Anniversary address: Why have ecologists?

[First paragraph(s)...]
In the 25 years since the Society was founded, the general public and therefore governments, have become far more conscious of the environment in which they live, tile effects which their own activities are having upon it, and of the need ,to do something to maintain its quality. Twenty-five years ago both "environment" and "ecology" were words which were hardly ever seen in the popular press and only vaguely understood, if at all, by the man in the street. One had to preface any popular statement about ecology with an explanation of what the word meant.
This is certainly no longer the case and indeed the magic words "environmental impact statement" have become a sort of modem "open sesame" which must be uttered before we can hope to get anywhere with a whole variety of activities.