Precautionary Principle

The Precautionary Principle is one of the key elements for policy decisions concerning environmental protection and management. It is applied in the circumstances where there are reasonable grounds for concern that an activity is, or could, cause harm but where there is uncertainty about the probability of the risk and the degree of harm. The precautionary principle is extremely relevant as it stops actions that allthough not scientifically proven, could produce harm to the environment. Hence if something is in doubt, such as "does the creation of a dam cause more harm than good"; in theory it would not be built. However most of the worlds dams are built regardless if others have been proven to cause damage to wildlife and of coarse humans through depletion of marine fish stocks. Therefore in the case of dams the need for hydroelectric power and water by humans outways the need for future food security, hence the Precautionary Principle is rejected in favour of present needs of humans in the hope that fish farming will help provide the worlds protein needs. Doh!!!!!!!!!!!!