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Conflicts Between Environmental "Goods"

by Jeff Mocniak

I have to begin by saying that the topic of this article is not my idea. With permission, I've borrowed it from my friend and environmental advocate Dan Grosboll of People for Puget Sound fame.

For some time now, we environmental advocates and activists have been involved in an ultimate struggle between good and evil, right and wrong. Since the gears of the modern environmental movement have been in motion, from around the mid 1960's or so, there has been a surge of righteousness charging all that we represent. At times, there has been a polarized struggle between the profiteers, those who seek personal gain, and the protectors, those whose goals are for the greater good.

So it has been rather easy to draw the battle lines. There are those who seek to exploit the natural world for personal gain, causing great destruction to ecosystems the world over. Then there are those who attempt to stop this unfettered resource extraction and save what is left of the non-human world. Sounds clear-cut enough (pardon the pun). But what will the outcome be when hard-fought gains begin to turn the momentum in the direction of the "protectors"? When excess development is stopped, lands protected, mega corporations brought under control, land use laws improved, and environmental awareness is present in the general population, what's next?

We might all agree that at least some of the conflicts between environmental "good" and "bad" are under control with the good guys (and gals) having prevailed. But sometimes the struggles that we've chalked up as wins become conflicts within the winning circle itself. We fight so hard for the salvation of a piece of land, a grove of trees, a stream, and then are left with disjointed remnants of a once whole ecosystem. We stand mouths agape and wonder what happened. When even "experts" can't agree what's best for a piece of the environment, what should the rest of us do to support its recovery?

There is an answer, but it isn't as simple as the usual lobbying effort: sit in your easy chair, vote, donate, write a letter and feel good about yourself sort of approach. Instead it requires active participation, an intimate relationship with nature. If we are to really know what needs to happen in a particular place, then we must be willing to engage our surroundings. Call it direct democracy if you will, but be open to the idea that democracy can include more than just human voices. Though difficult as it may be for a tree to cast a vote, our understanding of that same tree's role of importance in an ecosystem gives it more than enough voice to be considered in our decision making processes.

There have been attempts at including the non-human in participatory democracy. One example took shape as the "MAGIC" committee, a form of all-species democracy. In an early bioregional congress of the continent, four people were dedicated as representatives of creatures that walked, swam, flew, and existed as plants and trees. Their purpose was to make participants of the congress mindful at all times of "the interests and perspectives of our non-human cousins" (Carr, Mike. Bioregionalism and Civil Society, 2004). It was a bold attempt to craft an advanced form of democratic representation, and has been a part of bioregional congresses since.

More recently the people of Ecuador have voted for a new constitution, one that gives rights to nature, such as "the rights to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its { nature's } vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution". It is the first such move by a country's government to adopt "ecosystem rights" into its constitution and goes so far as to ensure that the government take "precaution and restriction measures in all the activities that can lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems or the permanent alteration of the natural cycles."

Both of these examples lend to the idea that we can do more than save what is "out there". There is a potential to craft enduring relationships with the natural systems and cycles that have been ever-present in the evolution of humankind. Indeed, if we are to have any sort of understanding of the necessary steps towards assisting ecological regeneration of our ailing ecosystems, we are going to need better tools to aid us in the process. Such tools should undoubtedly be initiated by everyday "Joes" such as ourselves as we get to know our places better, roll up our sleeves, and jump into an active participation in the regenerative process of environmental restoration.

Jeff Mocniak is a new SPEECH board member. He enjoys participating in local eco-restoration groups and has recently begun work on a bioregional guidebook to our region. For more info see www.cascadianculture.blogspot.com or email cascadianculture@gmail.com.


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Updated 2015/01/07 21:14:22