Green Lung Gone

     In the half a year I spent traveling to and from Kuala Lumpur some eight years ago, I heard the term "green lungs" often.  KL's valley-location makes it vulnerable to polluted air hovering over it...and it seemed news features frequently reminded Malaysians of the importance of their "green lungs"--areas lush with trees and plants located in the city center and the surrounding suburbs.

   Back to my own reality from the KL stay, I grew increasingly obssessed with the pocket of green behind our rented apartment.  It was in Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City. Years before I had tried to put an end to the burning of leaves that happened weekly in the garden directly behind us.  I phoned the seminary it belonged to, I reported the situation directly to the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) chairman, whose headquarters, ironically, were just across the compound, with EDSA between them.  I sent them an information booklet from the Mother Earth foundation to provide alternatives to the burning.  I began with friendly phone calls, and ended with angry pleas.    For a while, something happened, one of those efforts worked.

   Just perhaps two years before we moved out, I somehow found an ad selling the huge property next to the seminary.  I studied the ad and with the help of Google Earth, found that the property was actually the only existing green space of that size in the area.  It even had a small body of water.  It was most likely the habitat for all the creatures I observed.  I can't tell you how I wished I was a billionaire with money to spare for that tract of land.  I remember making a note to try and enter the skyscraper next to it to view the land from the air.  Obssessive, excessive, right.  It must have been the lack of oxygen.  I even played around with shooting wildlife---with cameras.

         

   Recently news also featured the squirrels in Dasmarinas and Forbes Villages in Makati, as well as birds that have been seen in such urban settings.  So it's not as if the wildlife is gone.  

   For that place, with excess funds, I wanted a sort of learning destination. I envisioned an urban garden-museum-school-whatever. A fantasy, really. I also just wanted those creatures to still have their home.  I also tried learning more about that area's past.  Were there residents along the banks, could we dig and find artifacts...the church at Guadalupe is supposed to have had steps leading all the way to the Pasig. What did that hill look like long ago? 

   Now I again find something about that property.  A condominium tower is being built (or is it finished) on it.  It was inevitable...sayang. Who am I to say this though, I'm no urban planner, no ecosystem expert.  

   This is a sentimental post for me.  I know it can sound insane.  I guess it's the lack of sunshine, the vitamin D deficiency...the gloom and sadness of the flooding and too much rain.