Resignify is appreciate different, this process brings conclusions that modify the opinion about something or someone. The change can confirm what we suspected or modify some conviction. I bring up the concept because I will tell a case that belongs to the second category. This is a group of employees dedicated to maintaining the green areas of Gardens in the Mountaincolony in the Mexico City. They redefined their work through training and experience.
Sit at a desk and listen: In front, with the spirit and professionalism that characterizes him, the candidate to doctor of science, Nihaib Flores clearly states:
⦁ The forests from the south of the Mexico Citylike the ones we have here, are remnants of the original vegetation that existed in the spill Xitle volcano which erupted more than sixteen hundred years ago.
The attendees look up to the left side of the meeting room of the settlers association trying to recover that image, but immediately, they divert their pupils to the right imagining the force of the lava catapulting upwards.
⦁ Currently, in these forests the flora is made up of two types of plants: native (those that belong to that ecosystem) and exotic (those that have been introduced by man).
Judith Zarate, Raúl Reyes, Ana Cuamacateco and the others are trying to identify which group the herbs they removed yesterday from a rocky outcrop belong to. Very soon you will know…
⦁ The Jardines forests have as neighbors the Cerro de Zacatepelt, the Tlalpan Forest and the Botanical Garden of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Nihaib knows that he is talking about spaces similar to his workplace. Suddenly, the invasive ones, the exotic species appear: the African ball, the ivy, the kikuyu grass… Everyone wonders, but why are they so bad?
⦁ These intruders steal water, food and space from native plants, to such a degree that they can disappear or destroy the ecosystem.
Of course, everyone thinks, it’s as if a sick interloper suddenly entered our house, emptied the pantry and spread his viruses and bacteria throughout the living room.
⦁ But, in addition, the plants that have always inhabited the spaces you care for require less maintenance and provide us with ecosystem services.
I’m sure you feel the same as me, the first time I heard this expression it was like listening to the medical report of a tomography of the pituitary gland, that is, I didn’t understand anything, but I had the impression that it was a good thing.
Nihaib made them learn that a healthy ecosystem (without exotic plants, among other things) and its services regulate temperature, help capture water, promote pollination, prevent flooding, etc. Finally, he emphasized that:
⦁ Removing leaf litter is equivalent to depriving the soil of the nutrients that the leaves give it.
The knowledge did its job, see it in the words of those who acquired it:
Did anything change in you after listening to biologist Nihaib?
Yes, now I see what is native and I know what I should and should not plant.
Yes, change one, you have more knowledge.
Yes, it changed my perspective as a garden worker.
How would you describe your work after the meeting?
We work with more awareness.
As the place where I enjoy and learn from nature.
My job is more important.
Did you like to know how native plants are treated and cared for?
I like the training, like the one they gave us on trees and pests. I want more.
Yes, and when I walk on the street I identify the trees and know if they are healthy.
Training ourselves means valuing our work. I appreciate it.
More from the same author:
- One of the eleven women who die every day in Mexico: The invincible summer of Liliana
- When fear comes without warning
- Compost: promise fulfilled
#reassessing
