Resilience and hope
With the extra rainfall that we have been having over the past 4-5 days, we can see an immediate recovery of the scorched grassland in our parks. There is a great green emergence again.
I wonder if this is signalling the potential for green participation in the formation of our government – with talks currently underway?
The resilience of our environment is really significant. We know that in a dry environment, many organisms and plants cannot survive. The biodiversity drops off and the absence of water has a huge impact on the community. However, studies have shown, quite remarkably, that on the reintroduction of water, organisms very quickly return, and the complexity starts to emerge again.
An amazing example of how organisms adapt to water scarcity is the Namibian fog basking beetle. This beetle has both hydrophilic (water loving) and hydrophobic (water hating) features on its surface. The beetle attracts water – what little there is using the hydrophilic parts and then when a droplet that is big enough forms, it slides down on the hydrophobic features – toward its mouth. Fascinating!
We welcome the green grass again and take it as a symbol of hope.