This is the 15th article in an ongoing series that highlights the riches of Pigeon Valley, the urban nature reserve in the heart of Glenwood. The focus of this article will be on voting with your feet.
The founder of Foxconn recently announced that the Sea Goddess has asked him to run for President of South Korea. She has not provided me recently with any communique, but the other day the spider who created this web in Pigeon Valley did (the spider, who voted with its feet, is there, hidden behind the X). A careful scrutiny revealed that the message was a reminder to vote on 8 May.
So what was the spider saying? First, somehow the environment has got buried in the election campaigns. It seems that we are still stuck in a model of development in which our greatest wealth – clean air, clean water, unpolluted and fertile land – is ignored.
ALSO READ: Exploring Pigeon Valley: The Pygmy Kingfisher
The idea is that if we pursue money we will all benefit (except of course the spider and all such forms of life, who are the collateral damage we must accept as the price of development). And, indeed, more and more money has flowed, though unfortunately to fewer and fewer people.
So a lot of people are starting, like the spider, to question this path of development. It seems to offer us money at the expense of happiness and at the expense of life. Our willingness to pursue money at the constant expense of the environment threatens the survival of species, not least our own.
Crispin Hemson chairs the Friends of Pigeon Valley, a group that undertakes clearing of alien plants, keeps records of bird and mammal sightings and alerts management to any problems.
The Friends have a monthly walk at 7.30am on the second Saturday of each month. Email: friendsofpigeonvalley1@gmail.com.
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