Iguana Journal: Ecological Disasters I See on my way to Work (for Blog Action Day)

14 October 2009

Ecological Disasters I See on my way to Work (for Blog Action Day)

A Photo Post for Blog Action Day

Guayaquil, Ecuador

On the days that I take the bus to work, I am confronted with a crude ecological reality. The following pictures that I took this week are a clear expression of a profound self - earth duality that permeates Ecuadorian culture. All of the following pictures were taken at the bus stops or from the bus itself.

Here are some pictures of the second bus stop.

The next two pictures show how agriculture is practiced with a cut and burn mentality. This hillside was once a tropical dry forest and now it has been burned to the ground to prepare it for sowing crops.

The following pictures show how dead trees are left standing for years and years in the divide between highway lanes.

This crooked picture shows where all of the landfill for the area comes from to the detriment of this beautiful mountain.

This landfill-covered area was a beautiful swamp up until about 6 months ago. Now all of those plants and animals that love the water are gone.

Why were these beautiful trees treated this way? I can't even imagine.

This is a particular favorite. It is a lone surviving ceibos tree just out of reach of the bulldozers that raze the forest to the ground. Its days are surely numbered.

This last picture demonstrates another kind of ecological disaster. Just beyond the road you can appreciate a hillside packed full of houses. The trees, other plants and animals been replaced by houses and concrete. People wonder why violence is more prevalent in areas such as these but looking at it from this perspective makes it clear that it is like a chicken farm where they put many chickens in small cages. They start pecking at one another because they are so stressed and cannot perform their normal biological functions. Forcing people to live so close to one another is an ecological disaster in a broader sense of the term some call human ecology.