Match Cuts 4: Signs Of Hope

Today I was reading a title story about an owl. About an Ukrainian owl. And my first thought was: Oh my, another one of these “cute animal stuff” reports. But it was much more, it was a story about humans who choose being humane. It was a story about the impact of war we rarely speak about and which will last for generations.

(Öffnet in neuem Fenster)

Unlike the tragedy of “Timmy the whale”, owl Sunny is healed and nurtured by a specialised scientist, and not for becoming famous. Veronica Konkova stands for the silent volunteers and scientists persuing their work for an unknown future despite every day’s dangers and difficulties. And so the story talks about the impact of a modern war on nature, on the natural base of food, and ecosystems. Even when all sides will sign a peace treaty, the waste and toxic products of weapons will endanger food security. Nature reserves will recover in parts but they will never be the same as before.

Why do you care for a forest, an animal, while humans die?, many will ask. It’s because the forests, the animals, and plants will decide about human’s future. And all these unknown people caring for nature, doing science during war - they are a living sign of hope. They show humanity in a world that seems to be increasingly brutish. But we should not forget that these people actually make up the majority. That is what it means to be human, not what a handful of aged world destroyers are trying to talk us into believing.

Read: “Blinded and broken, Sunny the owl becomes another casualty of Russia’s war (Öffnet in neuem Fenster)” (The Guardian)