Welcome to April’s edition of the Flourishing Monthly – a sharing of inspiration and insight for the journey towards a vibrant and healthy planet.
This month we’ve been inspired by stories of rewilding wherein humans act as part of an ecocentric story, placing themselves in service to the flourishing of landscapes and their diverse inhabitants.
From the highlands of Scotland, to the peatlands of Finland, to the rainforests of the Philippines, these stories illustrate the profound benefits of braiding together local knowledge, cultural practices, and new scientific approaches as the starting point for rewilding and conservation projects.
We Are Earth
In this article published on Atmos.earth, adrienne marie brown invites us to inquire into our interconnectedness with all life forms as a start point for regenerative relationships. She outlines the principles from her book ‘Emergent Strategy’ as they relate to cultivating a culture of “planetary integrity – that is, toward wholeness and truthfulness in relationship to our only home”.
This compelling article calls us to look at our own unique lives as the start point for expanding the field of possibilities, by adopting movements that embody a renewed relationship with the Earth.
Returning to My Roots
Our latest We As Nature podcast episode with KM Reyes is a beautiful example of personal rewilding, demonstrating how her re-discovery of an intimate connection with a place has had a vast regenerative impact. KM’s story takes us from Australia to Europe, to South America, before landing on the beautiful Palawan Island in the Philippines.
Learn about her work on the ground by checking out the South-East Asia 30 x 30 campaign. Known globally as the Campaign for Nature, 30 x 30 is urging the world’s government leaders to agree to protect at least 30% of the earth’s land and water forms by 2030. With the Philippines being 1 out of 17 of the world’s megadiverse countries on the planet, KM’s focus is on getting their national government to commit to the 30×30 goal by upholding indigenous rights and recognising local leadership.
The Reaping
“Rewilding could, and I’m beginning to believe, should, be a process where people begin to relearn how to be within a landscape.”
–Col Gordon, Regenerative farmer
The notion of relearning “how to be within a landscape” is brought to life exquisitely in this article by Inkcap Journal.
It documents the reintroduction of song to the grain harvest in the Scottish Highlands, detailing how language, stories, and practices can offer us ancient, new, and diverse ways of entering into a symbiotic relationship with the Earth. (photo by David Lintern)
Traditional Knowledge Guides Protection of Planetary Health in Finland
“Rewilding has tremendous potential to solve some of the biggest crises of our time”
–Tero Mustonen, Snowchange Cooperative director
Linnunsuo in Finland is a previously peat-mined wetland that’s now the centre of a groundbreaking rewilding initiative. In just a few years, 159 bird species returned, biodiversity increased, carbon sinks were restored, local economies strengthened, local jobs increased, and the ancestral land, traditional ecological knowledge, and local livelihoods were preserved.
This initiative has been made possible through a collaboration between scientists from the non-profit Snowchange, with Finnish traditional and Indigenous knowledge holders, illuminating the influence that such collaborations can nurture, and serving as a vital reminder of the cohesive force between nature and culture.
Dig deeper by reading this article published by Mongabay and the case study on our website.
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