Nature, Great Mother: “nothing compares to you.”
In her haunting song of grief and loneliness, the late Sinéad O’Connor summoned with precision and beauty the feelings of wrenching loss. Our hearts are likewise tormented by the ruin of life on Earth: mass extinction of our fellow beings, and destruction of their marvellous home ecosystems. For we now risk a devastating age of loneliness, a fate that we must prevent at all costs. On this day we celebrate our efforts to do so.
A day for the global grass-roots
Of mysterious origin but well-marked in India, World Nature Conservation Day has not yet been adopted into the UN calendar. Rather it is owned by the global grass-roots: those who cherish and wish to protect nature, without reference to officialdom. Their concern and leadership daily become more important, as the fruits of official neglect and unsupervised private opportunism fall into our laps as deadly heat-waves, wildfires, storms, and floods.
Business as usual, when the world is dying, is no help
Business as usual is ravaging our lives and futures. Millions are giving up hope in the face of what the UN Secretary-General now calls the era of global boiling. But we aren’t yet sure how this will turn out, and can still hope and strive for better outcomes than those we fear. Despair is relieved by knowing that we are on nature’s side, and that nature can help restore our world if she is allowed to. Knowing this, we can act with determination and confidence on her behalf.
Individuals and small groups have surprising power
Some things we can do by ourselves: pledging our loyalty to nature, restoring local ecosystems, talking with others, spreading the word, and keeping the faith. Other things we can only do together, with many hands making light work, and many minds amplifying each other’s influence. Every little helps, often in unexpected ways.
Big irresistible movements can change whole systems
But then there are the big system changes, the constitutional and institutional transformations, which every nature conservationist should be ready to promote. These are what will protect us all against those who would continue to torture and kill nature. We know what these changes need to be, including peace with nature constitutions, anti-ecocide laws, and judges and lawmakers trained in ecology. And we are starting to sense that they are within reach.
We’re all indigenous, and should start thinking like it
Big changes to save us and nature can only come from people feeling awe for nature and respect for the laws of ecology. This is part of what thinking like indigenous people means. But such changes are opposed by the lies of those protecting their own interests against society and nature. Those lies can be neutralised through knowledge, thought, and discussion about what is really going on, and how to undo it. Every lie destroyed in this way is a victory.
Everyone and everywhere is important
So conserving nature is not just something that happens far away, in tropical rainforests and coral reefs. These ecosystems are vital globally, but everywhere is equally important as a habitat for ourselves and other creatures. The system in which we live is where our own health, safety and joy come from. By saving local nature we become part of the great solution to the great danger of our time. It is this that we acknowledge and celebrate on this day each year.
© Julian Caldecott