Pollution of the environment can happened anywhere – in rural areas or inside cities and other forms of settlements which means that most of us are confronted with environmental degradation where we live. That is why we feel it necessary to address the issue of natural systems within our proximity first, before we move on to natural systems in places that are not so frequently visited by humans. We will look at natural systems in our towns and cities first also because many of our environmental activities will take place within human settlements and I would like us to identify the natural systems right there and see how one can improve it. In this way we will be able improve our own well-being right where we live.
Nature strives to maintain a condition called “dynamic equilibrium”. It can only succeed doing so when all elements necessary for the environment to co-exist in perfect harmony are present. But when humans tamper with it, imbalances in the system will occur (Supporting article L). For example, when we allow too many of our cattle to graze on the same piece of land year in and year out, it would not be long before the vegetation would be thinning out as ma result of the sparse ground covering, erosion will set in and prevent vegetation to re-establish itself. Unless the cattle is removed from this land, the situation will go on raging until the landscape will be filled with donga's and gullies and finally it will be rendered useless for grazing or agriculture.
But in the world of nature, because of its tendency to maintain a state of equilibrium, if the same piece of land had been left on its own, it would never have allowed this to happen. If a herd of Springbok would for instance graze for a long period on the same piece of land, unpalatable pioneer vegetation, which cannot be eaten by these animals, would take its place. The herd would then move on in search of other pastures and the land would again have time to recover. Knowing now that there are mutual relationships in the environment which makes it function as a system, it is our responsibility to study the elements or parts of the system and see how we can help to restore the balance (Supporting article K).
Presently most existing open spaces in our cities and towns are either not utilized at all, or have been so transformed that natural life is unable to sustain itself there. Often there might be beautifully pruned hedges, lawns and colourful exotic plants - but ecologically they are sterile as no insect, bird or animal life indigenous to the area are able to survive here. In contrast to this, when open spaces are well positioned around natural water or stretches of nature, it could play an important ecological role. Marshy areas could absorb effluence to provide clean water to river systems. Rain water running straight off hard surfaces such as streets or rooftops could be canalled to these areas where, the water sinks into the green open space to replenish ground water resources (Supporting article O).
Let us have a look at some other roles that open spaces may play. It can provide space for recreation – for instance you take your dog for a walk. Open spaces may give people safe and pleasant through-fare to shops or schools away from busy street traffic. It has special scenic value – a place one could go to, to experience emotional stress release. Furthermore vegetation here will absorb much air polluting gasses. The ideal would be ecologically viable self-supporting green belts. If we ensure that enough water and indigenous plant life are provided to an open area, animals and especially bird-life would return to re-established themselves.
Often such areas are already home to different species of plant and animal life. Birds like the sparrow and rock pigeon have adapted remarkably well to the urban ecosystem (Supporting article G). We even still find frogs and bats and sometimes the dwarf shrew and hedgehogs as well as moles. The basic foods of these animals are insects, which often cause great damage to our gardens. For the purpose of pest control and the maintenance of biodiversity (Supporting article N), these animals should be protected and encouraged to establish themselves as they play an important role in the urban ecosystem (Supporting article H). Most of us have encountered animals like frogs, birds, spiders and numerous insects – all of them still playing a vital role in urban areas. In order for us to preserve, protect and nurture nature in our cities, we need to understand that the natural environment works as an integrated system and encourage this integration (Supporting article V).
MOSS stands for Open Space Systems situated in a Metropolitan, (or large busy) City (Supporting article T). It may also refer to big parks or servitudes under power lines or even cemeteries. But we cannot refer to parks and botanical gardens as a ‘system’ unless there is interaction between the living things found there. Because most urban open spaces are so small, it is hardly possible that we could have a complete natural system with all required environmental elements present (Supporting article O). This means that no one piece of open space is likely to be able to function as a balanced natural system – there will always be too many missing links. An ideal MOSS (Metropolitan Open Space System) therefore must be a system where open spaces are linked to each other and where they are kept as near as possible to natural functioning pieces of nature in and around the city. Rivers and linear ridges are ideal linkages to connect many parks and create ecologically viable green belts. If these are not available one should even look at green areas along highways and streets to link the parks and provide corridors for small animals and insects as well as plant seeds to move (Supporting article A and W). Ideally green spaces (with the exception of urban agriculture) should be self-sustainable.
Often there are so many elements of a natural system missing in a park or other open space that it could only be referred to as “cosmetic green deserts”. Instead of having dynamic living systems, we have been eradicating all insect life (Supporting article J) with chemicals that filters through the ecosystem to eventually not only deprive the birds from their food but also kills them; not to speak of the harm to the aquatic life in our streams and dams. Indigenous plants might have been replaced with exotic plants that do not play any part in the food-chain or habitat of local animal and bird life. Also concrete or decorative paving and gutters have often replaced soil or natural groundcover causing rainfall to run off without penetrating the soil and causing growth. If we would like to live in a healthily and sustainably, we seriously need to preserve the natural resources and encourage its existence within our settlements.
It costs the municipality large amounts of money to constantly cut the lawns, spray insecticides, plant flowers and irrigate urban parks. Much can be gained when we keep such parks more in line with natural processes. If we plant only indigenous trees and shrubs for example, more birds will return. Worms
The World Health Organization defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity." Therefore in a healthy city the basic environmental conditions of the air soil and water would be of good quality and under perfect control (Supporting article F). Design trends in town planning during the last number of centuries were done to offer each man his own little secluded paradise, but nowadays town planning is a moving more towards concepts that encourage community interaction (Supporting article B). It strives to make it easy for people to move around without privately owned vehicles. To use environmentally friendly ways to travel, such as walking, jogging or cycling or using public transport. In the end this would mean less pollution, traffic noise and better interaction between individuals as well as better health (Supporting article U).
Before we move on to the conclusion, we need to make mention that open areas in much of the world is being used for agricultural purposes (Supporting article D). In Hong Kong , 45% of vegetables, 68% of the chickens and 15% of the pigs used as food, are produced right in the city. In Nairobi Moscow USA Kenya Bangkok China Bangalore , India South Africa
More than 50 % of the world population today lives in cities. This is putting huge pressure on resources like water that is required for domestic and commercial use as well as agricultural and industrial activities around the cities (Supporting article C). More ground water sources are being targeted and huge schemes are undertaken to bring surface water closer at great cost. We need to ask ourselves if this is sustainable – not only financially, but also environmentally and the answer is clearly: No! (Supporting article K) Also, a lot more waste is being generated where cities and towns are formed and although incineration or depositing waste in excavated holes have been sufficient ways to deal with solid waste in the past, this is no longer the case. Landfill sites are becoming hard to find and are unable to keep up with the demand. This is why recycling initiatives should be high on the agendas of civil authorities. We need to create cities that favour circular systems rather than linear (produce – use - burn/bury) systems. This would also create many more jobs.
As you can see, there is much room for improvement (Supporting article M). I know that safety often becomes a consideration for not enjoying open spaces in our cities, but this should not deter us from encouraging town-planners to create and connect sustainable pieces of nature within our cites and towns. It will greatly improve our living environment and encourage us to be more in touch with nature. A healthy respect for all living things will hopefully result in the hearts of many more people culminating into eco-friendly habits (the products we use; the means of transport we use; and the methods of generating energy) in the majority of city dwellers (Supporting article Q). Then hopefully we could start to slow down the vicious circle of destruction as a result of ill-considered economic and industrial practices.
Because of our ability to influence the environment in such a big way human beings are called the ecologically dominant (Supporting article P). This does not mean that we have the right to be merely outside spectators who can mess around with the system whenever we want to in whichever way we decide. Let your voice be heard and send us your ideas for a better world in our cities and towns (Supporting article S).
