It was heartbreaking to see how we have limited the existence of nature in order to live comfortable, fast-paced lives. Seeing the animals being forced to live nocturnal lives and navigate our infrastructure and way of living for their survival seems unfair. Humans even make it difficult for their own microbiome to survive by consuming gross amounts of unhealthy foods, living sedentary lifestyles and washing with harsh, antibacterial soaps and products. Even after death, our negative and polluting impacts don't seize.
I envision a world where more land and species are protected by law to avoid human-caused species extinction by means of over-hunting. Not just the animals that are already at risk of extinction/endangerment.
I envision a world where we live (and die) in a more ecologically conscientious way, thinking both about the best way to honor our deceased loves ones but also the planet their descendants will remember them on (compositing human remains in a respectful way, donating cadavers to science etc). I also have visions for a city that is more friendly for animals to thrive in (remembering the wonderful ways that nature returned when covid-19 first hit us hard with the initial lockdown). This could look like wilder lawns/gardens or less light pollution (especially at night).
Like many issues of ecology, laws and enforcement of law are critical for the protection of land and species but education has a major role to play too. If more people knew how our actions directly impact animals, we might change the way we live to be more sustainable for the sake of the animals. If we knew about other respectful and ecologically less harmful ways to die or if other methods were the default, we might die in a more ecologically safe way. We need law makers and leaders in our society to lead the way sometimes, so getting them involved is key for these idea to work.
Hey Amy! I agree! I think humans need to better evaluate our relationship with planning in cities to incorporate nature with human existence, or we need to create better conservation efforts.
Hi Amy, thanks for your post! There's so many ideas in here.
Are you suggesting that we enact regional laws regarding rewilding lawns and mitigating light pollution, or were you suggesting these separate non-legal interventions? I'm just wondering if you have ideas as to how laws that may directly infringe on peoples "private" spaces and personal habits may be received and enforced. Or maybe these laws only apply to public city spaces? Very curious to hear more of your thoughts!
These are some big ideas, Amy! Even outside of cities, these ecological interactions are interfered even by interconnecting highways. I'm sure that we've taken courses and learned about edge effects and human disturbance, how many times have you heard about someone driving on the highway and hitting a deer? Changes have to be made to connect fragmented habitats, in addition to protecting existing areas.
Thanks for sharing these thoughts! Definitely very interesting to think about what cities could look like if they weren't just designed with the needs of humans in mind. If we were able to see more animals and nature on the day to day, we would also likely feel a lot more connected and invested in nature.
It's really surreal how we seem to be so disconnected to the impacts we make on the environment, and the lockdown really gave us a reality check on that. I also hope we can make the world a place for both animals and humans to live and die well. Thanks for your thoughts!
I agree it was really shocking and sad to see the extent to which we have impacted nature. I really hope action can be taken soon to help prevent more loss of nature and species.
Hi Amy!
I connect with what you said about the injustice of animals being forced to navigate urban infrastructure. The video of the turtle struggling to climb a curb in 5 Sleepless Cities evokes a lot of powerful emotions.
I also connected with what you said about the role of education in protecting endangered species. However, I've found educating people about human-species interactions can run into complications. Over the past few months, I have worked on a project to relocate a roost of little brown bats from a UBC building. During the early stages of the project, our group hoped cohabitation would be possible, where bats could coexist with building residents. However, we quickly learned that bat guano frequently appeared on accessibility railings, limiting human mobility. Thus, we realized cohabitation would be unacceptable for residents, even if education materials were provided about the lack of health risks posed by bats.
It truly is heartbreaking. The leaders among us need to step up, and get involved