Nate---Photgraph #6

   This photo was very effective to me because the image showed a very clear line in what areas had been through lodging and what areas that had been untouched or put under environmental protection. The photo shows the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Haiti had went through a severe period of time where trees were cut down in mass quantities to produce lumber, and as a result only 1% of the land in Haiti has trees on it. The right side of the photo shows the other country, which had went through lodging but had stopped or slowed the process before the environment was devastated (had roughly 28% of land forested). This photo generates negative feeling towards the industrialization, and what it can do to the environment. What this particular photo does very well is compare a side of a mountain that had been cut down, to the opposite side that had been preserved and there is a profound visual difference between both.
   The part of the writing that was at its best was when it started to talk about "Papa Doc" who was Duvalier and about how his policy led to mass deforestation. The quote that surprised and informed me the most was; "Duvalier followed an unstable series of presidents; none protected the environment, leaving only 1% of Haiti forested today". On the opposing side, another part of the article that had very good writing was comparing the two countries together, saying, "however, in contrast to Haitian neglect, citizens in the Dominican Republic launched bottom-up conservation efforts". Those two passages as a whole were the best parts of the articles because it shows an irresponsible government, and then a responsible government. It shows that through policy changes and bills, we can turn around the environment and provide a hopeful future.
   Nature for me provides virtually everything, and I mean this is the least hippie and most scientific way. I had taken an IB two year course in biology and studied the food chain and the effects deforestation does to every part of the world. This course showed me how every aspect of nature has a part and course in the future survival of the ecosystem, and at the bottom of every ecosystem is plant life. Without plant life, less species that require the plants to survive are alive. Therefore, less species survive that live off the species that are herbivores, and so on and so forth. Nature and plant life mean most to me as our basic need for survival, and reducing the amount of forest or nature will directly effect me and the population of earth.