REC: The Bulletin 7/2: No need for another ark

E D I T O R I A L

No need for another ark

Surely, back in old Noah's time, there was something like an Environment for God's Earth process taking place, with key stakeholders meeting and discussing the state of the environment and future prospects. If not, perhaps there were some social institutions condemning the immoral turn which the society of the day had unfortunately taken, pleading for changes in behavior and policy.

And all the while, Noah just kept on hammering away on his ark with some friends, preparing to take advantage of the Great Flood which had been prophesied to take him to a new world.

And as prophesied, it did come.

PAWEL KAZMIERCZYK CONTEMPLATES THE FLOOD at REC's Szentendre head office - and the new lagoon which immersed part of REC's Conference Center, Junior Fellow bungalows and rear grounds.

As did the great flood which engulfed Central Europe this July. The great difference being that nobody had been notified. The similarities being that nobody believed that something of that size could come, and that, in many ways, it too had been caused by humans - no, not completely, and not because of immoral behavior as such - but nonetheless, we humans seemed to have made a substantial contribution. And not to the number of raindrops that fell, but rather by providing a clean and swift passage for the raging torrents to rip through villages, cities and businesses which had tempted fate and located too close to the potential disaster.

Depending on your religious beliefs, the story of Noah is either real or a fantastic tale. Nonetheless, one cannot deny its serving as a symbol to all that the good Lord, or at least Nature, retains power to spontaneously wreak havoc on our attempts at order, or lack thereof. Human attempts at order, that is. For a flood is nothing but an enormous amount of rain which simply runs over more land than usual. And the way that nature is ordered, it can deal with it. Respect that rule, and damage is thwarted. Ignore that rule - by cutting down trees, destroying the soil's capacity to retain water, settling in floodplains, and channeling all the water down concrete chutes - well, I would suggest Noah's plan wasn't such a poor option.

The other option is to start changing things now.

For Central Europe, that process, be it "Environment for Europe" or "Agenda 21" or grassroots activities, has begun. But neither these processes nor the European Union will be able to save the region from another flood unless the message from this one becomes clear, as the following special section on the flood, written by a number of experts and journalists from the region, attempts to show.

Isn't it sad, however, that so often, a disaster is needed for us to see the writing on the wall.

Paul Csagoly
Editor of the Bulletin

Editor's note: For a free subscription to The Bulletin contact editor@rec.org or Fax: (36-26) 311-294.

REC * PUBLICATIONS * THE BULLETIN * SUMMER 1997