Nature's Development

With technology’s rise, many advances and improvements have been progressing, economically boosting entities. Humans’ greed and desire to achieve and attain more has made them ignore the environment’s needs and forget the important role nature plays in their daily lives.  Through time, worldwide population have lost their connectedness with nature, causing great damage to it.

One of the primary factors that have developed such atrocities is industrialization. Not only does it affect, contaminate, and exploit natural sources, but also has contributed in people’s ignorance towards enhancing the environment. Presently, human kind is forgetting to give back a little to what has provided each individual with a lot. Instead, more buildings and properties have been built and contamination and pollution worsen.

The documentary, ‘The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill’, presents a man named Mark, which decided to dedicate his adulthood preserving nature, parrots specifically. He spent his days feeding, nesting, and curing these creatures for no apparent personal interest. People around him knew the devotion and effort he as a citizen gave these animals, and for that reason, many helped him economically by providing food and shelter. Thanks to this man, the community started caring for the parrots, demanding help from the government; this movement took place not only in San Francisco, but also in some states around the country. Concluding the documentary, Mark decides to continue his life, moving to another state, inspiring many individuals to contribute to nature the way he had done so.

Living in Puerto Rico has taught me that no matter the location, industrialization affects every country in the world. Many unenlightened people think that a tropical island is extremely nature-oriented and technologically delayed. In fact, probably the damage provoked around the world is the same one as the ones developed in this island.

Even though carelessness towards Puerto Rico’s ecosystem is viewed mostly in the urban area, this fault is observed in the rural area as well. Since massive constructions and developments take place in the city, many trees have been cut down, reducing the environment’s conservation progress.  In order to alleviate this situation, I would create vegetable gardens in people’s roofs, balconies, and patios, establishing a little bit of nature in everyone’s homes. On the other hand, Puerto Rico’s land is sufficiently fertile to produce our own goods, reason why I would promote and help establish crops in the countryside.

By achieving such activities, preserving the environment would become an easy task. For an even bigger effect, people around the world should attain the solutions aforementioned. A cause this big needs the support of mankind, reason why it should become a debate of primary interest to everyone. If people could set aside industrial economic interests, a fundamental effect will finally be accomplished.

Judy Irving. Video Art, Inc. ‘The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill’. San Francisco. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoZswU5H9LU.

'The Living Sea'

Around the world, humans believe they are superior compared to the rest of creatures; this is a fallacy. In order for them to live comfortably, individuals depend on their environment one way or another. Setting aside other factors of nature, the ocean is one of the most important life sources for humans. This being said, it becomes evident the care and respect one must have and feel towards it.

According to 'The Living Sea', conserving the ocean is an activity every human being should develop. The documentary presents the uncertainty of how the ocean manages to sustain itself, even though human's interaction is preferable. By portraying such diverse creatures, different in size and power, as the jellyfish and the whale, one is obligated to wonder how it all manages to work in a peaceful manner. This is why so many investigations have taken place, including the one presented in the documentary, which has been developing for the last five years.

Living in Puerto Rico helps each citizen understand the ocean's importance and its relevance to our daily lives. Not only does it offer a wide variety of food supplements, but also provides us with the ability of being part of aquatic activities, some of these being snorkeling, fishing, surfing, and scuba diving, which are primordial, specially in an island like this one. Being part of these activities helps one understand the ocean, to a point of loving and caring for it.

As part of human kind, I acknowledge the commitment the ocean requires from us. It is our duty to help this ecosystem develop the way it is expected to do so. Since many people are ignorant and do not understand the role each one is intended to provide, helping the ocean has become a difficult task. In order to make this happen, I would raise my children the way the man in the documentary did; by exposing them in early years to the ocean's beauty, its importance, and the significance of marine life's cycles, I would be able to help them develop conscience, making them attain personal yet correct perspectives towards the ocean.

It is extremely important for everyone in this generation to understand the ocean's needs in order to preserve it, letting as many people perceive all the possible consequences bad deeds may raise. Even though many of these are not yet seen, in a near future human kind will be able to acknowledge catastrophic encounters regarding creatures and habitats all around the world's oceans.

Greg MacGillivray and Alec Lorimore. MacGillivray, G. Ocean Film Network. Virginia. Retrieved from http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjoe11_the-living-sea_shortfilms.

Experience with Nature

In spring break 2006, I had the chance to experience, with my mother and a friend, a catastrophic encounter with nature. Our eyes could not believe what they were witnessing! All sorts of iguanas’ body parts were spread throughout the road. The only things we could think about in that precise moment were how to prevent an accident from happening and how to evade running over them.

Earlier that same year, a new road had opened in Puerto Rico. This new highway was built to simplify thousands of people’s daily lives. It unified the urban town of Carolina with rural Cannovanas and Rio Grande. By saving time in traffic lights, citizens were able to travel in a new direct and easy way. Even though there might have been many positive things to say about the road itself, location was not one of them. It was built in a natural habitat, where thousands of iguanas lived.

By the time the highway was complete, many habitats were destroyed, leaving iguanas without a place to nest. In their search for a better environment, they started passing across the highway once it was in use. Not only did the iguanas lose their homes, but also started to lose their lives. The new road was a deadly threat to these innocent animals.

The creation of the highway brought numerous controversies in society. Many people believed it was a great industrial advance, but others knew it affected the environment of these creatures. Since it was said that iguanas were overpopulated, people saw this new creation as a perfect way of controlling their spread in Puerto Rico. It is sad to learn how humans’ greediness lead them to ignore the environment around them and its necessities.

That day I had the chance of understanding many things. Even though I did not support the location of the highway and knew it was an immoral act towards the environment, I had decided to ignore the cause, making me as guilty as those who built it in the first place without considering nature. Fighting back for what one believes in is an essential part of life. I acknowledge the fact that what I did, or did not do in this case, contributed to the horrible deaths of these creatures.

My advice to all contractors in Puerto Rico and around the world is to consider factors like a location, its importance, and contribution to nature, before setting forth such projects. By doing so, each person would own up to their primary rolls as human beings, putting aside their needs as professionals, helping the environment and nature develop the way they are supposed to.

Smithsonian: National Zoological Park, Reptiles & Amphibians. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/ReptilesAmphibians/Facts/FactSheets/Greeniguana.cfm.  Retrived February 21, 2013.

Human-Animal Relationships

     Asking oneself what kind of relationship each should have with animals is a very broad and relative question. Due to the wide variety of animals and their given lifestyle and behaviors, the question becomes even more complicated and detailed than it would usually be. What someone might think about domestic animals does not necessarily has to be the same as those of wild-life.  Personal experiences might influence the way one perceives them, regarding positions and beliefs.

     Feeling superior or inferior to animals is an important fact to discuss when studying given perceptions. This specific category is very common, especially when considering possible threats to human-kind. The given situation is based mostly on the size or behavior of a particular animal. An example for superiority towards animals involving their behavior could be a cow or a chicken, in which both may be easily dominated by humans, regardless of their sizes. An example for inferiority might be a bear, big in size, or a poisonous scorpion, little in size, both being threatening for humans. Such situations may be viewed as ironic to many.

     Another category that affects a healthy relationship with animals might be the interest each individual has towards them.  Exploitation, cooperation, and tyranny are three common treatments in these relationships. As an example of exploitation and tyrannous behavior towards animals, a person that owns an egg distribution company might be exposing hens to barbaric conditions in order of being able of achieving their goals as entrepreneurs. In contrast, having a relationship based on human cooperation is completely different to the one previously stated. As an example of it, one might consider the humane role of a veterinarian per se.

     After studying these facts, my opinion towards the relationships of such creatures are extremely relative. Perceptions of beliefs and behaviors depend on each individual’s interests and claims. Most of the times, animal’s own instinctive actions and necessities affect humans’ interactions and relationships with them.

 

Panamam, Roger. (2008). HowToDo Animal Rights. Retrived from http://www.animalethics.org.uk/human-superiority.html.