The Importance of World Environment Day

Monday, June 5th, is World Environment Day. Like the many ‘days’ of our calendar; Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Secretary’s day, Day of the Press, and yes, St Maarten’s Day, World Environment Day is a time for us humans to reflect and ponder the Earth’s environment, the threats facing it, and what we can do to alleviate some of the negative affects our society has had on our Blue Planet. In recent years there has been a renewed interest in the plight of the Earth, in no small way attributed to the disastrous calamities which we have faced on a global and local scale. Who can forget the disastrous hurricane season, the stellar gas and fuel prices, and the floods and desecration our own little island has seen in the past years. Increasingly, there is a wealth of literature, websites, and television programs available to us which deal with these issues. For example, on our little island there is a promising and sobering response to the unchecked and unrestrained development St Maarten has seen in the past and which it is still undergoing. From websites which act as forums for discussion amongst locals and visitors on environmental issues, to organizations which act solely as non-profit organizations and which are run by the blood, sweat, and tears of volunteers who work for free just to see an improvement on the island, St Maarten has slowly become aware that things are occurring which we may regret later on. However, the disturbing fact is that in a perfect world, or on a perfect island for that matter, there would be no need for any organizations or foundations. St. Maarteners would take pride in their little tropical paradise, and the unrestrained development and the pollution this accompanies would not be occurring at such breakneck speed. The mentality of us islanders needs to change. How many times have you driven in traffic and thrown a piece of garbage or a beer bottle out of your car window? When you eat your Saturday barbecue do you sometimes think where your Styrofoam containers end up (Styrofoam takes thousands of years to degrade, if at all)? When you drive past the Great Salt Pond or the Lagoon do you sometimes feel sad or upset, or do you merely shrug your shoulders? When you smoke a cigarette or eat a chicken leg on the beach do you toss it on the sand or throw it in the Garbage? When you see a whole hillside cleared and beaches and reefs damaged because of the construction of more high-rise condos or marinas do you rejoice in the name of development our does your heart bleed? These are all questions which are not only important to the island but also on a personal and sociological level. How can a society take pride in itself if it has no pride for its cultural and natural environment? On our road to a Separate Status, what will become of our Lagoon, Ponds, Hillsides, Trees, Beaches, and Reefs? Hence, what will become of our children, our identity, our culture, our pride?
The theme for this year’s World Environment Day is desertification. As stated on the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) website, http://www.unep.org/wed/2006/english/
The planet is facing an unprecedented amount of desertification due to the effects of global warming and deforestation. Whole regions of the Earth are turning into arid and desolate landscapes, supporting little life and causing political and social instability. Deforestation and the effects of global warming are causing millions of people in the world to suffer from water shortages, floods, and other climatic nightmares. Areas which were once lush and green are now hot, dry, deserts. Recently, in Kenya, the worst drought in recent years has killed thousands of people and tens of thousands of livestock. When it did rain and the lakes finally filled up, children died because they where infected with diseases caused by drinking water contaminated with the rotting carcasses of animals at the bottom of the lakes and rivers. A recent special edition of Time Magazine rang the doomsday bell when it predicted that new diseases and more powerful climactic phenomena (hurricanes, tornadoes etc.) will arise due to desertification and climate change.
Similarly, here on our little island the cutting and clearing of land, poor urban planning, and the filling up of our catchment basins have proved disastrous to the future economic development of St Maarten and has left deep scars amongst its population. Who can forget the disastrous flood of July 30th 2005? Did it really rain that hard on that day? Did it rain harder than it has in the past? The answer is no, but since most of our natural catchment basins are filled up, and there are less and less trees available to stop eroding hillsides and thus landslides, there are now still families who suffer economic loss because of a few hours of rain. And more tragically, there are families who still mourn the passing of loved ones due to the results of unchecked urban development and deforestation. We should be worried, very worried in fact, at the approach of the impending hurricane season. When our island has to pay millions in disaster relief in the future instead of the couple of thousands now to proactively alleviate the problem of poor rain water runoff, the economic sector will crumble and fall, and us islanders will be left to pick up the pieces. This was painfully made clear during the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast last August. If the Federal and Local governmental agencies in the US listened to the warnings made by scientist and conservationist about the levee strength along the Mississippi river and spent those few millions of dollars to upgrade them, that region would not have to cope with the billions upon billions of dollars now needed to rebuild New Orleans, not to mention the almost two thousands lives which were neglectfully lost.
There are people who do strive to make a difference. As previously mentioned, the various organizations, foundations, and individuals on the island, many of which do not get any funding from government and whose volunteers simply act on goodwill, are trying to make this island a better place for its current and future residents. Globally there are also institutions which strive for the health of our planet and subsequently us. Now Nobel Peace Prize and Pulitzer Prize laureates such as Dr. Jarred Diamond, who writes on the collapse of civilizations due to ecological disregard, and Dr. Wangari Mathaai, first African Woman to win a Nobel and whose Green Belt Movement empowered thousands of poor African Women to plant millions of trees, are actively engaged in making the Earth livable again. Other organizations such as UNEP, WWF, and the World Conservation Society seek to ensure that we do not suffer by our own hands while the earth is dying. Similarly, we here on St Maarten must also ensure that we don’t suffer by our own hands simply because environmental stability translates itself into economic, social, and political stability. Yes, Monday, June 5th is World Environment Day, but it is up to us to ensure that that Day is in fact an ingrained idea in our collective island mentality, not just one day out of the year to connect and care deeply for our Mother Earth.