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今年六月上旬，有一百多個國家地區的領袖、代表，參加在巴西里約熱內盧召開的地球高峰會。這次會議的成就是：針對物種多樣化、及全球氣溫升高的兩項議題，簽訂了公約。在與會一百餘國家中，美國獨排眾議，不肯簽署「物種多樣化公約」，一時惹起不少議論。
「物種多樣化」的觀念，綜合了保護熱帶雨林、保護沼澤地、挽救瀕臨絕種的動植物等等單項保育生態的運動，成為整體、全球的生態保育觀念。簡言之，就是讓各種生物都有生存的權利。
站在佛教徒的立場，看物種多樣化所面臨的問題，我認為佛教所提倡的戒殺護生和節食寡欲正是對症下藥的良方。
近幾年，美國有一批環保人士從佛教和其他東方宗教的教義中，找尋立論的基礎。環保人士稱這場運動為「深度生態學」，基本的主張是：一切生物都有存在的權利，人類沒有滅絕其他生物的權利。因此，戒殺護生，與節食寡欲，更顯出它在現代社會的意義。
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Leaders and representatives from over one hundred countries and areas attended the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro this June. The achievements in this Summit were two treaties on bio-diversity and global warming. Only the United States refused to sign the Bio-diversity Treaty and thereby caused a lot of dissension.
The concepts of bio-diversity sum up the single movement of protecting tropical rain forests, conserving the wetlands, saving the endangered species, and other habitat-conserving programs. As such, it forms a holistic global conservation proposal. Briefly speaking, it means that each species has its own right to exist.
Perceiving the bio-diversity issue from a Buddhist standpoint, I feel that the prohibition of killing, protection of life, economic utilization of food, and reduction of desires, all positively promoted by Buddhism, are excellent remedies.
Recently, a group of environmentalists in the United States adopted some ideas from Buddhism and other Oriental religions. Environmentalists called the movement "deep ecology." Its basic proposition is: all living beings have a right to exist; human beings have no right to bring other creatures to extinction. So, prohibiting killing and protecting lives appear to be meaningful in modern times.
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