The Devastation of the Natural World
Right now, we have so much hope placed into society based upon the welfare and security of our planets biodiversity and ecosystems; but where is all that support going?
The support we give day in day out to reduce our carbon footprint, reduction of household energy usage via smart meters and plastic necessity. All that support we give to our governments to help them in the race to bring back all the damage that humans have caused to this planet and yet we still see those of us who do not care about the world they were born and raised in.
I would just like to tell you all something; to merely ask you all as the audience a personal question. When was the last time you thought about the Orang-utans in Malaysia and Indonesia? When was the last time you saw a piece of washed up plastic on the sea shore or on the side of the path you walk down and you thought to yourself, "Plastic… the one thing that destroys lives without intension." It's all these little things that make larger overall consequences.
The way we live our lives is showing how cruel and greedy we are towards the environment, animals and specifically each-other; and if I were to say it, I don’t even think this new generation are even aware of the consequences they are causing. It is absolutely devastating and cruel to watch as species we’ve grown up with, Orang-utans, Polar Bears, Gorillas and Snow Leopards fall to such an extent that within the next few years we could see the end of the entirety of their species all because humans are too greedy for their own good, focused on the financial gain that completely corrupts their minds and enslaves the rest of the world to its bidding.
We all know that the way the world works is with the will of the people and the desire to see new development to see things that are bigger and better than we once had, if not any other example than look at the time it took for Televisions and computers to become domesticated and widely available whereas only a few years before they were mainly exclusive for the rich and wealthy business men and women.
Each day we spend ignoring the fact that our planet, the very planet that is keeping us alive, that is maintaining the futures of our children, and our children’s children is going to run out faster than any of us could ever imagine. We’ve destroyed rainforests, polluted rivers and open waters and destroyed the biodiversity of the planet to such an extent that we will never again see some species that even I, in a mere 16 years of living have come to see the loss of almost a dozen species that I grew up with an loved from such a young age.
I know that i am not going to be the only one that is as devastated by the current way the world is turning, and I certainly know I won’t be the last; but what I can say is that nobody else is going to have the courage to say it the way I am saying it. Because I don’t want to see the end of all life in the lifetime of my children. I don’t want to grow up in a world with the extinction event looming above us when everything we could have done to save it was thrown away because of the care people once had for the environment wasn’t enough to save it. I’m not saying that we should all be out, making sure that everything everywhere is protected. By all means i want mankind to survive with the knowledge that the world will keep providing and that we won’t need to worry about it running out in the very close future. But I also know the extent of which most of what i have said already will not leave a lasting consequence as i might have wished.
The consequence of which i am talking about is the breakdown of care the people of this generation are managing to achieve. The constant bombardment of littering, plastic use, tipping, animal slaughtering for medicines that are proven to have no more effect than store bought paracetamol or co-codamol. I’m sure many of you are aware of the last two remaining white Rhinos, both of which are female, and both add to the list of animals I will see go extinct in my lifetime. Yet I also know that they won’t be the last that I see die out.
I have lived my life trying and failing to bring about a change in people, to make them aware of the world around us and to make them see that we could be the change to improve things. But we have to accept that the consequences that we have caused both to the environment and to the biodiversity of the planet will never leave, but will bare as markers as to the changing point we can make if we just started to care for what gave us home.
We don’t own the world. We are not entitled to everything that grows here. We are just animals, and we have taken it too far. We have managed, within 60 Years to deteriorate the world around us to an extent where it is now irreversible. Cutting down trees for profit, killing animals for sport or trophies to show off. Palm, Soya and Coffee plantations littering the very lungs of the world which are squeezing the very existence of both humans and animals to the brink of extinction all because of two simple reasons. Greed (Money/Profit) and the Lack of Care in which people have. Both reasons stand as hatred to my eyes and make me sick to think of a world which gave us everything and is spat back in the face of.
We have been given so many chances to turn ourselves around and let nature return, to fight back and grow once more. But what did we do? We ignored them. All of them. Why? Because there aren’t enough people who care anymore. There aren’t enough people who would like to see the world prosper rather than what they are going to do at the weekend with their friends. I want to see a world I am proud to live in, where i can say that i did my part in fighting for what i believe in. I can’t say i believe in the new generation to do their part and to make things right where everyone else before them failed to do so when the time was right. They were nurtured and brought up to think about money and development, with only the odd few of us who were taught that caring for the world is the only step forward, but not enough steps are being made. I feel like everyone, whether they care or not should be taught about the affects they are causing to the environment. We should be taught how to nurture nature. Not to benefit from Natures Nurture. We should not take for granted the life in which we have been given. We should not take for granted the life we are going to lead, no matter the consequence. We are leading to the eventual collapse of all life on the planet. And it’s happening quicker than ever expected.
Ice Caps and snowy landscapes that once kept the planet at a consistent temperature for decades are quickly depleting and receding and there is nothing you or i can do about it. But we can make changes today that will leave tomorrow with a brighter day. Simple tasks that don’t require a lot other than care and time. We don’t need to spend billions on new and exciting technologies neither do we need to cut down any more rainforest than what we have already. The planet has given us the ample space we need so long as we treat it with the respect it gave us. But we aren’t doing enough yet to warrant that.
I would say this out loud for everyone in a way that made them listen, whether on national television or radio or even arguing it at a conference. i would do that and much more to protect and care for the world i love. To see a future that i am proud to say i had a part in trying to save it.
I just want you to take in everything i have said here today and reflect it. I want you all to see how important it is to make everyone realise what is happening around us right now isn’t just a fairy-tale that will never come true. Its real. and It’s happening. The world as we know it will be changed forever, not just because of COVID-19, but because of what is going to happen in the future. Because our actions today will have the biggest consequences on the outcome of our next few lifetimes.
What we choose to do next is up to us. Let’s just decide to make it count.
