Man & Environment
Man & Environment shows how people in the (sub)tropics live in various ecosystems: tropical rainforests, the savannah, the sea and the city.
What does the consumption of bananas, coffee, rubber or chocolate have to do with tropical rain forests? Just how does that pair of jeans affect water erosion and desert formation in the savannah? Is there a connection between cheap labour and the spectacular growth of metropolises? Is intensive shrimp-farming harmful to the environment? Man & Environment traces the links between human desires and the natural world.
Man & Environment is a permanent exhibition dedicated to four different ecosystems: the tropical rain forest, the savannah, the bustling metropolis (man-made ecosystem) and the sea and coastlines. Man & Environment explores the diverse interests within the ecosystems. It looks at the people who live in them and those who claim their products and natural resources.
The exhibition highlights the characteristics and significance of each ecosystem and the threats it is exposed to. Slide shows and videos introduce the visitor to the people who build their lives around the ecosystems: the woodcutter, the cattle-breeder, the cotton farmer, the jeepney driver, the coral researcher, the fisherman... And the visitor also encounters himself through a meeting with a timber importer, a cardboard producer and a fish exporter. After all, the fate of wildlife and vegetation in the tropics rests with the people who take the products from the ecosystems.
Each ecosystem ends with a glimpse into the future. What is being or can be done to prevent the demise of an ecosystem? An interactive computer program invites the visitor to weigh up the prospects of those concerned and to form his own vision of the future.
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