‘One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds’ – Aldo Leopold.
The ancient oak that has sat on the pathway up to the long barrow that my farm looks out onto has been cut down. Fly tippers have crushed the carpets of wild garlic and bluebells. HS2 is quietly removing ancient 600 year old woodland – all effectively cloaked by saturated media coverage about the virus and imposed isolation.
A recent detailed article in The Guardian illuminated how there is compelling scientific argument that confirms that COVID19 comes from our abusive relationship with the natural world and its resources. It also points out that HIV Aids and SARS and many more pandemics will come from this same abuse. As one of the scientists says ‘we have to understand the simple equation healthy ecosystems mean healthy human systems’. There are many positives to being emotionally invested in the natural world and landscapes. The big downside is the emptiness I can feel in human landscapes and the alienation I feel from my fellow humans who haven’t connected and don’t value the natural world. Loss and frustration are common emotions that are left unarticulated and festering between me and others…. And this has lead me to begin to fear that this crisis might not be, as Bill gates would have it, “the great corrector”… instead I fear that it will make us more insular and divided. I can hear the rallying cry “F**k the polar bears – I need money’… At times of war our base instincts will come out, as will great acts of heroism and courage. And this is what we can do, - those of us who care, - we can bear witness, we can keep caring and loving and educating ourselves and our children and anyone who will listen. #bemorehuman #naturecure #selfisolation #onlyconnect https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/18/tip-of-the-iceberg-is-our-destruction-of-nature-responsible-for-covid-19-aoe?fbclid=IwAR3F6nlNz49VolXmeYP6oz42gDqD_69K32cFPKuVImEqZMBhJLDRVgnCOtQ
