Opinion

Nature’s demise

May 01, 2019



I rose with the sun. And unlike at home I did not find the need to snooze my alarm a thousand times. What I was experiencing was so much better than what the best of dreams could offer. I found no reason not to get up. I gulped in the fresh mountain air as a thirsty person quenches his thirst upon finding water.

The sky was a diamond, cloudless and flawless; water gushed down a hill somewhere beyond; birds chirped their way into a mellifluous song and animals awoke to the blaze of the morning sun. The trees just stood there majestically, welcoming a new day.

It was beautiful, that moment to be surrounded by nature in its most pristine, serene form; to be there and witness its awakening.

What I felt there was something I could never feel amidst concrete jungles, factories and industrial plants as they coughed out smoke and ugly gases. As I stood there against the gentle pushes of sweet-smelling wind, I felt at home. It is a home that is being threatened and destroyed; an abode for God’s most beautiful creatures that is plummeting into complete darkness.

The way we are progressing and developing, at the cost of God-bestowed resources, the day when we yearn for good air, for plants and trees, does not seem far away.

And this is not just about forests and jungles, it does not stop there, it merely starts. Forests have long been known to be Earth’s lungs, to prevent soil erosion, to be a home for millions of organisms that live in them, to maintain bio-diversity. They are symbols of peace and tranquility, places that lift you up and make you feel happy and joyful.

Their extinction will be a terrible blow to all of humankind. And as always, there is an urgent need to address this issue of our survival.

This issue must be addressed at the individual level, where people take initiatives to protect our planet. Our world cannot be left in the hands of greedy capitalists who would not spend an extra penny to ensure that their activities do not harm the forests. It cannot be left in the hands of international corporations that have deviated from the morals and values they once propounded.

They say that the rainforest will have become a thing of the past in the next hundred years and that it may have well acquired a place in the pages of history. In a very big way, we will be the ones responsible.

We are becoming the generation that destroyed nature. We’re becoming the acquisitive generation that decided to be the last to enjoy God-gifted resources, the generation that does not want the future to know what it feels like to wake up amidst trees as they dance and waterfalls as the gush about.

We do not want to be guilty of having committed all of this. We surely don’t.

Haniya Bint Nabil

IIS Jubail


May 01, 2019
180 views
HIGHLIGHTS
Opinion
21 days ago

Saudi Arabians remain unfazed by the 'buzz' of fools

Opinion
36 days ago

We have celebrated Founding Day for three years - but it has been with us for 300

Opinion
51 days ago

Why is FinTech flourishing in Saudi Arabia?