Battles for Gaia’s Resources

Her resources are the life blood of Gaia, and just as some of us give our own blood and organs to help others, so she in her infinite love for all who depend upon her gives all she has willingly.

The Elements of Nature are deeply concerned with what Man does with the assets of the planet. The spirit of Earth controls all that comes from the land such as oil, gas, minerals and coal - though it may not seem that way sometimes - and on behalf of Gaia has been much occupied for many years by the often unreasonable squandering of her precious commodities.

The Elements of Water and of Air are becoming centre-stage in Wales where I live, meanwhile. It is a beautiful and under-populated part of Britain which is blessed with much water and also wind. In the past, entire communities were forced to leave their homes and farmland when the British government decided to take advantage of the conditions and flood the valleys where they lived in order to provide water for English cities, and indeed the walls of the lost villages can be seen still when the reservoir levels are low. The suffering this caused was enormous; Wales is a small country and the universal anger and sadness which was felt at the time, over one hundred years ago, has not been forgotten.

The feelings of the Welsh people were disregarded then, and history may be repeating itself as UK politicians propose creating a national grid to export water from Wales to the most populated and resource-hungry parts of England, and to impose a series of massive wind farm developments here to help England’s energy needs. Both ideas could have huge implications for Wales’s precious environment and for the well-being and self-esteem of the people and place of Wales.

Very unusually, huge protests have been taking place against the wind farm development, and the strength of feeling generally against any unilateral sequestration of the assets of the people of Wales is enormous. It is the biggest political issue there is, and a difficult confrontation between the devolved Welsh government and the British government as to who decides how Welsh resources are used is looming. The Welsh are happy to share but not just on any terms.

The issues at the heart of all of this centre upon a community's right to choose, upon the importance of co-operation not imposition, and upon using the gifts of Gaia moderately and fairly. The abundance of all aspects of nature is in Wales for a reason, and it will be needed as the planet changes. To plunder it now could be a costly mistake for us all.