Mother Nature's Intricate Balance

Modern-day life has removed us from the simultaneous complexitiy and simplicity of nature. When I check on the garden early in the morning, the first thing to meet my senses is the sound of birds. They hop around the yard, looking for insects and seeds to eat. I see the bees buzzing around the butterfly bushes, and the dew-laden spiderwebs reaching from plant to plant. I consider the way species interact and contribute to their environment. 

The earthworms and insects aerate and fertilize the soil as they dig through life, consuming leftover plant matter and other organisms. Fallen leaves and rotting wood from the trees act as shelter for small beings, and break down into nutrients to enrich the soil. They help conserve moisture, and protect the soil from erosion. The trees themselves help to bind the soil, bring water up unto the soil from deep below, provide shade and shelter, as well as ensure proper weather for the climate in which they live. Their respiration provides a cooling effect during hot weather. All of these process help to shape the environment we live in, and the loss of one element, even a small one, can cause disruption in the entire system.

When we consider the modern day approach to agriculture, we can see how we've started to work completely against these natural processes. We till the land, spray pesticides, and leave the soil uncovered. This leeches chemicals into the water stream and the food system, allows for soil erosion and nutrient loss, as well as halts the natural process of plant matter breakdown. Not only this, but it destroys natural environments and actually lowers food quality.

Funnily enough, if we were to simply work with nature rather than against it, we would likely see a great increase in the quality and productivity of our food. We would be able to build up richer soil that has no need for chemical fertilizers, and we could welcome beneficial insects rather than spraying pesticides, which are linked to many healthy issues and are simply not safe for human consumption.

This is because nature has always known what she was doing. There has always been a healthy balance between plantlife, wildlife, and the formation of soil and habitat. Everything works together to create the whole picture. Therefore every little detail- whether it be the tiny beetles aerating the soil, or the trees binding it and covering it with leaves before winter- matters. 

I recently read Wangari Maathai's memoir, "Unbowed," on how she came to be the amazing female environmentalist and activist she was, being the first African woman to gain a PhD or a Nobel Peace Prize. In it, she recounts a story about a fig tree nearby her childhood home, a story which has profoundly changed the way I view nature, agriculture, and spirituality.

In her memoir, Wangari speaks of the rich, fertile soil her village experienced. It remained moist despite a lack of modern irrigation systems, produced abundantly, and often gave back more than they needed. Living without a cash economy, they grew and harvested all of their food. They ate a diet of native crops, such as beans and millet. They lived a life that was deeply connected to the natural world, and rarely had need to travel beyond their landscape.

Near her home, their was a river, beside which stood a large fig tree. She would play by this tree, often reveling at the tadpoles and frogs which called the river home. When she asked her mother why they do not collect firewood from the fig tree, her mother told her the fig trees were sacred. Her village believed they were trees of God, and denounced any mistreatment of them.

When the British settlers arrived, they went to work on the natural forests that once provided windbreak and regular rainfall in her country. They provided shelter for wildlife and smaller plantlife. The settlers began replacing the native trees with foreign trees, ones which did not carry the same relationship with the surrounding environment. Upon the removal of the fig tree, the river by Wangari's childhood home began to dry up. Clean water became harder and harder to find as these natural rivers began to dry up. Silt began to build up in the streams, due to soil erosion, something her country had never experienced prior.

What she later learned in her studies was the intricate relationship fig trees held with their surroundings. Their tap roots grew deep down until they met the water reservoir below the ground, which traveled up the roots until breaking through the surface. In this way, the fig trees were essential to the existence if free flowing water and habitat.

This shows the way that the deeply connected life her family and ancestors once lived allowed the to understand the intricate balance Mother Nature held. They simply understood the importance of this tree, and respected it as such. I hope that maybe I can live by their example, and that maybe others will be inspired to do so as well.