|
Since ancient times, the river Nile has provided the essential waters of life, where the annual flood, until 1968, when the
Aswan High Dam was completed, covered the dry, arid areas around its banks with rich alluvial soil.
This flooding, gave rise to the term in the Old Kingdom (c 2613 - 2181 BCE) 'Kemet', or Km't, the 'Blacklands', when people
called themselves, 'Remetch en Kemet', peopke of the Blakclands.
Today the Nile continues to play its important role as an unending source of sustenance, providing the communities that
live along the river banks, the opportunity to continue the traditional way of life; from fishing and farming, to the more
modern 'Nile tourism' activities.
However, in recent years, this way of life has been drastically affected by the modern scourge of the use of plastics.
The Nile, like many of our oceans around the world, has not escaped this modern blight, which is reflected in the abundance
of plastics found throughout its length. The result of the Nile being used as a 'dumping' ground for single use plastic, is
sadly seen in not only the quality of the water, but importantly, the effects of the wildlife living in and around the Nile.
Eventually, this plastic, disintegrates down into minute microplastics, which river fish ingest, ultimately getting into
the main human food chain.
A major collaboration on a world-wide scale must be instigated immediately before a global catastrophe hits not only the
natural world, but human life as we know it
The book will be heavily illustrated with photographs taken over a 20-year period, attempting to capture a way of life
much unchanged for aeons.
Link here to view my album on 'Life on The Nile'
|
