IN the name of progress and economic gains, Mother Nature, or Magna Mater in Greek, is being continuously violated in so many unimaginable and atrocious ways. For epochs, human activities carried out in the name of modernisation, enhancement of economic gains and advancement of technologies have been an agonising death sentence for Mother Nature.

Camouflaged as an effort to create equality and provide equity to mankind, Mother Nature’s non-human constituents, such as the environment, forests and non-human animals are being persecuted and decimated pervasively by human activities.

The Covid-19 outbreak has driven every country in the world to freeze its economic, social and physical development activities. The reduction in human activities due to the stay-at-home, movement control order (MCO) and lockdown initiatives in the struggle to break the chain of infection is gradually rebooting Mother Nature and resuscitating her non-human constituents. Magna Mater is reinstating balance.

While the global population endures the battle against the pandemic, Mother Nature is seen to be pushing on as usual. As it happens, Mother Nature is healing herself. The global stoppage in human activities has had several positive results on the environment, such as decreased air pollution due to less carbon-guzzling planes in the sky, less fuel-burning cars on the road and less forests being set ablaze for deforestation.  

The worldwide lockdown has caused nitrogen dioxide pollution levels to plummet, particularly in China and Italy. These lockdowns have significantly reduced emissions and air pollution levels. Well, for the first time in 30 years, the Himalayas are finally visible from India as the country’s lockdown eases air pollution. 

As lockdowns send humans indoors, scenes worthy of a Disney film have surfaced; from a mountain lion taking a nap in a tree in a residential area in Colorado to swans and dolphins gliding through the now-clear canals of Venice, to hearing birds chirping happily in the morning on your window sill in Shah Alam, to crystal clear Gombak and Klang rivers, whose waters are usually outrageously polluted with human and industrial waste, to blue skies over China, where the air is normally asphyxiated with smog.

While the humans are pinned under a tight global lockdown, wild animals all over the planet have come out in groups to reclaim their territory. For example in Karnataka, India, particularly in the Kodagu district, elephants were seen walking on roads cheerfully. Spotted and Sambar deer were also found wandering liberally. And, the Chilean capital, Santiago, received multiple visits from cougars amid the country’s lockdown. Wildlife is always happy when the environment becomes quiet. From mountain goats taking over towns to endangered sea turtles hatching on an empty Brazilian beach, they are clawing back during the Covid-19 lockdowns. 
 
The appearance of a group of wild otters sunbathing and frolicking at Taman Tasik Putrajaya seems to have captured the public by pleasant surprise, but left many questioning how they got there in the first place. The MCO imposed by the government has eventually restored vigour to the wetlands. And, the otters are an indication that the ecosystem is functioning healthily. 
  
Evidently, Mother Nature and her non-human constituents are reacting positively to the global lockdown. Without us humans in the way, nature is thriving.

The worldwide lockdown, as an initiative to combat the outbreak, is actually humanising the human race and highlighting the symbiotic relationship between humans and Mother Nature. And, as the most intellectual creatures to ever walk on planet Earth, it would be wise not to disrespect Magna Mater and her non-human constituents. Let’s not live on this planet as if we had another one to go. – April 23, 2020.

* Suzianah Nhazzla Ismail reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.