April 2022
As I write in March, Ukraine is being invaded by the Russian army and we are all wondering where it will lead. Many people have already been killed, which will mean that many other living things (animals, plants etc) will also have been destroyed. I am sure we all share a sense of outrage at this event and hope that it will all be resolved peacefully as soon as possible. This invasion is a disaster for humans, and also an anthropogenic catastrophe for the affected environment and all that it contains. Again, we humans are destroying the life support system upon which all life depends.
However, depressing as these thoughts are, there is one activity that I find therapeutic in these circumstances, and that is experiencing the natural world. For example, I find watching the birds in my garden absorbing; the sunshine and fresh air heralding the developing spring is uplifting.
I had a request today to lead a guided nature walk to raise money for refugees. I think linking the natural world to a human tragedy can be a positive thing. It is an extension of recent calls to reverse climate change by managing our daily lives accordingly. Humans are part of the global life community, and as such we have a responsibility as a species to keep life sustainable for all organisms. The answer is careful management. The majority of the non-Russian world is striving to manage the situation in Ukraine against a background of managing COVID-19 and global warming. This is good and right and we can all do our bit.
Nature shows us how to be sustainable and manage waste, generate oxygen, reduce carbon dioxide, nurture regeneration and fit in with the environment. Dung beetles remove animal faeces, green leaves remove carbon dioxide and generate oxygen, flowers bloom to attract bees which pollinate them to make new seeds, fruit and honey. Soft refreshing rain keeps all life watered so that the plants and animals can feed us. Let us try to be positive and help each other to refrain from making the mistakes of the past which destroyed life. Let us work together to heal the wounds sustained in the natural and human world, such that life can regenerate like an ancient English woodland in the springtime!