Nature renews itself, going from times of stagnation and decay to a flourishing state once
more in a cycle that has repeated itself throughout our recorded history. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote about it in The Great Gatsby saying, “And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
As humans have expanded our reach, building neighborhoods and settlements and cities, we sometimes find ourselves needing to move on, leaving that which we’d constructed long forgotten to the elements. The reasons can be obvious, like a nuclear meltdown forcing the inhabitants of Pripyat, Ukraine from their homes or more mundane, like the abandonment of a diamond mining town of Kolmanskop, Namibia.
But, is a place really abandoned just because humans have left? Not at all! In the absence of people, some places we’ve previously thought of as desolate are actually more populated than ever. The new occupants? Wildlife. Left alone to forage, breed and thrive undisturbed by people, many different kinds of animals and insects are turning dilapidated shopping malls, empty houses and forgotten islands into their own personal Trump Towers. Acting as natural sanctuaries, these places are affording animals, some of whom face endangerment, a place to strengthen their numbers and enjoy lives of freedom.
No comments:
Post a Comment