Why is the ethnosphere important?

In contrast with the ecosphere, which describes the sum total of the interactions and complexities of the external world around us, the ethnosphere refers to the sum total of the more symbolic world of human culture and meaning. While these two entities can be delineated from each other for descriptive purposes, they are in actuality, interconnected. For example, plants and animals form an obvious part of the ecosphere but plants and animals can also find meaning in the ethnosphere as part of human agricultural practices or as objects in human ritual or ceremony. It is the interdependence of these two spheres that is important. Whereas we once sought to model the ecosphere for human purposes, the constructivist notion of an ethnosphere might permit us to maintain more economically the harmony between nature and human beings.