The deterioration of the Florida Everglades is a problem that has caused widespread consequences to the people of Florida, as well as many others. Among the most significant adverse affects caused by the deterioration of the Florida Everglades are loss of tourism profit, loss of biodiversity, loss of jobs and loss of the coral reefs surrounding Florida. While it is apparent that many of these adverse effects affect the people of Florida, it may not be so obvious how they affect many others. In reference to an article written by Beckage, since the 1800s, the landscape and environmental outlook of the Florida Everglades has been altered by human activity. Though still a relatively large state park, the Everglades have been reduced to about a fifth of its original size. Of the land that still remains as the Everglades, half has been drained of its water for agriculture and development.

Loss of biodiversity in the Florida Everglades correlates to loss of resources and opportunities. Saltwater and freshwater fishing are very important to Florida’s tourism, as well as its exports. According to Fedler’s article, the total economic output of the Everglades’ freshwater fishing was estimated to be $352.5 million and to have provided 3,496 jobs to the people of Florida. Florida is also a large exporter of seafood in the United States. If the populations of fish surrounding the Florida Everglades take a hit due to an imbalance of biodiversity, then the fishing guides and commercial fisherman of Florida could possibly lose their jobs. Ill effects will also be felt in the other states that depend on Florida for much of their seafood imports.

The Everglades play an important role in maintaining the vitality of the coral reefs off of Florida’s coast. The coral reefs are important for several reasons. First, they draw large amounts of tourism in to Florida. In reference to Porter’s article, even though the Florida key’s coral reef is “one-tenth the size of Australia’s Great Barrier reef, it is visited by ten times more people annually”. Loss of the coral reefs would certainly have a negative impact on Florida’s tourism industry. In addition to being a tourist attraction, the Florida Keys coral reef also serves as an important form of hurricane protection. Since hurricanes also wreak havoc on surrounding states the negative effects of the hurricane will certainly be dispersed and felt by residents of many other states than Florida.

Without the Everglades, copious amounts of jobs and money would not only be lost in Florida, but nationwide. According to an article written by Plumb, a 2011 report shows “$13 billion of direct spending by 279 million park visitors in communities within 60 miles of the national park. That visitor spending had a $30 billion impact on the entire U.S. economy and supported 252,000 jobs nationwide.”

Causing actions and activities, in conjunction with technologies; causing stakeholders Much of the negative impact on the Florida Everglades has been caused by farming and

urban development. An article written by Chimney and Goforth says that starting in the 1800s, the farmers of South Florida started to drain parts of the Everglades with intentions of taking advantage of its rich organic soils and subtropical climate for agricultural purposes. The infrastructure that was used to drain the Everglades and reclaim it as farmland was a series of canals and watersheds. According to a book written by Davis and Ogden, in 1905 the first Everglades drainage district was created. The Everglades drainage district is a 60 –mile-wide and 150 mile long district composed of canals and watersheds. Six additional drainage districts were added soon after.

Farmers also sought out land in the Florida Everglades for raising their livestock. The idea was that the thick saw grass that grew in the Everglades would be favorable for cattle grazing (Davis & Ogden, 1994, 88). As many farmers began moving to South Florida in pursuit of its fertile lands, there became a need for flood control due to the wet season. Upon developing a flood control system, the people of South Florida did not take into account maintaining the integrity of the Everglades. When the Farmlands along the Everglades became flooded, the water would be drained to the Everglades. The problem was that much of the farm lands nutrient rich water would end up draining into the Everglades. This resulted in the unintentional draining of phosphorus into the Everglades. Not only did the increased phosphorus levels disrupt the Everglades natural nutrient profile, they also caused algae blooms. Algae blooms robbed the water in the Everglades of much of its oxygen and caused the native saw grass to be replaced by an invasive plant species, cattail (Davis & Ogden,1994,111).

The Florida Keys coral reefs have been suffering as a result of the Everglades decrease in water and water quality. The coral reefs depend on the Everglades for its flow of freshwater and nutrients into the keys, but ever since settlers have come to South Florida and altered the nutrient profile of the water in the Everglades, 38% of the coral reefs have been lost (Porter,2002,17).

Benefits and benefiting stakeholders

The stakeholders who are benefiting from the deteriorating conditions of the Florida Everglades are farmers, people residing close to the Everglades, people who consume crops grown in South Florida, states and countries competing for tourism, and some environmentalists. The farmers in the Everglades region qualify as benefiting stakeholders because they get to use some of the most fertile land in the United States to grow and export cash crops such as sugarcane, snap peas, celery, and rice. They also have access to an available water source in the event of a drought. People who reside in close proximity to the Everglades benefit from the Everglades because in the event of a flood the water can be drained into the Everglades by the flood control infrastructure. Consumers of crops grown in the Everglades region are also benefiting stakeholders. This is because South Florida has a favorable climate that allows farmers to grow food annually, giving consumers year round access to produce of their preference. States and countries who are competing for tourism also benefit from the Everglades’ problems. As the Everglades starts to lose its biodiversity, tourists will start looking into alternative vacation spots and attractions. Environmentalists are partially benefiting from the worsening conditions of the Everglades because they get the opportunity to do research and formulate solutions for restoring the integrity of the Florida Everglades.

Underlying motives, needs, and preferences/Enabling and constraining social rules and norms

The motives for conducting activities that are detrimental to the Florida Everglades are chiefly spurred by economic interest. Farmers want to be able to farm in areas where there is ideal climate and agricultural resources such as water and fertile soil. Although they were most likely aware that their agricultural activity threatens the viability of the Everglades ecosystem, they feel that the actions they take are necessary to provide for their families. There is also pressure to provide food to the growing U.S. population.

The Everglades is a very convenient region to farm since it affords the farmers with all the necessary conditions and resources. The Everglades also provides a convenient location to drain flood water. In the event of a violent tropical storm it is hard for most people to resist averting flood water that could be potentially be harmful to their lives and infrastructure.

While it is obvious that these previously mentioned actions compromise the integrity of the Everglades, there wasn’t any form of legislation in place to prevent such actions. Thus, people were allowed to use their own sense of social norms to decide whether or not they should pursue these economic ventures even though they are harmful to the environment.

In my opinion, most of these actions were socially justified on the basis of making ends meet. The farmers and others who caused environmental damage to the Everglades decided that providing food and structure to their families was more urgent and important than preserving one of North Americas most important natural resources. I think that as the Everglades region started to become more populated many others decided to move there and take advantage of its resources. They justified these actions on the basis that if everybody else is doing it, then it must be socially acceptable. I feel that many others also came to the conclusion that if they didn’t take advantage of the Everglades’ agricultural resources then somebody else would. Formal and informal rules provide guidelines for making important decisions. Formal rules are those that are written statutes put in place by the government and are punishable if violated. Informal rules are unwritten rules determined by society. Violation of unwritten rules does not warrant punishment, but is looked down upon by society. A major informal rule that plays a role in this sustainability problem is that economic development is much more urgent and important to the well being of the human race than environmental development. Even the most “sanguine of observers would maintain that their future depends on the cycles of the natural world than economic, social and political trends” (Davis & Ogden,1994,30). This statement illustrates the informal rule that society must address synthetic matters such as money, before addressing the problems of the natural world. More justification for this informal rule comes from the statement “the immediacy and scale of human needs is often cited as an argument for relegating environmental issues” (Davis & Ogden,1994,34). This statement conveys the informal rule that human needs must be fulfilled before those of the environment. Available knowledge and capacity

The knowledge and capacity that enabled these stakeholders to act was based mostly on agriculture. The stakeholders who ended up moving to the Everglades knew that it offered soil with an ideal nutrient profile for the crops that they intended to grow. Based on a survey by the U.S. department of agriculture, the organic soils in the Everglades “were sufficiently deep and of the proper physical composition to warrant development of farming” (Ogden & Davis,1994,99). These stakeholders also knew what climate would be necessary to ensure that the crops could thrive, as many farmers moved to South Florida in the winter to grow summer crops. Knowledge of water management would also have been necessary to these stakeholders. They needed

knowledge and resources to create infrastructure that could effectively direct and deter water to and from their crops.

Available resources

Some of the enabling resources that allowed the benefiting stakeholders to take action include natural resources, time, trust and money. Money was needed to build flood protection infrastructure. Through “land sales, improved tax collection, and sale of bonds, the Everglades drainage district acquired sufficient funds to initiate the drainage project” (Ogden & Davis,1994,88). The drainage project helped to ensure the safety of the Everglades’ farming community in the event of a flood. A significant amount of time was needed to create travel, farming and flood control infrastructure in the Everglades. In 1890 a surveying party was sent from Tampa to investigate a possible railroad route to the Everglades. It took the surveying party 18 days to reach Miami (Ogden&Davis,1994,87). The natural resources would be all of those provided by the Florida Everglades including soil, climate, and water. Without these natural resources there would not be sufficient incentive to move to South Florida and start farming. There also would not be any basis for trust that moving to South Florida would end up paying off. As I have said before, the most significant reason above all others for the benefiting stakeholders to act is money. For the 1987-1988 season, vegetables produced by farms in the Everglades were estimated to be worth 151 million dollars (Davis & Ogden,1994,103). All of the information above shows us why the deterioration of the Florida Everglades is a sustainability problem and how it has been able to happen. This information will prove to be pivotal to creating a solution that correctly addresses this sustainability problem. Such an accomplishment will help to ensure preservation of the Everglades for our generation, as well as for future generations.

Citations

Davis, S., & Ogden, J. (1994). Everglades: The ecosystem and its restoration (pp. 1-150). Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press. Porter, J. (2002). The Everglades, Florida Bay, and coral reefs of the Florida Keys: An ecosystem sourcebook (pp. 1-50). Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press. Chimney, M., & Goforth, G. (2001.A historical perspective and restoration strategies. Water Science and Technology, 44(11), 93-98. Retrieved September 15, 2015, from http://www.garygoforth.net/Environmental Impacts.pdf Fedler, T. (2009). The economic impact of recreational fishing in the Everglades region. Prepared for The Everglades Foundation, Miami, Florida, December. Plumb, M. (2015, October 12). Everglades National Park Tourism Creates Millions in Local Economic Benefit. Retrieved October 12, 2015. Beckage, B. (12/2003). Ecology (durham): INFLUENCE OF THE EL NIÑO SOUTHERN OSCILLATION ON FIRE REGIMES IN THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES Ecological Society of America. doi:10.1890/02-0183

Flow Chart

Farmers

People of Florida

People of surrounding

states

Produce consumers

Politicians

Scientists

Farmers

Farmers

Residents in close vicinity of Everglades

-Fertile farming land -Farming Profit -Flood Protection - Fresh produce

-Loss of tourism -Loss of Biodiversity -Loss of hurricane protection -Loss of jobs

Farming activities (Irrigating, Draining, Fertilizing, Planting)

-Drainage districts -Canals -Drains -Farming tools

-Making money -Producing food -Having produce in season annually -Flood control assurance

Farmers

Produce consumers

-Knowledge of farming potential -Lack of knowledge of consequences -Knowledge of climate -Knowledge of soil nutrient profile

-Informal rule about addressing human needs before environmental needs -Lack of farming regulations -Lack of water control regulations

-Natural Resources (sunlight, climate, soil nutrients, water)

-Time -Trust (that farming in the Everglades would pay

dividends) -Money (For Building

infrastructure)