This was the story of the original photo: Amid the noise and disruptions across many parts of the site—where this mangrove forest continues to flourish despite ongoing dredging activities that directly affect the surrounding flora and fauna—a Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) remains graceful in motion as it hunts for food, leaping and flying over the pontoon floats. While the development work in the area is said to carry beneficial intentions, projects of this scale would not be approved without the consent of the concerned governing sectors. Yet the question remains: at what cost to the natural environment should progress be pursued?
The augmented version now answers my biggest what if about the scenario: What if humans simply allowed the natural environment to thrive? Surely a different story would be told—no large-scale cutting of trees without replacement; no birds and fish searching for a new home after theirs have been disrupted or, worse, exploited by the endless human desire to prosper selfishly; no children growing up in a culture of romanticized ambition that disguises the idea that success must come at the expense of other life forms.
Let us always remember that environmental well-being is human well-being. How much more fulfilling it is to see our children playing with the soils and waters of the planet while living harmoniously with the earth’s flora and fauna, rather than watching them live a life of luxury and pleasure at the expense of the wings, trunks, horns, and hooves that once roamed the land but are now gone.
