Travel to Wales
From Sep to Dec 2005, I was staying and travelling in Wales. I visited many of the touristic places there. The people are very nice. They speak and ancient Celtic language called Welsh - Cymru (kimru). They are still ’ruled’ by England and most of them hate it. Some of the people with whom I talked, commented that, Indians are lucky to get freedom from England, as they are still ruled by the monarchy since the last 1000 years. Since 1997, they have their own Assembly and expect to extend more freedom in the coming years.
Celtic is another culture which was destroyed by the Romans and later by the Christians. Now-a-days, the remaining peoples - Irish, Scottish, Welsh etc. are trying to revive their lost traditions and cultural practices including language.
They are building their assembly building by spending 40 million GBP (pounds) and the specialty is that it will be a very sustainable/eco friendly once it is completed.
Wales is the first country to adapt Sustainable Development into their constitution and it is mandatory to look into aspects of sustainability in every project and programmes that they do!! They are leading in development of alternative energy sources, eco tourism, water conservation methodologies, waste management projects etc. and becoming a model for other EU countries to follow. They have developed their own ’’Green Certification’’ called ’’Green Dragon’’ which is gaining popularity in the country.
As you must be aware that red Dragon is the symbol of Wales? There is a nationalist party (Plaid Cymru)which is gaining popularity in the country.
I found it little disturbing to see dirty roads by students / youngsters spitting bubble gum and throwing cans of softdrinks / beer. Some people also throw waste, just like India, on the road - though it is punishable if caught.
The climate is extremely cold and wet. The super markets like Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Lidl are making big business. The items they sold are cheap and in turn affect the life of farmers as they don’t get good prices for their products. They also procure goods from cheaper destinations, mostly Eastern Europe or developing countries and sell them. If you know cooking and have facility to cook while you lie there, life is not that tough in Wales.
After Margaret Thatcher’s rule, privatization ruined the public transport system (to support the car manufacturers) and now they are struggling to bring back people to use buses / trains. Public transport system are not well maintained due to lack of funding from Government. Some times, you will feel that Indian Railways is far more better connected than the rail net work there.
One could learn a lot from the management of infrastructure and tourism destinations. They are well maintained and people friendly. What I mean by ’’people friendly’’ is that it is mandatory to have access to people on wheel chairs and most of the information is available in multiple languages and signs.
As regard to the biodiversity of the region, I must say that, it is deteriorated over a period of many centuries. They do not consider ’nature’ beyond something to consume or exploit. They have no value for it beyond financial terms. As it is almost destroyed, now they are struggling to instill value for nature and biodiversity. Hence they are requesting other developing countries not to make the same mistakes that they have made.
When they ask us to consider Sustainable Development concepts in our national or regional policies, we are finding it hard to accept and oppose it in the name of ’development’. It is high time, we ask the question, what is development with out ’nature’.