ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the reverse order of what is needed for immediate survival (air), short-term survival and finally for long-term survival. When people consider the most basic necessities, air, water and food, they discover that, for the most part, all these are under the control of the law, either domestic or international, but all three are, for the most part, also under the de facto control of the power of multinational corporations (MNCs). Resource extraction through mining and fossil fuel development fragments some of the more remote regions, such as Canada's boreal forest. The article reports on the effects of forest fragmentation on ecosystems: the fragmentation includes demonstrating that "nearly 20" of the world's remaining forest is within 100m. Of an edge, in close proximity to agricultural, urban or other modified environments". It is also the gravest symptom of the conflicted situation within which biological integrity and ecological integrity must assert itself as the basis of life.
