Keep the Land

As the age-old saying goes, “What goes around comes around.”  This usually refers to relationships between people, but it is equally as true regarding the relationship between man and nature. We are dependent on the land. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. There is a connection and a balance between all of the life on the earth. In light of this, it would seem reasonable that each man would respect the nature that surrounds him, but it is not so.

Nature teaches that there is a balance which everything revolves around. Just comparing two predator-prey species shows this. When the fox population grows, the population of rabbits begins to decrease. After a while, there are not enough rabbits to feed the high number of foxes. The number of foxes begins to, in turn, decrease as well. As their numbers dwindle, the rabbits have fewer predators hunting them. The number of rabbits rises. There is now more food for the foxes that will yet again grow in numbers. It all starts over again. It is a cycle that is always weaving above and below a median line as if seeking some unspoken balance. Without meaning to, these animals show how intertwined life is.

Alan Paton said about land “Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed.” Across the planet there is the problem of abusing land. Desperate farmers till, plant and harvest the same fields again and again, stripping the soil of life. In not too long, these over-worked fields become dead and useless. This problem is especially prominent in third-world countries. Lands that were once fertile turn to desert. In efforts to produce more, the problem of deficiency becomes worse. Village societies struggle even harder to survive.

There is an understanding that needs to be reached. The delicacy of the balance of nature needs to be realized. Ways to revive the land can be taught to people ignorant of alternative methods. It all starts with being aware. A respect for the relationship between man and nature can be developed so that good goes out and good comes back. It won’t work without this.