EARTH MEANDERS
Dawning of the Age of Ecological Restoration
Introduction: by Valerie Garforth, FAWCO Environment Committee Chair
The following article discusses a hopeful future with a plan for restoring our world, for humanity and our individual lives. Dr. Glen Barry’s vision emphasizes the reasoning why I believe FAWCO should continue to support Trees For Life. This organization is seeking to restore the ancient Caledonian forest that once covered Scotland and has been applying the techniques mentioned in this essay for many years (removing non native species, seed collection and regeneration of native species, deer fences, cooperation with adjacent landowners, land acquisition to create a sustainable large area etc.) It is also interesting that the author links restoring the earth with his own physical restoration process and recovery from substance abuse.
My vision for FAWCO would be that each club should look for a local group which is seeking to protect a significant local natural area and that we continue to support AIWC Casablanca in its reforestation work with the Peace Corps and local forestry department in the rural areas of Morocco.
The author gives permission for this to be reprinted provided proper credit is given.
Dr. Glen Barry, http://www.environmentalsustainability.info
June 19, 2005
Introduction
Increasingly I am convinced that the Earth and her humanity may overcome looming environmental crises. Climate awareness and local actions are proliferating, Brazil is belatedly cracking down on deforestation and environmental sustainability is again moving to the political front burner. But the Earth will only be sustained in the long-term if we get serious now about ending new environmental damage, while restoring ecosystems that have already been adversely impacted.
Humanity has already destroyed, fragmented and diminished ecological systems far beyond the requirements for long-term global ecological sustainability. We have overshot the natural regenerative powers of the Earth. Thus, the survival of our children and our species depends not merely upon stopping future damage, but equally upon restoring what humanity has ripped asunder. This essay heralds and anticipates the dawning of the age of ecological restoration. Its purpose is not to be a technical treatise, but rather seeks to establish that widespread embrace of ecological restoration as a global ecological imperative, while highlighting the benefits of your potential involvement in ecological restoration.
Prerequisites to the Age of Ecological Restoration
There are a few broad strategies that must be implemented as prerequisites and as an ecological foundation to an age of ecological restoration. Firstly, it is critical that humanity designate global ecological reserves - terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems that are large, connected, appropriately located, free from industrial development, and are sufficient to maintain planetary global ecosystem functions. Indications are that some one third to one half of global land and marine area must be maintained in natural ecosystems free from industrial development if the biosphere is to continue functioning. These areas are large enough to power global, regional and local ecological patterns and processes; while serving as models of what intact habitats look like, and how they work, for coming global restoration efforts.
Further, there can be no Earth to restore unless greenhouse gas emissions are immediately drastically reduced. The atmosphere is intimately coupled with oceanic and terrestrial ecosystems. Climate change is but one example, though currently the most obvious, of too many people polluting too much. It will not be possible to stabilize the global ecological system, and benefit from ecological restoration, until policies to stabilize climate are begun in earnest. The sooner mandatory emissions targets are in place, and massive investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy are made, the greater likelihood of maintaining a workable global ecological system that is stable enough to be restored.
And finally, it is critical that the protection of freshwater and marine ecosystems be given the urgency they deserve. Deadly water shortages are likely the next manifestation of global ecological collapse that will be felt most acutely. Many water sources such as melting glaciers and underground aquifers are not appreciably replenished. And huge oceanic areas are becoming "dead zones", virtually devoid of life. Many water sources and oceans are routinely treated as waste dumps. Freshwater continues to be squandered on non-renewable and inappropriate uses such as irrigated agriculture in arid zones. Sources of potable water must be given the reverence and protection deserved by such a precious commodity.
Environmentalism is not just about saving pretty scenery, plants and animals. It is about maintaining conditions able to sustain life. Urban dwellers are far removed from the impacts of their consumption. Climate change, deforestation, water scarcity, dying oceans and other environmental issues are symptoms of the same malady - too many people consuming too much. In seeking to support the massive and still growing human enterprise, we have surpassed the amount of habitat that can be lost and waste that can be spewed into the environment, while still sustaining ecosystems and other species. Human populations must be capped and then reduced using widely known non-coercive methods.
This essay will take for granted that we have stopped all further encroachment on natural intact ecosystems - making the world's last great forests, grasslands, coral reefs and other still fully functional ecosystems no-go zones to industry. Further, it is assumed that human population and emissions will be successfully limited, and water and oceans carefully managed. While at this late date, in terms of human environmental damage, this will not prove adequate to maintain global ecological sustainability; it does set the parameters within which we can reclaim a habitable and functional biosphere through ecological restoration. Humanity must show that it can stop shitting where it lives, in order to get on with the task of cleaning up past messes.
This Is the Dawning of the Age of Ecological Restoration
It is time to herald in the Age of Ecological Restoration. Here I will focus upon the imperative of massive coordinated programs to augment the Earth's ability to regenerate her biosphere (simultaneous with the
above) based upon the well established science of restoration ecology. The biosphere is a narrow band of life encircling the globe, within which reside self-regulating mechanisms necessary to maintain conditions conducive for life. However the human enterprise has simply become too large, and through its activities threatens this biological fabric of being.
There are already a wide range of activities that seek to reestablish vegetation, ranging from reclamation of heavily industrially degraded lands by trying to get anything to grow, to more rigorous reestablishment of natural plant communities. In recent years, the range of ecological remediation has become a huge multi-billion dollar industry. However, it is the more rigorous restoration of natural ecosystems which concerns me most here. There have been years of scientific experiments and pilot project into how to restore composition structure, dynamics and functions of ecological systems - even constructing plant communities from scratch on degraded land.
It is now time to rapidly increase the extent of ecological restoration activities in response to looming threats to global ecological sustainability. To date, the problem with ecological restoration has been its small scale, failure to catch on as a more widespread component of environmental sustainability, and a failure to take a landscape approach which targets such activities to places where they will have the most impact. The Age of Ecological Restoration will focus upon bringing nature back into the human fold. While a wide range of activities from reclamation to fully restoring ecological communities should be embraced - maintaining natural patterns of species diversity and ecosystem processes demand that the emphasis be upon the latter.
A program of large and targeted ecological restorations in order to maximally restore a given landscape and its species and ecosystems rarely need start from scratch. There exists great potential to target restoration in order to bring about maximum landscape improvement. Areas given priority may include helping already existing high-quality fragments of natural vegetation expand, reconnecting isolated blocks of vegetation, revegetating an important watershed, and willingness of land owners to participate.
Following initial human colonization, and decades to centuries of agricultural use, the originally forested countryside in many regions now contains some 10-20% of a landscape in a still forested albeit degraded condition. This is not enough to maintain ecosystems or species. Yet even in these fragmented landscapes, there is much that remains that can be helped to regenerate. It is important to identify existing seed stocks, patterns of animal and plant migration, and potential threats to restoring ecosystems such as invasive plants and human development pressures. One strategy is to aid these fragmented vegetational stands to expand and reconnect. This may be as simple as letting the adjacent areas next to the fragments go fallow - natural plant succession will frequently take care of the rest.
In other situations, it may be beneficial to actively replant with native species. This may be necessary when natural seed dispersal mechanisms are lacking, and to jump start the process by speeding up the re-establishment of dominant tree species. It is thought that reestablishment of the canopy structure is a prerequisite for later herb and shrub inclusion. Careful selection of species, their locations, and their community assemblages; as well as years of commitment to their care, should lead to new habitats. Planting native tree species where they historically grew is highly beneficial to restoring a sustainable balance between pastoral and natural systems.
There are other considerations when choosing to carry out ecological restoration plantings. Whenever available and to the extent possible, it is desirable to use local plant stocks which are adapted to the area. It is also recommended that the target natural community not be entirely limited to one time in the past. Given expected impacts upon forests and other vegetational communities by climate change, it may be desirable to include species native to adjacent plant communities that are more heat and drought tolerant. In response to anticipated climate change, targeted ecological restoration should seek to provide for plant migration routes to help native plant and animal species move towards the poles.
On My Own Personal Human Restoration
My non-profit organization Ecological Internet has recently launched a new project called "Land Restore". This project which is still in its infancy will seek to demonstrate some of the principles above, while providing materials on the Internet regarding ecological restoration techniques and how to have land placed in conservation easements.
Over the past two months I have planted about six hundred small trees - and several hundred in previous years. Located in the mesic hardwood forest zone of Wisconsin, I am planting sugar maples, a variety of oaks (including some more southern species), white pine and many other local species that historically were dominant in the forest canopy. Much work remains past the actual planting - the grass in the abandoned farm field is tenacious and must be kept at bay. During the first years in particular, as many trees as possible are watered during dry periods. I am trying small fences on some of the trees to protect them from deer which are overabundant in the area.
Slowly a species rich forest is taking shape. Many trees do not make it
- but enough do to make it worthwhile, and techniques are constantly refined. My plantings are being supplemented by a wider variety of plant and animal species that are migrating into the new habitat. These approximately three acres of restored forest are my way of giving back to the Earth, which has given me so much. Not only will there once again be a forest where there used to be, the personal physical and emotional benefits of restoring your own little portion of Eden are immense as well.
Restoring the land is also a manner to restore oneself. There is great satisfaction in getting ones hands dirty while doing right by the Earth. Like most, my life has not always been easy, and I have made many mistakes and suffered through pain and disappointment. There is relief from past abuse, addiction and a failed marriage to be found in restoring the Earth. After enduring the pain of discovering muscles I had forgotten about, my somewhat lumpy computer ridden body has a new more svelte image, and I have more energy. I can not begin to communicate the ecstatic, healing, epiphany like experience of raising a new forest - one tree at a time.
Join me in the metaphysical miracle of linking our beings, a small piece of land over which we have stewardship, and the well being of our bioregions and ultimately the Earth in all her glory. As the fabric of life has been torn to pieces, there are many ecological processes that must be restored. Mechanically bioengineering the Earth's biosphere is not an option. But you and I together can protect and restore the Earth we have. Start planning your plantings now - for surely you must participate early and often in the dawning of the age of ecological restoration!
Earth Meanders is a series of personal essays that place questions of environmental sustainability within the context of other contemporary issues. Comments can be made, and past writings can be found, at http://earthmeanders.blogspot.com/ . Emailed responses will be posted there as well. Permission is granted to reprint this essay provided it is properly credited.
Written and networked by Dr. Glen Barry in his personal capacity
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