Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mithridates]

That would be my title for this column, but Mr. Kristof has called it "A Livable Shade of Green". Anyway, it's a good read, and I remember Tiger Beer (I think) praising Portland before too.

[rapier]

Dawning of the Age of Ecological Restoration

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 is 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
resides 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.

http://www.environmentalsustainability.info/

[bucheon bum]

Good post Mith. Pretty impressive what Portland has done.

[Dan]

The world cries out about the US not signing the Kyoto Treaty, while at the same time, there are several nations which signed the treaty, and as yet have not improved performance, or in 1 case (portugal), have actually increased emissions.