Hippopotamuses and Logging in the Colombian Wild: My Collage for LMAC #136

This week my collage for LMAC #136 (see details here) was inspired by something I learned from @abneagro, in the StemSocial community. @abneagro writes the most remarkable blogs about insects, the environment and sustainability. He referred me to a Youtube video that showed hippos swimming in the rivers of Colombia.

The hippos are a legacy from Pablo Escobar, the notorious drug lord, who kept a zoo when he was alive. After his death the zoo was cleared of all the animals, except the hippos. These non-native ungulates adapted. They left Escobar's estate and propagated in the forests and waterways of Colombia. In this environment, hippos present an existential threat to native species.

When I saw @shaka's evocative template photoI noticed the cliffs, and the trees beneath them.

These became the focus of my collage. I think I had the hippos in mind all along. The sheer disregard for the native environment that their presence suggested, reminded me of deforestation and general despoiling of the environment--not only in Latin America but around the globe.

Clearing of forests occurs for the sake of industry, and for the sake of residential development. It occurs for mining and for ranching. While emissions account for much of global warming, the clearing of earth's forests also has an effect on climate.

Another practice depicted in my collage impacts climate. This practice is represented by fire in the foreground. Crop residue burning, occurs in agricultural areas around the world. This method of clearing cultivated land contributes dramatically to global air pollution and also damages the fertility of the land.

The Making of My Collage
My friends at LMAC, who contributed to the LMAC Image Library, LIL, made this collage possible.

• @quantumg kicked it off with his dramatic photo of forests and waterways.
• @muelli contributed three images, all from LIL:
  Yucca trees
  Palm trees
  Fire
• @bella76 contributed the Bananas
• @teungkulik contributed the brilliant red Fruit.

Thank you all! I've designated each, and @abneagro, as 2% beneficiaries on this post.

I also borrowed several images from Pixabay:

• pscholtes: Hippo #1
• sholty1970: Hippo #2
• 652234: Logging
• angietoh: Bear

Here is an intermediate step

Adding the fruit took a long time :)

At some point I decided an elk didn't belong in Colombia, but the country is host to a bear species: the speckled bear. I had to settle for a black bear in my collage.

LMAC, a Fun Community for Artists and Non-Artists
I'm not an artist, but that has never stopped me from expressing myself through art, in this community. Every week we sponsor a contest, which is run by @shaka, community founder. Throughout the week we accept contributions form the Hive community to our Image Library. We also welcome Hive bloggers to borrow from the community library. Details for library contributing and borrowing may be found here.

Please join us when round #137 of our collage contest starts on Thursday. Details may be found on @shaka's blog, here.Prizes are great (even greater this week because friend of LMAC, @balta, has contributed to the prize pool).

Thank you for reading my blog. Please, everyone, have a most peaceful and creative week.