The Case For The Defence

Here is another piece about climate catastrophe and species extinction. Before you read it just a short introduction about the context. I am presently writing about climate change and species extinction. Like Covid, it is never out of the news and many of us get a bit weary listening to the arguments.

Nevertheless let’s take the bull by the horns. Many commentators think that run-away capitalism is a historical cause of the present crisis. Think of the destructive effects of the Industrial Revolution! Decades ago people like EF Schumacher argued that something more ‘humane’ had to replace mere economic growth and global competition. That he included spiritual and ethical components in his vision is evidenced throughout his seminal book, Small is Beautiful. Here is one short quote:

But what is wisdom? Where can it be found? It can be read about in numerous publications but it can be found only inside oneself. To be able to find it, one has first to liberate oneself from such masters as greed and envy. The stillness following liberation – even if only momentary – produces the insights of wisdom which are obtainable in no other way. [p30/31 in the paperback edition]

There is tentative cause for optimism today. Many of us agree with Schumacher, who wrote his book in 1973. David Almond, the internationally renowned fiction writer for young people talks about ‘re-wilding the self.’ Others debate how we can rewild the natural environment and restore denuded habitats. Hopefully, the younger generation will reject the allure of material riches in favour of a more equitable, ecologically aware society.

It is perhaps too easy to point the finger of blame at The Enlightenment of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but I have taken up the baton for the purposes of my own piece here.

If anyone is interested further, I can recommend a few books which in different ways address these topics. [Recently The Wildlife Trust (in the UK) had an online discussion with five eco-writers which I tuned into.]

The Case For The Defence

Okay, I admit it; I killed you but so what?

In the grand scheme of things

you really didn’t amount to much.

It’s not as if you had claws, roared

or became an emblem of a multi-national

fossil fuel business.

It’s time to clear up a few false impressions;

to set the record straight. My aim is to enlighten.

*

I adored the guys who shored up my Enlightened

edifice with philosophical musings. They lent kudos

when it mattered; they were cool, unlike your Romantics

with their subjective rants. For example, their talk

about a rose still being a rose by another name. Yet

they prefer Mother Earth instead of a medium sized planet

orbiting an average star.

They’re very fond of their Red Lists aren’t they but

remember I helped to split a rainbow into wavelengths.

I weighed and measured my words in a chemical balance.

The conquest of nature was my invention so they shouldn’t

make false claims of ownership. I was proud

of how I assembled the earth’s bountiful produce;

I knew the time was right to export my Light

worldwide. I shrugged off their Lucifer insult.

I resented their finger-pointing from the start;

how they tried to make me feel guilt and shame.

My rigid grids were not prisons as they allege.

My ecological abuse was for their benefit; my compulsive

divisions were a set of oppressive rules devised to help

you grow and develop at your own pace. Your organic gardeners

should welcome warmer winters even if you don’t. They shouldn’t

appropriate my language as in ‘dysfunctional mechanisms,’

‘greenhouse effect’ or ‘run away feedback loops.’

*

So, I hold my hands up. I ask, ‘weren’t you just a snack for a bat?’

Weren’t you somewhat insignificant in spite of your name?

You can’t complain; having four stages of a life-cycle’s

asking for trouble. I guess no garden tiger will be ‘burning bright’

in years to come. No, you won’t be missed. Perhaps no will even notice.

Ecological

A Virtual Tour of a Mixed Habitat including Limestone Pavement and Flower Grassland.

Welcome to you all on this sunny day.

This habitat packs a huge emotional punch. We have around 100 acres of countryside: I hope we’ll feel physically caught up in the drama during our tour. Everything appears fresh and vibrant as if on the first day of creation. Listen. Did you hear the song thrush? It sings in triplets. Look: here below you can see the silvery track of a snail. Smell: that’s honeysuckle of course. We can truly appreciate the web of life here today.

The blue tit chicks are only a day old. They’ll need a hundred thousand caterpillars each day; the caterpillars need the bedstraw and clover to munch and the bedstraw and clover need the sun and nutrients in the soil. All is connected, including us. Where would we be without the bee? Oh! Here’s a sparrow-hawk: that’s goodbye to one of the blue tit parents. Isn’t it a privilege to see birth and death in front of our very eyes.

Lets zoom in for a close up of that piece of turf (yes, it’s rather like Durer’s drawing isn’t it!). Some of you children should be able to see the tiny ants scurrying up and down stalks of grass. Hear that? It’s not a bee; it’s a master of disguise called a Bee Fly, or Bombylius Major strictly speaking. That’s a name to conjure with and a headline to end all headlines isn’t it.

Now if we fast forward a good few decades, what do we notice? No, I don’t want you to be alarmed; I’m not like Greta! Just observe. Note the temperature. Yes, just a three degree increase. Where are the birds? Mostly gone. No caterpillars. But there are some daisies and dandelions growing in the hardened chalk soil, so not all is lost. Listen. No songs or calls. It’s just distant traffic.

Let’s do a casualty count: the warmer wetter winters have killed off the caterpillars of the Garden Tiger moth. So, we can declare that species extinct. The September Thorn is a thorn in the flesh and the Figure of Eight has us tied up in knots. The Narrow-leaved Everlasting Pea, so profuse here before, is no where to be seen. The Autumnal Moth has fallen victim too but let’s hope it’s clinging on out there in someone’s organic garden. That’s not counting the birds of course.

That’s the end of our virtual tour for today. Please bear with us during the next few weeks; we are experiencing problems with air conditioning which may effect future tours. Please check the website for latest developments. Tours may not be as advertised.