In March of 2010, I was fortunate enough to spend a short time in Kenya. While most of my time there was spent in one of the world's largest slums, Kibera, I did spend the last day there in the countryside on safari. We left the bustling streets of Nairobi at 4 that morning- it is best to see the animals very early in the morning. My friends and I hopped into a van and hit the trails. About an hour later the sun began to rise. So did the lions, elephants, zebras, gazelles, and more. In that moment I could very nearly hear the Lion King music playing. :) In that moment, everything was peaceful. I was exhausted, but content to watch these creatures in their natural environment; not behind panes of glass in a zoo. I spent that morning watch lions lounge, zebras roam, and elephants play. It was incredibly beautiful and moving.
In terms of "saving nature," I definitely think we should work to save it- or at least a good portion of it. I'm not a vegetarian, my carbon emissions are high; the only thing I really do to save nature is not use plastic bags. I certainly don't want them to end up stuck in the lungs of a whale. Similarly, I tend to think that people are most important. But that doesn't mean that I'm all for human activity completely ruining nature and killing all the animals. I don't think dolphins should be slaughtered like was seen in The Cove. I don't believe is cutting down every single tree in the Rainforest. The more I live the more I begin to think that the human world is big enough. We're already using more than our fair share of resources. So in short, yes- we should work to "save nature."
Unless some apocalyptic event occurs and we need it...
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