Readers dig deep into their reading experiences as well as what they have seen or heard about human impact on natural ecosystems.
A news feature we read together at the Young Readers' Club, set us thinking. A Cheetos packet left behind by a tourist at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, a system of caves in New Mexico, caused havoc to the very sensitive ecosystem inside the cave. The caves are humid and moist thus making it very easy for microbial life to grow. The Cheetos packet led to the growth of microbial life that were not native to the cave thus disturbing the balance. Rangers had to spend time inside the cave carefully removing the foreign molds.
If this cave's ecosystem is so sensitive, what about the ecosystems in large forest areas? How does human activity affect the ecosystems there?
The first aspect that came to all the readers at once was deforestation. The young readers spoke about how humans have destroyed the animal's habitats by cutting down trees. "Hence we are seeing many incidents of wild animals encroaching upon human habitations," one of the young readers said, looking quite agitated. Recommendations to have round the clock security to prevent cutting down of trees set in motion a debate about how feasible it is to employ a large number of security guards to cover an entire forest. The idea of CCTV cameras came up as a more practical solution. "I have seen on National Geographic channel how they capture videos of animals moving in the dark. We could make use of those cameras. "
What about tourism? Do we need tourists visiting forest areas? People tend to litter. Wouldn't that upset the ecosystem?
Tourism is way to raise funds to control poaching and hence cannot be avoided was the first point of view that came up in the discussion. It was suggested to cordon off parts of the forest and allow tourists only in some parts. "This way the animals have a space of their own," suggested one of the readers. Later the discussion moved on to restricting the number of tourists who can visit a forest. An opposing perspective suggested that this may not be practical and also not profitable to raise funds. Travel experiences to forest reserves surfaced. A reader shared her experience of staying in a home stay cottage near a forest reserve and how they travelled in the forest in small groups. She elaborated how there were restrictions on number of people being allowed to enter the forest. It was agreed upon that smaller numbers would require smaller number of security guards and hence easier to manage. It was added that food must not be allowed and water must not be carried in throwaway bottles.
Talking about why people cut down trees.
We spoke about locals surviving on firewood from the forest. They also depend upon the forest for food. Some could even be cutting trees to sell wood in order to make money to meet their daily sustenance. The children unanimously agreed that efforts to spread awareness must be taken. The idea of door to door campaigns and explaining in the local language to enable people to understand easily, was suggested. Reference to the Chipko movement was also made. The reader who brought it up was clearly moved by the movement and went on to say, "I would hug a tree as long as it takes, if that can prevent people from cutting it down." Surprisingly, other readers weren't familiar with the movement. Could stories make it easier for people to understand the impact of their actions? "People must be made to understand the implications of their actions on the whole world!" chimed in a clearly agitated reader.
"I would hug a tree as long as it takes, if that can prevent people from cutting it down."
Talking about another important reason for deforestation- make space for building more homes and workspaces.
One of the young readers raised a pertinent issue that is prevalent in cities. Cutting down of trees to pave the way for more townships to be built is reducing the tree cover in cities. "What if we could find another place where trees don't need to be cut to build homes? What if we could build in the stratosphere? When we can experiment with growing vegetables in space, may be this would become possible in the future?" suggested an imaginative reader.
"That's simply not scientifically possible for a number of reasons," argued another reader. He elaborated on the various reasons why this is an idea that simply won't work."
It almost felt like a scientific committee comprised of eminent scientists voicing out different theories and solutions to an impending problem. Imaginative ideas have been known to be shot down and declared crazy. Yet, some of those crazy ideas ended up being path breaking inventions! Examples include the light bulb, the telephone, the television and so on. Who would have thought centuries ago that if you tap a switch you could have light!
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
―Albert Einstein
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