Support wildlife

As a young environmentalist concerned about what life on this planet could look like in a few decades, I fall into the camp of those who want to believe in the power of nature to recover mentioned in the May 21 article “Is Wildlife Encroaching Because of the Pandemic? Experts Say No.”

Looking around at the destruction we’ve caused, the wildlife extinction we’re accelerating and the ecosystem dynamics we’re shifting, I can’t accept the possibility that it’s irreversible.

But I’m not naive, and I recognize that supporting the natural spaces we have for so long chipped away at will take care, commitment and cooperation. The current pandemic has reminded me of how deeply flawed our relationship with nature is. Our roads have crisscrossed sections of Penn’s Woods, making it harder for animals to eke out a living in the disconnected chunks that are left. And now with the coronavirus ravaging our communities, we see it as an invasion of our carefully cultivated world apart from nature, ignoring the centuries-long human invasion we have been inflicting upon our environment.

Either way, an us-vs.-them mentality won’t help us. We need to get serious about coexistence — be intentional about keeping our ecosystems healthy and our communities safe.

Wildlife corridors are a perfect tool in crafting this better natural world. They allow us to create the spaces that wildlife need to survive and reduce the thousands of wildlife-vehicle collisions we face every year. Pennsylvania state legislators, it’s time to support wildlife corridors.

MIREILLE BEJJANI

Regent Square