Oases on the edge + an invitation
On difficulty and creativity
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Four things are on my mind these days:
Wetlands (and other green spaces) in cities/urban areas are oases in a desert of concrete
Mangroves, which are wetland plants, are at the edge of the sea and connect it to land
Wetlands in urban areas like Lagos, Nigeria, are on the edge of existence
Human beings can get creative about solving problems if we want to
Let’s start with the last one.
When I was in secondary school, I learned about many things that I didn't think too much about. One of those things was the ozone layer.
In the 1970s, scientists discovered that some chemicals were destroying the protective layer in our atmosphere, and they told everyone. People’s imaginations got active and they imagined that earth without an ozone layer would be a place of “blind and burnt” people. In the 1980s, governments got to work signing agreements and banning those chemicals, and scientists went about trying to produce safer chemicals. These days, I hear that the ozone layer is showing signs of recovery.
The Ozone Layer
Another thing I heard in secondary school was that local freshwater supplies are rapidly dwindling around the world. These days, I hear that many cities and countries around the world have been working, and are working to protect and restore their green spaces (especially wetlands) which contribute to these freshwater supplies (amongst other functions).
However, I see wetlands in Lagos continue to be degraded and destroyed. If they are not reclaimed, they are used as a dumpsite. Is it too much to imagine that without action, wetland existence in Lagos will tip over the edge and be gone someday, along with its benefits?
A wetland in Lagos
This month, I completed my urban wetlands research/conservation project with school and community outreaches. In those programs, we talked a lot about wetlands, mangroves, and how interconnected our environment is.
I told some children how mangroves, which are at the edge of the sea, are a nursery for many animals that live in the sea which we enjoy as seafood and purify water on its way to the sea. I told them that the trash, especially plastic, that they drop on the ground will eventually make it into the sea because we live on the edge of the sea. And many animals in and around the sea continue to be killed by plastic and debris of all sizes.
From the edge, we harvest good things from the sea and drop bad things in it. It’s the way of life in Lagos to drop trash on the ground, or out of a moving car. But culture can change, can’t it?
Another wetland in Lagos
In discussions about conservation, we usually talk about rural and remote places: protected areas, forests, etc., and those are important. But the need to conserve and maintain good environmental health is not limited to faraway places.
If you find green space in a city, you can tell that the shade and clean air provided by the trees and other plants are a sharp contrast to the barren concrete surfaces (road and buildings), the heavy afternoon sun beating down on them, and all the car fumes. We can all observe that waterfront houses are usually as nice and airy as they are expensive, and poor waterfront communities in Nigeria live in perpetual fear of eviction. Everyone wants to park or sit in the shade of a tree when the sun is blazing. So, it is not farfetched to describe urban areas as concrete deserts, and green spaces as oases.
Mangrove plants in Lagos
How do we manage our desire for development and the need to keep our large amounts of green spaces like mangrove-containing wetlands? How do we pursue the convenience of our current plastic packaging and easy waste disposal while figuring out what to do with the mountain of plastic that we continue to accumulate? Difficult questions like this, when tackled head-on, have always been a catalyst for creativity. And creativity helps change the culture.
Who needs to get creative? Not just governments, businesses, and industries, but you and me.
Our healing ozone layer is proof of this creativity. The cities that are investing in green spaces (like Madrid), and those that have incorporated mangroves into water treatment systems, ecotourism, and urban planning are proof. The businesses that are rethinking packaging to reduce plastic waste are proof. The entrepreneurs (like this woman) that are making useful stuff out of plastic are proof. The random man who chooses to be intentional about his waste disposal is proof.
What we need is to recognize how serious the problem is.
And speaking of creativity, let me invite you, your friends and your family to an exhibition to celebrate a kind of blue-green space –wetlands, in Lagos. You can get a free ticket to the event here.
Stories from around the web
How mangroves help the ocean and us (video)
How deep the ocean is (video)
How oil industries are trying (or not) to solve the plastic problem (Audio)
How one woman is solving the plastic problem (video)
In other news/Opportunities
You can volunteer to help with this exhibition here.
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Thank you for reading. Until next time, stay curious and excited about nature.
PS. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.
The pictures brought the topic eerily closer for me. It’s real and it’s close. Thank you girl!