YRE Competition 2023
1st Place - Article
15-18 years old
By Berna Sutović
There are various myths about the relationship between humans and nature. One of them is that nature has a soul, whose power is embodied in humanity, which makes human life more beautiful and bearable.
Today is November 7th, 2022. The weather forecast for tomorrow predicts temperatures up to 27 degrees Celsius. I hear my mother saying, as she decorates the birthday cake for me and my twin brother "This day sixteen years ago, it was snowing, the wind was blowing, and it was almost minus two degrees."
As I listen to her I think about the bare forest above my house, and I recall my geography teacher and her lectures on climate, climate factors and elements. I think about humans having contributed to making the climate in a mountain town in November resemble a seaside climate. Yes, today I wore a T-shirt and sneakers, and ice cream was being sold on the street. The peaks of the mountain Hajla, which used to have white caps all year round, are now green. I know that this is an abnormal occurrence and that the harmony in nature has been disrupted. The ozone layer is expanding, the Earth is slowly losing its shine and beauty, and with it- its living beings. Climate changes year after year contribute to development of epidemics, malaria, and butterflies full of parasites, snails and fungal diseases that attack vegetables and trees, attacking what is part of our existence.
I am sixteen years old and I am afraid. Who is to blame? I wonder if it is because in front of every house in the neighborhood there are two parked cars. I wonder if it is because of thick smoke coming from two bakeries every morning, polluting the air because the baker may be using some kind of plastic for fuel. Are the overflowing garbage containers above which smoke often hovers and which we inhale to blame? Perhaps those who, in the pursuit of profit, transport timber outside the borders of Montenegro every day are to blame. Maybe it is my neighbor who throws garbage into the river late at night? When I ask who is to blame, I get the answer that we are all to blame. Man is to blame and his harsh relationship towards Mother Nature, who has given him plenty of amenities.
Unfortunately, despite all the values that the 21st century has brought, man has devalued nature with his actions. If we look around us, we will notice that nature is slowly dying out because more and more trees have been stripped or have disappeared because they have been replaced by large buildings, markets, cafes, or asphalt. The exploitation of the forest has reached an extreme dimension, there is less and less oxygen and more smog, so it is no wonder that people are increasingly suffering from lung cancer, and children tend to suffer from bronchitis soon after coming to this world.
We witness that everyone talks about the economic crisis. No one realizes that the cause of the economic crisis lies in ecological crisis, and the environment is the basic value.
The race for prestige and material wealth is gaining great dimensions. Resources for enrichment are in nature, but they are used in the wrong way. For every tree cut down, two should be planted. However, people don't think that way. They live for the moment, for false shine, and do not think about the future. Villages are deserted, and cities are full of people who, in the race for a more comfortable life, find salvation in stuffy cities. They consume food grown in greenhouses instead of engaging themselves in production in the countryside. Definitely, humans are at a loss.
The new generations that are growing up are both victims and perpetrators of an inhumane relationship toward nature. Young people find their values in everything that undermines their health and lives, and their future is uncertain. It is a devastating image when young people leave trash behind after a trip to nature.
They do not realize that every thrown away paper, a can, or any other waste is a blow to their healthy tissue, the air they breathe, a blow to their spirit and body.
What can be done to prevent possible disasters and leave healthy nature for future generations?
They teach us entrepreneurship, how to make profit; they teach us math, how to count; they teach us literature, how and what to read. They give us knowledge; socialize us, but the very least of all is the environment. All the knowledge in the world is useless if our health is deteriorating, and deteriorated we make it by destroying the nature around us.
Professors, educators, parents, teach us to protect nature! It is not enough that you have digitized our education; it is not enough that you build houses and buy apartments for us, and leave material wealth for us as inheritance. All of this is in vain if we are forced, like during the coronavirus pandemic, to wear masks again, lock ourselves in our homes running away from each other.
A higher quality education is needed. We should start from preschool, through elementary and high school, and involve the entire society. It is necessary to organize as many as possible educational workshops, seminars, and discussions related to ecology. Penalties for all those who contribute to pollution in any way should be increased.
Let's learn to recycle more. Let's love nature. Let's protect forests because they breathe for us, and clean rivers are our bloodstream.
Nature has given itself to us and we are obliged to protect it. Let us not allow ourselves to poison it because it is our life and the life of our descendants that are at stake.
The atmosphere is an infinite space. The air we breathe is shared by all humans. We need to unite and fight to preserve nature and prevent the destruction of the Earth.
““As every raindrop is a part of the sea, so man on Earth is a part of her””
Garbage in river Ibar in Rožaje (author: Berna Sutović)
In the photographs, there is the river Ibar in Rožaje, whose banks have been turned into a landfill. In the spring, nature takes revenge on us. The river Ibar swells so much that it floods nearby houses, and the garbage returns to the homes of those who have thrown it away. Of course, the citizens become victims of their own wrongdoings. This is followed by seeking help from the government precisely by those who, due to their ignorance and lack of environmental awareness, will contribute to the destruction of the Earth, whose effects, if this continues, will be more powerful than any weapon.
RESOURCE:
"Bukovičke iskre", Mirsada Bibić Šabotić (Centar za kulturu Rožaje, 2021.)