Blue Planet Prize Story

Professor Walker realized that if resources are used beyond a certain limit, the ecosystem will undergo a sudden shift to an alternative state in which it will not be able to return to its original state. He advocated the need to increase the resilience of the entire natural and social system to prevent a sudden shift in natural ecosystems and the global environment that would lead to the loss of sustainability in human society. His research has significantly contributed to our understanding of resilience, and that understanding has been developed further in a wide range of fields such as environmental preservation, environmental economy, and disaster control.
It is difficult to find cases of resilience; therefore, it may be desirable to give students the chance to understand changes in the natural environment around them and learn about their influence.

Survey on long-term changes in the nature around us

[Purpose]
If it is difficult to find examples of resilience in the natural environment through cases around the students, it might be helpful to encourage them to consider changes in nature caused by humans by thinking about the ecosystems around them. Students can usually recognize changes in nature over the past 10 years. While helping them to understand long-term changes, students investigate the causes of changes, the influence of such changes, and how this information can be used to improve the environment.

1. How is the nature around us different from what it was in the past?

(1) Make teams of a few students and assign each team to an area to check how the nature around them has changed.
Students should ask their parents, grandparents, or people who have lived in the area for a long time about the changes in the nature in their neighborhood. They should also observe nature, check books at the library and search information on the Internet.

· What are the major differences between the past and now?

(Example)
The Chinese milk vetch was in full bloom in all the rice paddies around here; but we don't see them much now.

· What caused the change?

(Example)
Because farmers planted Chinese milk vetch, so many were growing around here. Leguminous plants like Chinese milk vetch store nitrogen that fertilizes the soil. Therefore, farming households planted them after harvesting rice in the autumn, and they would come into full bloom the next spring. They used to plow the Chinese milk vetch after it blossomed to fertilize the soil.
When farmers started using chemical fertilizers, however, they stopped planting Chinese milk vetch. This is why we do not see so many Chinese milk vetch now.
*It is important for students to realize not only the changes in nature, but also the changes in the customs in each region.

· What did the change influence our lives?

• (Examples)
• The landscape in spring was filled with the flowers, but now it seems empty.
• Honey bees used to gather in the Chinese milk vetch fields to collect nectar, but we do not see them at all now.
• Children in the neighborhood played in the Chinese milk vetch fields and picked the flowers, but we do not see children playing in the fields now.
• After farmers started using chemical fertilizers, they came to harvest more rice. Chemical fertilizers are inexpensive, which helps farmers a lot. However, using chemical fertilizers only reduces microorganisms in the soil and depletes the nutrients.

(2) Students make a presentation on what they have found and exchange opinions.

[Important points]

It is often the case that areas where humans live change significantly over a period of 50 years. Here it is important for instructors to help students clarify the reasons for such changes and discuss whether the changes were necessary.
For example, there may be a wide range of opinions about the disappearance of Chinese milk vetch from the fields. These included opinions such as, "People should have continued using Chinese milk vetch instead of chemical fertilizers" and "The goal was to harvest more rice, so the use of chemical fertilizers made sense." Instructors should respect the opinions of each student without judging whether opinions are correct or not.

2. What should we do from now?

Based on the content the students summarized and discussed in above 1, students should discuss what they should do to preserve nature around them.

Examples of opinions

• I want to see the flowers in the fields in spring like before. They are beautiful, fun to play with, and honey bees will return to the fields too.
• We should think about the farmers too. Using both chemical fertilizers and Chinese milk vetch effectively may help the harvest by fertilizing the soil, and the fields will be filled with flowers again.
• If the flowers are back in the fields and honey bees gather again, they will be able to collect honey to sell.
• Besides Chinese milk vetch and honey bees, I would like to learn about creatures that lived in rice paddies in the past and now to understand more about them.

[Important points]

As with the discussions in 1 above, instructors should not judge students' opinions. Instructors should encourage them to consider the reasons for their opinions to prevent them from becoming too animated during discussions.
In addition, instructors should try to insert the viewpoint of resilience into the discussions.
(Example)
Which rice paddy functions should we help to preserve? Is it food production as a farmland function, growing Chinese milk vetch to attract honey bees, or both?

[Advanced assignment]

If students are capable, encourage them to research cases in which resilience has been lost in the nature around them.
It may be very difficult to determine where resilience has been lost; therefore, students can bring up cases in which they feel resilience may have been lost. Considering the difference between the changes that may recover slowly and changes that will not may help the students to understand what resilience is.
(Examples)

• Lake water is very dirty, which suggests that the ecosystems may have completely changed from before.
• A small wetland cannot absorb pollution, loses resilience, and may not return to its original state.