Page 32 - Local Voices, Local Choices Excerpt

Chapter 10
The cycles of old and new
Japhet Mwanang’ombe sets out to educate and inspire the younger generation.
Hamisi Matama preserves the traditional ecological knowledge his mother taught him
The tropical forests are among the most biologically diverse and significant biomes in the world. A rainforest, for example, is so ecologically specialized that it creates its own localized climate,
which it needs for self-preservation. Essentially, rainforests generate their own rainfall: the dense vegetation traps massive amounts of humid air that condenses into rain clouds, which, in turn, sustain the vegetation. This self-reliance exemplifies one of the core processes in nature—the positive feedback cycle. Both positive and negative feedback cycles govern how the world functions, and every natural process can be traced back to one of these two cycles.
The same can be said for human behavior, at least metaphorically. When a person initiates positive change that directly benefits another, the
beneficiary is likely to feed this back through appreciation, growth, under- standing, or even action. If the feedback cycle continues, affecting not just one individual but others around them, it gradually spirals until, one day, a self-sustaining habitat of community change and development has emerged.
Japhet Mwanang’ombe, currently the National Coordinator for the
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