New York City’s history is often looked through the lens of man made development; starting from our humble colonial beginnings in the early 1600s to our current status today. If I were to ask for a rendition of New York History, I would say with confidence that a reasonable person would trace back lineage through different waves of immigrants or architectural formations. The assigned reading, Biodiversity Assessment Handbook, provided an impressive and comprehensive report of the geological and ecological history of New York City. What was truly interesting about reading the report is to see how our city as we know it has only existed for a comparatively irrelevant amount of time. The nature of the island has been grown, sculpted, and reshaped over millions of years, only to be paved over with relevant ease to make way for millions of people and rampant urban development.
One of the two main thoughts that stuck with me after reading the article was how astounding it is to realize that the NYC region has changed over rapidly in an incredibly short amount of time. In the handbook, there was a picture of what a pre-colonial model of Manhattan would look like. What was noteworthy, other than the lack of buildings, ships, and people ,was that there were mostly forests and pristine water and marsh areas primed for aquatic life. Towards the end of the reading the author acknowledges current conservation efforts are starting to reshape the city once again. In other words, the city may have hit its peak in terms of human-related development. As we grow more aware of our environmental impacts, we may seek to reshape our city once more – this time into a more balanced ecosystem where animals and wildlife may flourish once more from where they were once dampened.
In addition to think about the future of the city’s development, I also thought about how the information in this handbook, if exposed to more people, could instill pride in our environment and make it a larger priority in our lives. Over the course of our country’s development, Americans have radically altered the landscape and exposed many once preeminent animals and flora to endangered levels. At this point in time people realize the urgency in maintaining whatever wildlife and “pure” nature that we have left. Handbooks like this can be provided in schools to children to teach them about their urban and suburban environments. In addition to learning history from a natural perspective, children could learn their local tree and animal species and how they contribute to their daily lives. While many people may not see the utility or benefit of one tree, bush, or bird, these types of handbooks can teach people that their local ecosystem can provide them with priceless goods and services such as: fresh water, mixed fruits, and cooler temperatures.
