Either way, however, the message is clear. God called humanity to be custodians of the earth. Curses were pronounced on the three actors, Adam, Eve, and the serpent, in Genesis 3 . Adam's curse was that he would only eat the fruits of creation through toil. It describes an antagonist relationship between mankind and earth as a natural consequence of humanity's sin, a recurrent theme throughout the Bible.
Creation is an innocent victim of humanity's sin.
It talks a lot about Jewish ritualistic law, describing sacrifices and offerings, holy days, kosher practices, and so on. Thus, many people view it as arcane, but it has some very interesting things to say about land use. Land is implicitly and explicitly personified. Laws providing for justice and championing the oppressed also applied to land. The chapter talks about the rewards of following God's decrees.