The Green Desert
Out in the green desert
The ponds are filled,
The hedges flayed,
The verges mowed.
Out in the green desert
The fields are sprayed
The animals killed
The weeds all hoed.
Opher – 8.10.2020
The countryside looks green but really it is a sterile desert cleansed of wildlife. Our fields are factories. Nature is being driven into a smaller and smaller periphery.
Huge fields are necessary for the massive farm machinery so hedges are grubbed up.
We no longer have beasts of burden – we use tractors, so ponds are no longer needed. They are filled in.
Even the remaining hedges and verges are managed. Mowing and flaying destroys habitats, removing seeds and insects.
The fields are sprayed regularly with pesticide and herbicide.
The insects are going. The birds, voles and hedgehogs are becoming rare.
Is it any wonder?