Man is Nature
Arch. Freddy Bautista
Imagine yourself as part of the lowest level of the food chain. Take the earthworms for example. What is the purpose of their existence? How does nature benefit from them? Are they good for us? How do we benefit from them?
Miniscule or insignificant as they may seem, they play an important role in keeping the earth healthy for our plants, our crops to thrive so that famers can have a bountiful harvest that we are to share. They breakdown organic and decaying matters that fertilizes the earth. These earthworms also provide the soil with the proper amount of air and water through the tiny channels they create. They keep the biosphere with sufficient nutrition that we benefit from.
So we ask the same questions. What is the purpose of our existence? How does nature benefit from us. Do others benefit from us? Or do we only look at what benefits us.
As superior beings we are but duty bound to be the stewards of the resources that were once bountiful and rich. For centuries man has been taking advantage of these resources and aimlessly gobbling up at what seems to be an endless supply of Mother Nature’s resources.
We are now taking the toll. An existence in crisis, not of nature but humanity. With the unabated use of natural resources and its wasteful management, the effects on the climate has been unprecedented. Carbon emissions resulting from our own energy requirements continues at high levels. Man has brought upon the crisis to himself. Nature will adopt and evolve as it did for millions of years. Lest we consider ourselves as one of the beings in harmony with her, we shall cease to exist in the way that we have contributed in making other species extinct. The Climate Crisis is beyond reality. It is a culmination of hard lessons. These are lessons that were brought upon us to look into the positive side of the cycle that we broke. A cycle that may yet be restored if we choose to.
So what are we expected to do? What are YOU to do?
Initially, we have to realize that we are one of nature’s inherent part in its ecological system. We are intrinsic to the ways of nature and should act as one in harmony. Blessed with gifts of intellect and knowledge we acknowledge that for a system to function all components should be in sync with the rest of its parts. Systems thinking applied here. This is as basic and as logical as it gets. Sans the moral obligations and applications that go with it.
With this realization we move forward with addressing the crisis and applying the roles that we have known to work and continue to learn new ways to adopt with man’s current way of thinking. The traditional ways are lessons of the past and can support and strengthen the present. Nature further supports us as we trek the path of survival. We should go with her as we should be one with her because…
We are MAN and we are NATURE.
