Archive for November 27th, 2013
Roots
There has been a great deal of debate recently regarding the proposed National Conservation Bill. Those arguing against the Bill have painted a rather disturbing picture — one in which nature is depicted as the non-human “other” standing in the way of progress. As an environmental policy masters student, this is a depiction of nature that I have become used to reading about.
Environmental issues are often framed as dichotomies: Evil governments versus poor locals, destructive locals versus wise governments, conservation versus development, humans versus nature, etc. All the messy grey areas in between are conveniently eliminated.
I can understand, therefore, why those in opposition of the Bill are keen to present the issue as Caymanians versus “bugs, slugs and scorpions”.
What I cannot understand is why we, given our heritage as Caymanians, are buying into this rhetoric.
I have always maintained that the Cayman Islands occupy a unique niche socially, ecologically, and historically. Our country developed slowly throughout most of its history until very recently. The Cayman Islands’ transition to a tourist and tax haven occurred over mere decades. We have elders within our community who remember what it was like to have to rely on the land and sea for food, shelter, and clothing. The short temporal scale of change has had a distinct impact on the construction of the Caymanian cultural identity. Our collective identity is anchored firmly in the years that Caymanians spent relying on our islands’ natural resources for subsistence, and the hopeful resilience with which previous generations faced the future despite their materially bare existence.
Our identity as Caymanians is inherently tied to our islands – and to the plants and animals that also call this country home.
The silver thatch trees we bulldoze to make way for a new subdivision used to provide our not-too-distant ancestors with roofs, rope, baskets and hats. And the soil those trees grow in is aerated and packed with nutrients by all the creepy-crawlies the editor of the Compass happily dismisses.
I am not saying that our ancestors were always in harmony with nature, or that our environment will collapse ifsomeone treads on a slug. What I am saying is that our natural resources used to be viewed as assets and that should not change simply because we no longer need to build our walls from wattle and daub.
The Caymanian cultural identity is rooted in the interconnectedness with the environment that shaped the lives of generations past and these roots must be sustained if we are to maintain our identity in the face of increased globalisation and modernisation.
We need to stop framing environmental issues in terms of a dichotomy that does not exist. We may not have to rely physically on the land anymore, but that does not mean that our environment has become irrelevant or an obstacle to our development. The natural beauty of our islands is a vital component of our tourism product, for example, and it must be sustained if we are to continue to be a favourite destination for divers and bird-watchers.
I wonder if the reason we are so willing to accept the picture of Caymanian versus nature that has been presented to us is because we have forgotten about our roots.
As our catboats were replaced by jetskis, and our wattle and daub by concrete, we forgot to take care of the natural world that had taken care of us for so long. We stopped teaching our children about the plants and animals that shared our islands — to the point where many can’t tell the difference between a green iguana and a blue iguana, let alone between a bull thatch and a silver thatch. And, as we lost touch with the natural world that shaped us, we lost touch with who we were as a people.
We need to remember our roots and the ground in which they are firmly anchored.
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