Eco confusion
Springtime in my mind and all
around. Love is all around. Pretty heavy gastroenteritis and
wondering what is worth pissing off. Not that I am in the mood to piss things
off, but I need a distraction. I am tired of my stomach, and my country is inundated
with the queen’s abdication and the inauguration of a new king. I can imagine
people have nothing better to do or to talk about, so... let them. However,
everything in our country related to the royal family turns into orange, as
that is one of the names of the royal family. So, we have to deal with orange
police cars, orange eggs, orange insurance, etc.
So, I kept my eyes open while
driving around the neighborhood and saw this site where trees were cut down and
a brand new ecoduct will appear. I am not sure if you are familiar with
ecoducts. My spelling checker does not know the word. An ecoduct is a bridge
that connects two pieces of nature divided by a road. It is a bridge for
animals. We also have a political party for the animals in our parliament, so
that is not such a unique thing in the Netherlands. In our polder model of
doing politics, remarkable compromises always arise between those who have
business interests and those who say they represent nature. Business is simple.
They always share the same goal. Any other interest is more difficult, because
the knowledge acquired over time changes the visions and ideas. Besides, when a
group is successful in achieving its goals, the successors of these individuals
have to come up with something new. This has led to a rat race with strange
results. Sometimes, when I am abroad, I try to explain how this Dutch
characteristic functions. You take something: usually, I use a lighter as an example.
And you explain that this is a new thing: unique, nicely made, great idea. And
you show it to a Dutchman. He will admit and recognize that it is nicely made
and it is a great idea. He will ask you if you can make some money with it, and
after you answer, he puts away the lighter. “Next!”
So, there was once a situation
where a highway was being built through the biggest nature preserve in the Netherlands,
and the compromise with the advocacy groups was that there would be several
ecoducts. This was a great compromise: the nature groups could prove that they
had some influence and the businessmen got an extra job. Now you see more and
more ecoducts, as if we still even have that much nature in the Netherlands, or
places where we accept nature. Near Utrecht there is an ecoduct, but the
problem is that it was meant only for small animals. The deer and wild pigs are
not supposed to use it, because they might damage the property of people living
on the other side of the bridge. Huh, who can explain that to the deer? The result
is that hunters are posted on the other side of the bridge to kill all large
hooved animals.
It has never been proven that
ecoducts do what they are made for: Ecoducts are built to reduce collisions with wild animals, increase their
habitat, and ensure their survival. Research results were based on two examples. A critical expert said: We do
not know how they really function. So, you do not want to have too few of them,
but also not too many. These ecoducts cost between 2 and 12 million euros each,
and all those who represent the pieces of land we are talking about continue to
build more and more. Have I ever mentioned the number of roundabouts in the Netherlands,
and the cost of those things. Crisis?? What crisis?!?
So, springtime in my mind and
searching for something to be a little frustrated about resulted in a call for
new organization. Another great day for me.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten