LAST Sunday, April 22, was Earth Day. It was celebrated around the globe with a flurry of activities for environmental activism and expressions of real caring for the planet.
Today’s citizens of the globe must really know the extent of the environmental crises they are in. Perhaps, it is only now that humankind is suffering from the effects of climate change.
And the only way the health of the planet is to be sustained to sustain the health of living creatures that live on its surface is for human beings to care for the Earth like it is part of their individual and communal bodies.
We are part of the Earth and one another. If that is not the case, we should not really care what happens. But being part of the Earth, we need to get our hands dirty more often by planting trees and cleaning rivers and creeks that we ourselves use as sewers and dump areas for our waste.
In the Philippines, I have not heard how government, civil society, and even individuals showed they care for the Earth, in effect for a healthy living in the community.
Abroad, the work has been ongoing and a collaborative effort of nonprofits, academe, business, and government since the beginning of the month. The citizenry can readily find a group that has lined up their calendar of activities online for “Earth Month” that culminates on “Earth Day.”
I wonder why action for “Mother Earth” was not seen or heard from the citizens of this Facebook-crazed archipelago. It is my hope though that Filipinos, although usually loud about how much they care for trees and wildlife habitats on social media, have silently performed their caring works for the planet in big and small but meaningful ways, like simply the actual planting of trees (for emphasis) on the ground, not words and voices about trees on the internet.
How was “Earth Day” 2018 done worldwide? From service projects to guided hikes, it is not all hard work. What is going on sought to make the Earth a healthy place and its citizens healthy too while they participated in the month-long activities?
In Baguio City, perhaps the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO) should start making a census of the trees at Burnham Park, with their local and scientific names. Next “Earth Day” a “Hike in the Park” can be organized for local folks so that CEPMO can educate us all on what trees are available at Burnham and their utilities. It would be nice to know how some trees were planted in the park.
Today, “Earth Day” I went hiking along the Baguio-Loakan Road, appreciating as I did the dense pine stands on both sides of the road. The message the trees brought to me was that it is a great people who planted and made sure the trees grow, no matter how long it took them to do so. Obviously, the people who planted the trees were not a greedy lot who needed to take all land and everything in it in their lifetime, but are caring and sacrificing for the sake of “Mother Earth” and the future generations of mankind and all creatures.
The beauty of the green landscape along that route is that it does not need to be turned into housing and make Baguio City look, like it is a squatter colony all over, with all its waste and stinking sewers filling the air. Out here, the Baguio you once have known with its pine scented air remain.
This whole month, besides walking at Burnham Park, I have been actually trekking all over where the pine trees are still intact, holding on to the last territory that the people would allow them to have. I did not necessarily do it because I am an “Earth Day” fan but I wanted to find out for myself if, like the Japanese, I can get some benefit walking under the trees.
The Japanese call it “forest bathing,” which was what Henry David Thoreau prescribed for civilization and its discontents, offered in the 1854 essay Walden: Or, Life in the Woods as some form of eco-therapy.
The literature on “forest bathing” claim that it is proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, reduce stress hormone production, boost the immune system, and improve overall feelings of well-being.
I suffer a lot of ailments as an after effect of my living with diabetes long before I was diagnosed suffering from it. In the woods, with my jug full of water and walking there with the fresh air, “forest bathing” does what it claims to do. For this column, it is reason enough to celebrate “Earth Month” and to keep the trees intact where they currently live in their colonies.