Animals in the City

I was at an urban ecology conference today. It was held in a church in the city centre, and it was organised as a goodbye to Amsterdam's most popular urban ecologist. It was all about his work, and the importance of nature in the city.

There were some interesting talks, on the history of urban ecology, the way ecologists had to fight for a place in urban planning and about the way they are indispensable now. You cannot plan a city of quality if there is no room for nature, and that idea is generally accepted now. The group of urban ecologists in this city have worked hard to achieve this.

Martin was always the most visible of them, the one who turned up on television to show something special happening with the birds or other animals present in the city. I worked with him on one of my projects, where I was appointed "manager birds". We were responsible for making sure the breeding birds would not get in the way of the work, because that would mean the work would be stopped, but we were also given the opportunity to create room for breeding birds, or for any other animal wherever possible.

I enjoyed the work, making space for nature, as the BBC's Springwatch would call it. And it is good to see that now this is common practice here in Amsterdam. It was good to hear and see the stories today, to see men dedicated to the work they do and to hear them talk about it. And it is good to see that nowadays they are taken very seriously. I met some people I used to work with who were always a bit sceptical about the whole idea, but who ended up thinking about the animals and nature in their projects as a matter of course.

The other things about the conference was that one of the speakers decided to do without a big powerpoint presentation, but just used words to convey his message. He talked about ecology and communication, and he managed to get his message across powerfully just using words. They spoke louder than pictures.

Martin made a film about nature in Amsterdam, together with a journalist from the local TV station, and it had his signature to it. A lot of animals, lovely pictures, a love for the city and a good sense of humour. It'll be a success. At the end of the afternoon the mayor came to speak, and he presented Martin with an honour from the Queen, but that didn't seem to make much of an impression. I do think he was pleased though, because just for once he was speechless. For a little while, anyone.