·
The concept that wilderness is
not directed or controlled by man does not fit the scheme of things as
envisioned by this cabinet. These fools cannot understand why cranes are seen
now and then in certain habitats, and not always, or why they do not hurry
thither when needed. Cranes are not subject to censuses, as humans. They cannot
be ordered to stay put because census officials are going to drop in. Their
absence does not mean they are non-existent, or have abandoned the area just
because they are not present when required! A census of cranes has to occur
during crane time, or it is bound to fail.
·
These people cannot comprehend
why a small population of cranes matters, or why a place of their intermittent occurrence
is as important as that of so called iconic species. That an entire world can
exist amidst an ecologically interrelated environment is beyond their ken,
whose myopia restricts their vision to a world created by man and fuelled by
the dread of the bottom-line; by the balance that weighs success or failure
annually rather than in cycles of years that suit the longer, ecological view
of our lonely planet. Tragically, such visionary, long views are in short
supply.
·
My colleagues have intellects
that are hard wired to the short-term view. That is the limit of their horizon.
The longer view, one that considers earth time—that believes in the cycle of
seasons that modify landscapes—in its constant tick towards ecological
stability, is, well, Greek and Latin to them. Now, if even the babus, those with
the sharpest intellects, bend towards the dangerous concept of measuring the
worth of wilderness areas, and what that wilderness should ‘serve’, there is
something seriously wrong with our education system for one, and with us, as
humans, for another, for lucre is the maya that blindsides us from rationality.
·
These people need to understand
that the environment cannot be restarted, like some sick industry, with a dose
of capital. It cannot be restricted to a five-year development cycle.
Artificial time limits cannot govern natural time cycles; artificial inputs do
not easily return predictable results from ‘natural’ applications.
·
And, unlike capital, land
cannot be created, for one cannot print topsoil, mint water, or write a cheque
to substitute trophic diversity; but protect these judiciously and the
country’s natural capital will boost her commerce among the nations of the
world.
·
How do I drill it into their
thick skulls that the natural wealth of a country is a gigantic fixed deposit
fund that is self-perpetuating. It has come free to us and therefore needs to
be assiduously protected and thriftily allocated.
·
In the country’s balance sheet,
its environment health is its primary intangible asset. If only governments
monetized it and weighed its annual loss, they would see the one-way drain on
the exchequer. Once this reaches a tipping point, no amount of restorative
packages will salvage the economy.
·
Wilderness works without leave
or license from mankind, and even despite us. Nature cannot be forced to work
to our time schedules. Look to our children; are we able to make them adults
before two decades? If we allow them that time, then surely we can plan an
environmental revival that spans at least that time span as an incontrovertible
investment in their future.
·
By now you must have got the
hint why I never made it…
