Personal Environmental History
August 7, 2024 By: Sam Al-Alimi
The historical environments of my family have been within the same country, but has included living in villages, towns, and cities. While both sides of my family lived in similar environments, I will focus on my father’s side of the family because I have more information, and I have visited the village of my father twice. The ancestors of my father were originally from the city of Marib. During the 6th century, the collapse of the famous Marib dam forced people out of the capital city of the Sheba kingdom and my ancestors moved to southern west Yemen and settled in a village in what is today the city of Taiz. Fun fact, I am 98% peninsular Arab or at least that what 23&me say.
The village was fertile, so my ancestors were able to grow food and raise animals. Their diet ranged from meat, chicken, eggs, bread and local Yemeni meals made from a mix of flour, milk and water. They were dependent on rain and ground water to sustain themselves and their way of life. In and around the village, coffee became important for trading and use as well. The village was relatively close to the west coast of Yemen and the port of Mocha which became the famous name for coffee in the world. Furthermore, the proximity helped my ancestors buy dried fish that became a famous cuisine in the area. Unfortunately, an invasive species of plants called qat came to Yemen when the Ethiopians invaded for a while. The plant is chewed and gives you an energy boost and focus. The plant was spreading in Yemen like wildfire being planted in almost every city, town and village; the consequence of this was numbers of coffee trees decreasing rapidly. Heat was mostly from cutting trees as well as for cooking and gas was not introduced in the village till about 1986.
My grandfather as well as my father were born and raised in the village. After the revolution of 1962, the new republic built many schools and universities which incentivized many people to move to cities like Taiz and Sanaa to pursue higher education. All the family moved to Sanaa around 1990. My family’s food diet changed in the capital city, they had access to more imported and manufactured foods such as cereal and bottled juice. Sanaa’s elevation is very high compared to the family’s village standing at 2500 meters and I remember my father telling me he struggled for a while with breathing until he got used to it. I did not live in the village, I lived most of my life in Sanaa and so I had a different relationship with the environment than my father or grandfather had.
Sanaa’s environment was mountainous as our village, but less green. It was busy, cold in the winter and mildly hot in the summer which was nice. When you live in a city, you don’t get the relationship or the connection between the animals, the trees and your own consumption, the opposite of my father and grandfather. KFC and Pizza Hit were the only fast-food chains in all of Yemen and it was like weekends treat for a lot of families. It goes without saying that the capital city was better than the village in almost every aspect, but it still suffered from many of the same problems. First and foremost, the planting of qat in almost every city and town eradicated local produce so the country had to import most of its needs. Second, there was no urban planning and environmental studies; you just build and hope for the best which in some areas became a real issue because of sanitation management. The third problem considers the whole country and not just the capital, that is the hunting of the famous Arabian leopard and Yemeni ibex which are recording very low number and are under threat of extinction.
The threat of extinction of these animals was not really a concern for everyday citizens, however my generation has played a crucial role in limiting hunting areas, educating people on the importance, cultural and ecological of these animals. I am aware of climate change and its effects; I feel I am aware of the dangers of the future especially living in Canada and seeing the effects of climate change in person. But I will probably never have the connection my grandfather and father had living in the village, knowing every single people, eating from what you grow and walking over 20 km every day to get to the nearest school.