2021 is going to be a year of rebuilding on many fronts after the hard year that 2020 was. I am excited for the possibilities that lay before us as nations, peoples and communities begin to climb towards rebuilding the post-pandemic world. We still have a ways to go, but the vaccines and motivations of people to enable the important lessons learned personally give me hope.
For the tireless, heartbreaking efforts of our doctors, nurses, technicians, first responders, & front line health care workers, I am more grateful than words can express. Thank you. To the teachers & educators working in situations unimaginable heretofore, I see the effort and lengths you have gone to for your students. Thank you. To the front line workers across the board, often underappreciated, I see you. Thank you. If you have lost someone, a friend, family, my heart goes out to you. May you find strength and support in your circles.
We now have 2020 in hindsight, and while we continue to struggle towards a new normality with COVID19, we have things to do now. Important things.
More than ever it is about the importance of the basics: clean water, clean air. These have come to the forefront as we watched smog clear from skies with lack of traffic and industry. We watched murky waters clear in a number of places around the world from a reduction of boats, cruise ships and tankers. It was a reminder of what it should be and that we do have the power – individually and collectively – to make it better.
To have clean water and air for life on Earth we need protections for the environment, to support and protect biodiversity. Conservation, awareness and education has never been more important and more relevant than it is right now, and it truly starts with each of us.
Our own actions, which propagate to others in our social circles, work exactly like ripples.
Learn more. Engage more. Participate and support more. Support a chosen charity not only with money but also with your time. Start your ripple effect right now. This is 2021 and there are things to do to make our post-pandemic world in the image we want it to be. It begins with health – nature’s health, water health, air health.
Be safe, stay strong, and good health to you.
Paula Polman Board Chair Aquarium Society of Alberta Creating the Aquatic Biosphere Project for the Story of Water.