The glory of early summer is here: sunshine, fresh greens, mosquitoes, blackflies, army worms, moose and turtles on the roads, wild flowers in profusion.
Yesterday I watched four different beautiful butterflies sipping the nectar of pincherry blossoms. On our shoreline, a flock of Canada geese rested for the day from their travels. I took a picture and enjoyed their gentle chattering.
Do you realize that three billion people probably never get to experience this kind of beauty?
The world population now is 6.15 billion. China has 1.27 of that. India, second most populous, has 1.03. By contrast, Canada has less than 40 million–that’s only .65 percent of the world’s population!
About half of the world’s people live in urban areas. That has changed from 40 percent in 1975 and is predicted to be 60 percent by 2025. The biggest change resulting from urbanization is a birth rate decline from about 2010 on.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, urbanization brings with it:
•greater per-capita income and residence-related lifestyle changes;
•improvements in access to and use of health services;
•rising education enrolment; and
•higher spending patterns.
Is all that good? I’m not so sure. It is for those who can improve their lifestyle. It’s also good for those who have more goods to sell and hope to make more money.
It may not be so good when you consider the huge pressure on the world’s natural resources.
But can we deny others a share of the good life we have? Even when Third World people will be 84 percent and “MDCs” (More Developed Countries) only 16 percent out of seven or more billion? That’s expected by 2025, too.
For now, the bulk of urban Third World people don’t have the means to travel and get away from heat, monsoons and storms, polluted air and water. When they do, will our wilderness still exist?
The Living Legacy Trust is an Ontario government response to the late-’90s public input study of how our natural resources should best be used and protected.
It’s a great name. But is the combination of “use and protection” possible? I hope so. Is it easy? No.
One reason it’s difficult is that we don’t all recognize just how valuable it is–to us and to the world overall. Another reason is that we see the value differently. Some people focus on extraction and industrial applications. Others focus on the very opposite: hands-off preservation.
Some types of use are compatible, others are mutually exclusive.
A third reason is that we don’t really know what we must do to protect nature and wilderness. Toward better understanding and potential action, Quetico Centre is organizing an international symposium of earth scientists and others for next spring.
The group will think through the potential for setting up an “integrated eco-observatory monitoring station” in the Quetico region. The intent would be to monitor global climate change and its effects.
More about that in another column. Meanwhile, why not take time to smell the wild roses which will bloom shortly.
Linda Wiens is a planning consultant, student of the future, workshop leader, and president of Quetico Centre.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
