Recognizing the pieces that make up the puzzle….
There’s a Japanese saying, that until recently, I paid little attention to. Loosely translated, ‘Ō-zukai yori kozukai’ means ‘if you take care of the small things the big things take care of themselves’, only this past week did this proverb strike a chord.
Earlier this month, at the 7th plenary session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, yet another grim picture of planet earth’s ecosystems was painted. After a comprehensive global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services, 145 expert authors (and another 310 contributing authors) from 50 countries revealed how we are now dealing with an unprecedented rate of species extinction — 1,000,000 species, to be exact!
For many, this is really a hard blow, considering the efforts that have gone into conservation over the years. I mean, numerous organizations have tried ‘people-centered conservation’ where the role of humans (especially local communities) in ecosystem protection spearheads conservation action. Others have adopted ‘science-led eco-centrism’ which focuses on science-based evidence to design initiatives; while others, ‘conservation through capitalism’ which relates to the role corporations and market-based approaches play in conservation, has been the go-to approach. There’re economies where incorporating all three in a ‘people-science-capital’ cocktail has helped in delivering positive results but by God, even this has not been enough.
As conservation experts continue to brainstorm over which approach could deliver the much desired ‘all round global ecosystem glow’, finding common ground has taken center stage. Intriguing concepts which have made rounds on different fora include; half-earth (HE) which calls for the allocation of 50% of the planet to interconnected protected areas; sustainable half-earth (SHE) that, to some extent, concurs with reserving half the planet for protection purposes but demands that the other half be made more sustainable through environmental regulation; and whole earth (WE) which focuses on curbing the main drivers of biodiversity loss across different spheres. None of these seems to have gained enough traction to become globally endorsed. At this point, I’m tempted to believe that our desire to come up with a single silver bullet that can address pandemics such as biodiversity loss and climate change is a lost cause. And here’s why….
A few months ago, I picked interest in house plants and right off the bat, purchased two Alexandrae palms on my way from work one day. Lucky for me, these palms do well both as potted ornamentals and in outdoor spaces, so not doing any research on indoor gardening did not have any repercussions in the beginning. My luck did run out quickly, because apart from water, I neglected so many other plant needs and for a fortnight or so, I watched as the palms slowly started to yellow, droop and basically lose life.
Desperate to keep them alive, I increased the watering but now in addition to the yellowing and slow death, their trunks started to develop molds. At this point, I was ready to give up on the whole ‘indoor’ thing and decided to transplant the palms to an outdoor space, at-least so they could have a proper send off. On the day that I took them out of the pots (the same pots in which I had purchased them) I was stunned to find gravel, shards of glass, chunks of compacted soil and so many other things in the potting mixture. The lack of a suitable growing medium (in addition to my ignorance on potted plant requirements) was, after all, the cause of their suffering.
I quickly googled ‘indoor alexandrae palms’ and these were the exact words that popped up…. ‘if you find your Alexandrae palm looks unhealthy, bear in mind it can take up to a year for an Alexandrae palm to establish itself and ……’
Long story short, the palms are still indoors and I’ve learned as much as I can about indoor gardening : from potting mixtures, to air flow, lighting, water etc. I have also tried out as many ‘plant recuperation’ mixtures as humanly possible but most importantly, I have learned to read my plants; to pay close attention to the details on the leaves, stem and roots before providing water, nutrients and light. So when the potting mixture is soggy I know that I don’t need to add any water, and when the leaves start to become pale I know it’s time to look for better lighting
because nature tends to reflects exactly what’s on the inside: what you put (or fail to put) into it.
So how exactly is my indoor gardening experience relevant to the rapidly accelerating extinction rates?
Numbers.
First, it’s a single Alexandrae palm, then a collection of palms in a catchment and then an ecosystem with different plant and animal species. I could be wrong but I think that the bigger picture (the ecosystem)is a reflection of tinier pieces of the puzzle (i.e plant communities and individual plants). If we can focus on addressing the needs of individual species in given landscapes for example through providing suitable conditions for growth or addressing direct threats to endangered species, then populations and communities would thrive and we could have healthier ecosystems.
This doesn’t mean that we have to grow threatened species indoors or irrigate individual plants — no! But by protecting fragile ecosystems from pollution, and by fighting poaching of threatened species, we can ensure survival and replication.
My worry is that we are a little too concerned with the big picture, so much that we forget the little guys who make up this picture.
We are determined to come up with the ‘one size fits all’ solution that will save the oceans, curb climate change and reverse forest degradation, all in one go. With every new assessment and survey that scientists conduct, the pressure to find the perfect solution increases. So, will it be ‘people-centered conservation’ or ‘sustainable half earth’ that will be that miracle cure?
I think that it’s been reading every situation and addressing needs pronto that has helped my Alexandrae pick up from their deathly state. It’s been deciding when to shift to a more lighted corner and trying out different potting mixtures for individual plants that has helped. Maybe we should focus on delivering what is relevant for a particular species, population or landscape; focus on fixing each piece of the jigsaw puzzle as opposed to dedicating what are already limited resources to delivering a single magic portion for global ecosystem health.
My Alexandrae may not be there yet but we are on a journey to creating the ‘picturesque palm’. 😊
