Nature Conservation

I was asked: “Why did you choose Nature Conservation as your life’s mission?“ The answer: Why not? To me it is just common sense - Earth needs help.

Nature has value, not a price. It sustains us, so it is our responsibility to mantain it. And even though everyone on Earth can do it, only some actually act on it or think about the subject. Many are focused on surviving while others were never offered a chance or were educated to look at nature in a different perspective. So, only a passionate few have the experience and talent to properly communicate its importance. We need to understand that. In the name of our desires, we do a lot of harm, tainting the soil and water we live in and depend upon.. But we can do better, even if it is bit by bit. And as I see it, there are two main ways in which we can achive true nature conservation.

• We intervene. A significant part of the pressures on the environment come from our species, directly or indirectly. After the damage is done (assuming that we are not too late), we have to step forward. One of the classical ways this is done in nature conservation, is with specific projects. But a project will not do much, if it does not go “all in” on it. Half-measures will not suffice. The approach should be to protect entire ecosystems, not just one or two target species. These projects involve lots of people with different backgrounds and require time and commitment. The true changes in nature that arise from programms, probably will not be seen in the first couple of years. The same can be said about the mentality of the local communities, that can be suspicious of the interventions and ideas presented at first. And biologists cannot do everything by themselves. Journalists, engineers, teachers, farmers, tourism agencies, authorities and more importantly, politicians, must play their part, while always considering the sustainability of their course of action.
• We let it be in peace. All by itself, nature is capable of astounding regeneration. Look at Chernobyl for example. Or remember the months after the pandemic hit, when wildlife felt safer with our confinement. If we just take a step back, stop the pressure, nature may very well return with all its might. To be able to keep that peace for a pristine future, first protected areas must be created, both terrestrial and aquatic. In a way, total isolation from mankind (saving the sporadic visits of researchers). The outskirts of these protected sites can be quite profitable with ecotourism activities, serving also as a pathway for environmental education.

I want to preserve our planet and my values alike, although the latter might change a bit with the passing of time. After I finished college, degree in hand, I was not aware of the intricacies of nature conservation. And my ideas have come farther that I could anticipate. I now know that radical measures serve no purpose. We have to listen to people and try to meet their basic needs. Nobody can protect the environment without giving back something to the local populations and businesses. Customs and history have to be considered as well, as they merge with the landscapes. In the end, people are nature too.

Because I love life, its simplicity and complexity; for the importance of all living creatures, and the elements that carry us, I have chosen.... Nature Conservation!

Mauro Hilário ©

Eat Your Veggies First

Who knows the expression “you can only eat dessert if you eat all your veggies first!”? What this used to represent was that in order to get to the part we enjoy the most, we have to make sacrifices by underdoing tasks that we don’t like or have no passion for. It can be roughly translated to: do the work before you have fun.

But times change... Nowadays most of us want/require a taste of the dessert before we fully commit to eating the veggies. We need proof that the dessert exists and will be available to us eventually. In addition, who likes to be told what to do?

This seems or it really is evidence of pampered spoiled brats, however it is also understandable. We have been loosing faith in institutions, and globally, we are more educated. These institutions have failed us and are have been corrupted by time and people. We are running from obligations and resposabilities at the same time we are trying to avoid being deceived by external and unknown variables. We do not want to lose valuable time, like many other did before. It is all about an abstract concept called happiness.

Are we trying to take advantage of the system or is the system changing gradually? Are we becoming extremists regarding happiness? Are we at the level of “happiness or nothing at all?”. I want to accept the veggies before dessert, but I am too attracted to the possibility of dessert before veggies. Such a conundrum!

I hope that we can find a middle ground between the veggies and the dessert. We need to make this debate public and while doing so,  kale cake perhaps.

Mauro Hilário ©

Mishaps

It was a winter night, a bit after 10 PM. The streets were empty and cold as I strolled the dog for its last pee of the day. After picking up a scent that only canines can recognize its splendor, it pulled me towards an alley that we were familiar with.

And there, in the dark, I saw the silhouette of a crouching man. I had that feeling that I was looking at something that I was not supposed to see. A few more steps forward, after examining the pavement for possible threats that the dog might ingest and other threats originated by the actual dog, I timidly looked to the man again. On the floor, I saw it... A fresh, medium-sized pile of human feces. I was speechless for a few seconds. I noticed that the man was nervous and trying to remain on the shadow of the wall behind him, meters away from the next street lamp. I broke the silence by saying:

 - Is there no decency? For God’s sake!

He replies with deep sorrow within his voice:

- I am truly, truly sorry. I did not mean for this to happen.

Filled with disgust, I tried to conjure the words to reply, but he spoke before I could muster a full sentence in my mind:

- It is night time in the suburbs. All around it is just a concrete jungle. Really, I had no better, viable options. The others would be shitting my pants or doing this beside the main road... In all honesty, I had to go, real bad. And I’m still 10min of walking distance from my house.

Damn it. He was right. I had to give it to him. What was he going to do? Knock on the doors of the neighborhood, asking for brief access to the bathroom? Even if someone would be gullible enough to open the door, nobody would believe him. I did not even ask him if he was going to pick up his recent masterpiece from the floor. I had the possibility of giving him a dog poop bag and I actually thought about it. But it would be too demeaning for him, already in such an unpleasent situation. So, Before walking back home with the relieved dog, I simply said with a tone of sympathy:

- I understand. If I was in your shoes... Well, good night.

Perhaps, the moral of this story is that sometimes, under certain circumstances, there is no clean or correct way of doing things. That, to the best of us, shit happens.