Biodiversity Day, Humans & Real Estate!

 

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“Biodiversity can't be maintained by protecting a few species in a zoo, or by preserving greenbelts or national parks. To function properly, nature needs more room than that. It can maintain itself, however, without human expense, without zookeepers, park rangers, foresters or gene banks. All it needs is to be left alone”.... Donella Meadows

Donella Hager "Dana" Meadows was an American environmental scientist, educator, and writer. She is best known as lead author of the books The Limits to Growth and Thinking in Systems: a Primer & no wonder she has put threat to biodiversity by none other than we humans in such simple & straight words! Ok, its 22nd May, a day celebrated as World Biodiversity Day & I know many people will say what's big deal it’s one more day just like Wild Life Day, Forest Day or Tiger Day! And as usual celebrities & leaders will post some paintings or images of animals & birds on social media, presently its lockdown in the entire country so there won’t be tree planting named fashion show at govt offices or by our elected members & school kids will be happy as they don’t have to wait for hours in scorching heat to wait for the plantation event's chief guests, that’s all, one more day regarding biodiversity or animals or nature whatever you called has come & gone! And I don’t blame common people as in a country where public health regarding living humans has been neglected to the extent where people are dying because of lack of oxygen & beds who care for some plants or birds or animals or habitats, right? But then on the background of the pandemic the Biodiversity Day's importance is much more as the pandemic has shown (read as taught) many colours of life & one of that is our immunity or say resistance power & here is where days like biodiversity are much much more important than earlier! I know again most people will frown & say one more logic of some crazy environmentalist or nature lover to promote his nature loving funda & I still don’t blame all those who comments such because years after years & decades we have been deceived by our rulers (we ourselves too) about the concept of biodiversity in first place & the result is now suddenly we are talking about conserving it (just talking)!

Before you name or tag me with anything ( franatic or two face or something similar) at least lets understand what biodiversity means in first place as then you can decide its importance or my logic about pandemic & overall its impact on our life as well our duty towards conserving it! Let me ask you ten simple questions & this is for the people who are on up side of forties' is mean forty plus as the current millennium kids  born with android & Wi-Fi & which has seen the only biodiversity in the form of landscaped garden may not even understand my questions! Here we go... btw, I am writing my answers below the question, you can compare your answers with them as its experiences or memories which are the answers...

1. Do you remember seeing seasonal flowers like Terada, Zinnia, and Zendu along the roads while you were walking to your school & have you tried to pluck some flowers & carry them to home?

My Ans. I do, I have walked every day of school through such plants & shrubs.

2. Do you remember running behind the butterflies on these flowers & have you ever seen a caterpillar & kept it in a matchbox?

My Ans: I do remember & I have done many times even tried to touch the hairy skin of the caterpillar also with fear that it will get me infected, eventually it didn’t.

3. Have any of you even got a thorn in the feet while playing bare feet on the open fields?

My Ans: I did & every week at least once my Dad has to do the job of removing the thorn from my feet with a needle & trust me it wasn’t a pleasant experience because of the way he used to do it!

4. Have you ever plucked fruits like Jamun, Ber or Mangos (I am not dared to ask fruits like Kawath, Ramfal or Junglee Chiku or Mahua Flower) from the trees on the street of in the fields or tried to get these fruits by pelting stones at them?

My Ans: Yes, I did & in every season there was some different fruits are at offering by the trees around

5. Have you chased group of monkeys (Indian Languor) jumping from one tree to another & destructing the grains or dried food items your mom has kept on the terrace of your home or building?

My Ans: Yes I did & it was always used to be most exciting event of childhood, though the mom used to hate it.

6. Have you played in the pools or ponds & mud after the rains & what sound was the most familiar the after rains?

My Ans: I have played in the rain created pools till my clothes gets colour of the mud & the most wonderful sound I remember after the rains is "Daraw Daraw" of the frog's ribbit!

7. Have you observed the worms & red velvet insects after the rainy season started & in process got late to the school?

My Ans: Yes I have tried to capture every such creature & have been punished by the class teacher for wasting time in such useless things (well that’s common thing with today’s kids too)

8. Have your school taken you to the locations for the trip which was annual event which has farm lands, forests, water bodies & such things?

My Ans: Yes I have been to such school trips & those were the wonderful outings as officially we used to be in all these things like, insects, trees, grass & mud.

9. Have you ever drank water from a natural source directly (no Aqua guards or boiling type thing) such as from a well or a lake or a river?

My Ans: I did as my home had an open well & all our water needs were taken care of from the water we pulled out of it by bucket & later by electric pump.

10. Have you planted at least one tree & observed it growing?

My Ans: Yes I have planted not just but many trees & have observed them growing big & it’s not just because of my business (as a builder) but as an individual too I have planted trees! 

If fifty percent of your answers match with mine then you will understand what biodiversity means as you have lived it actually, just you didn’t know it! As biodiversity is like as they tell about Zen, it surrounds you that is why you never know the fact you are actually in it! Well, now about the title of this sharing i.e. how real estate & humans are connected with biodiversity is the question many must be thinking (especially people related to construction industry). Here as usual there are two sides of the coin or say parties, one which will blame everything on real estate & other which will blame everything on nature lovers or so called conservationists! That’s why we need to understand what biodiversity is, as there may be hundreds of definitions of biodiversity but by me biodiversity is verity which nature offers to us at free of cost (and which we throw away) in the form of different life forms & it can be anything from a insect to a bird or a fish & yes even we humans are very much part & parcel of the biodiversity with different colour size & shapes we have among us! So do mind when we say we are to conserve biodiversity then it means making able every form of life survive & not just one specie named humans! And here is where our so called science part & humans comes in the picture as we are the only specie with brains (supposed to be) & we used that brain for our comfort by making ourselves rise above every other species & just the way nature has created biodiversity of life, we created biodiversity of machines! If you don’t believe me then what are things like microchips to aeroplanes, isn’t it just the way nature has insects like ants to biggest blue whale as biodiversity! And we humans only did it & still are making it, under the name of our comfort, our homes, our conservation, this is why real estate matters more regarding biodiversity as this industry creates habitats for a specie named humans & in the process knowingly or unknowingly we had & have been destroying other specie’s homes thus unbalancing the entire biodiversity! And outcome is now we are worried about our immunity & oxygen levels which never was isse earliear. I am not corealting pandemic with biodiversity but somewhere we tilt the balance of nature & in some way its going to trouble us is a simple logic, right? I am not blaming builder ( can’t forget I am also one) but I am appeling entire real estate including clients to look watch for biodiversity aspect of life while you build or buy your homes!

This is exactly the major difference between nature & humans that the nature allows every life to have its space while we humans just think about our own self & this is why we (humans) are solely responsible now for conservation of the biodiversity! And who better than real estate industry can take the lead in this herculean task of undoing the damage done for decades to the biodiversity! I am not referring to some particular builders in some city but every person associated with real estate  i.e. construction, all across the globe! Because just do mind while we are digging foundations for our homes, industry, road, dam or bridge  then right from first pit, we start damaging the lives of other species by  as its in a way encroachment on their homes! So, the responsibility is to balance the damage & making these species survive & that means creating another habitat(home) for them. Imagine the resistance we the humans has to face to relocate few hundreds of another humans when we want to build a dam or a road or an airport & here we are talking about relocating thousands of species including trees & grass also as all of them becomes biodiversity! At the same time if this is conservation by relocating or giving another space for the species there is need of restoration of biodiversity & for that we have to build our homes keeping space for other species too! As that’s why I asked the above questioner because for knowing or living biodiversity you need not have to go the forests or out of city but you can have it just in & around your home, that’s true way of living biodiversity!

And imagine we can make spaces for lifeless things like cars, bikes, generators, transformers, mobile towers, transformer room & many such to keep our created machines biodiversity intact & can spend millions of rupees for the same but we can’t give space for a tree which goes big & can be home for the biodiversity of living species! Again this doesn’t mean don’t buy a car or live without your cell phones but what I meant is while we plan for our homes let’s make a provision for every other living specie including ants & butterflies, that is the true way of celebrating Biodiversity Day! Small things can make big difference such as avoiding cutting existing trees on project’s land, keeping nesting places for birds, providing bird feeders, planting fruit bearing trees (and making them grow), having little natural water body around & retaining natural earth cover as much we can! Real Estate colleagues, we take pride (most of us) in building homes for the humans in best way but while doing that we have a responsibility for other living specie’s homes also. Do mind, a Home is a place where everybody is accommodated with love & care & understating that definition of term “everybody”, is the first step which will decide fate of the Biodiversity & ours too!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/01/post-lock-down-real-estate-home-buying.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way(Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com