Save our desert
>> Sunday, December 16, 2007
IN one of Charles Dickens' novels, published in 1838, a character in the book describes the bewildered Oliver Twist upon his arrival in London city as being "so jolly green".
Readers of the era would have of course understood that Oliver was not being referred to as a budding young environmentalist, for in those days, and indeed until fairly recently, the word "green" was used to describe an inexperienced or naive person.
Green is a highly adaptive word in the English language; it can be used as a verb, as in "Go Green" (meaning, to change one's behaviour in a manner that is more favourable to the health of the environment); green can be used as a noun, as in "eat your greens"; as a collective noun, "The Greens" (members of an environmentalist group or party); and, as an adjective, to describe a colour.
More recently, the word green has become synonymous with environmental issues, to such an extent, that a green environment has come to represent all that is good and caring and healthy, and a non-green environment represents a barren, neglected, wasted expanse.
This pre-conceived point of view has spurred on a new generation of environmentalists, often with the very best intentions, to demand that the desert of Bahrain should be transformed into a countryside of green meadows.
I can't help think that if Bahrain was supposed to have rolling green hills instead of a central region of sand and limestone, then evolution would have taken care of it long ago.
Desert landscapes have naturally evolved in regions of the world where geographical and climatic conditions have been favourable to them.
Within the desert landscape there exists a whole desert ecosystem; each creature or plant having specifically adapted over thousands of years to withstand the extremes of temperature and low rainfall.
When the seasonal rain does fall upon the desert, seeds that have laid dormant for months or years, germinate and create a varied desert landscape of indigenous medicinal plants, flowers and grasses.
Now, that it has become evident that much of Bahrain's marine environment has been lost due to land reclamation, developers are now turning their eyes towards the desert. Land reclamation started off in Bahrain with the best of original intentions - more land for homes, roads, offices, industries and jobs, but the consequence is that is has mucked up the marine ecosystem.
So, on one hand, you have all these modern facilities, but on the other the coral reefs have been destroyed and fish stocks have been wiped out.
Land reclamation is not a new phenomenon in Bahrain; it has been going over for the last 50 years.
But perhaps the marine ecosystem of Bahrain was once in such a healthy state that it could withstand and recover from a certain amount of gradual disturbance. It is the fast and furious rate of land reclamation all around Bahrain that will seal the hammer's fate once and for all.
In Manama, the seashore originally encountered solid land at the British Embassy in Ras Ruman district (Ras- the headland, Ruman, the pomegranate tree; literally meaning the headland where the pomegranate trees grew).
Further up the road there is a poignant reminder of the land-sea demarcation line; at the back of Yateem Centre there are still three old palm trees, which have literally been incorporated into the building.
These trees once stood on the seashore and Hussein Yateem remembered these trees and their location with such fond memories from his youth that he insisted the trees must not be destroyed during the construction of Yateem Centre.
Even the palm trees were out of favour for a while in Bahrain. Imported, fast growing leafy green trees where favoured over the traditional palm trees for lining the roads and for greening the municipal parks.
These "rocket trees" have now largely fallen out of favour since it was discovered that they consumed vast amounts of water and their wandering roots wreaked havoc on underground pipes and cables.
Fifty per cent of the "rocket trees" that once lined the Manama to Hamad Town highway have now been removed, to be replaced by the traditional palm tree.
So, amidst the slogans of "Go Green!" and "Think Green for Bahrain", it is hoped that the public will interpret these phrases in the non-literal sense; but in the spirit of the Green Movement, which is caring for and respecting the natural environment, whatever colour it may be.
By ADELE O'SHEA
A member of the Environment Friends Society
Source: Gulf Daily News, 3rd June 2007
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