Avatar and Biodiversity

As farfetched as Avatar might be, there is a simple life lesson to learn from the basic story line of the film; look after Mother Nature.

Ok, so Pandora might not be real, but since 2010 is the year of Biodiversity, there is no better time to release a film of this kind. Biodiversity is really us working and living in harmony with nature, whilst maintaining and exploring it, just like the natives of Pandora.

The simple story of an outsider coming in to destroy the lives of the native people, and ruthlessly wreck the planet (a lush, green world), because there is something in it he wants, has lots of parallels with things that has happened in Northern Ireland, an example being in North Antrim when a proposal for lignite mines came from an Australian company, and just like in the film, would have went ahead if the local people did not fight against it.

The main character, Jake, the paraplegic war veteran, goes to learn the language and culture of those on Pandora, and guess what? He thrives in it, and of course falls in love (it’s a movie remember). Just like Jake did, if we get out of our comfort zone, and do something we haven’t done before, we can learn lots, and be better off because of it. Simple things can make a big difference in biodiversity terms, so we don’t need to go to another planet, we can even just make a compost heap in the garden, plant a tree, or even make sure we don’t litter, or go one step further and make sure you recycle; it’s that straightforward.

Jake thrived when he connected his tail to animals and nature, and then talked or listened, and at the climax of the film, it was they that saved him. There is a lot we can learn from this, and I am not saying you should go out and try to communicate in such ways to nature, just realise that we work in synchronisation. We need the environment as much as it needs us, and we need to work in harmony with it, and to work in harmony is to ensure there is a variety of living things in any one area.

For those of you who have seen the film, you know where I am going next, you know that I am going to emphasise who will win in the end, and for those of you who haven’t, quite frankly you should have figured it out by now, but I am not one for spoiling things, so I am saying no more.

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