A return to The Commons is in order, but on a different scale and with more focus than ever before. The Commons is defined as the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, and which are not owned privately. This vast definition encompasses all kinds of tangible and intangible assets throughout …
Tag Archives: ecosystem
Forest Community
Community management of natural landscapes is our best and maybe only hope. Community and culture have thrived in the days and territories where humans have taken their livelihoods directly from their environments. We seem to do very well without the complex markets, commercial trade routes and value added commodification that our current technology allows for, …
The Pristine Illusion
Conservationist are set on the idea that to preserve nature is to remove humans form the equation and leave habitats alone. But is this even possible in today’s world? And has it ever been that way? It seems that in every corner of the globe, animals not only inhabit an ecosystem, but shape it and …
Dreaming of re Greening
As the natural world collapses around us in an accelerating Armageddon – with a majority of large mammals and insects facing extinction, forests and ocean habitats becoming degraded faster than ever, and the harrowing warming of the planet with nightmare polar ice melts and extreme weather events, it is all too easy to become disheartened, …
Quantifying the intangible
The problem with subtleties is that most people miss them. Can we accurately measure and place an economic value on ecosystem services, or Nature’s contributions to people? Will it ever be possible for mechanisms like carbon taxing or the United Nations Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD), actually represent the true …
To preserve Nature, or to persevere in Nature?
The dichotomy between productive and preserved landscapes is false, and leads to negative outcomes in both productivity and conservation. Much ecological philosophy seems to be largely founded on the notion that clear boundaries must exist between territory dedicated to human activity, whether it be productive industry or settlements, and territory dedicated to habitat and wildlife …
Continue reading “To preserve Nature, or to persevere in Nature?”
Integrative Eco Social Design 