Letter 6: Human Ecology

Two of the things we humans most need in order to survive are water (for drinking and cooking and washing) and fuel for cooking our food. At your house, you probably get all of these things by pushing a button or twisting a knob or turning a handle. For most humans throughout history and, indeed, for most humans living on the Earth today, water and fuel must still be fetched at great effort every day.

All while we were in Africa, we saw people going to fetch water from the nearest stream or lake. In most cases, they then carried the big yellow bucket of water home balanced atop their heads. We saw many children as young as you are doing this, carrying a heavy bucket a mile or more.	Fetching water from a river Kenya (Click on any image to enlarge it)
Sometimes, we saw lucky ones driving a donkey laden down with several of the buckets. And in the wealthier parts of Kenya, a few people had bicycles for fetching their water. It certainly wouldn't be an easy job for this young man to push his heavy bike along the muddy dirt roads. When we saw him, he was washing the mud from his bicycle's chains.	Fetching water with bike Kenya
Getting firewood is even harder for many people, and often children must do their share of that chore, too.	Carrying firewood Kenya

Kenya has a very good law that makes it illegal to cut down any indigenous tree. Indigenous trees are those that are native to the country. In some areas, due to a misguided policy from long ago, there are many introduced trees, mainly eucalyptus from Australia. Those can be cut down because they provide nothing for the native wildlife.

Of course, this law is a hardship to people who need wood to burn every day in order to cook their food. The law does allow them to remove vines and dead trees, which is what the people in the photo are carrying. You might think that that's OK, that it doesn't damage the forest. Sadly, however, whenever you remove any part of an ecosystem, there are consequences. By removing the dead trees, the people are making it impossible for "cavity nesters" (birds and other animals that live in holes in dead trees) to find a home and have babies. Thus, some species are being endangered as a result of this policy. And, yet, the people must have a way to cook their food, so forests all over the world are being cut down every day.

One thing for you to remember when you are grown up and have responsibility for some land: Try to leave dead trees standing if you can do so without endangering people. Many birds and other animals will be able to find homes if you do.

Aunt Melinda