8 minute read
WE ARE THE ARK
Build an Ark
START AT HOME AND BE THE CHANGE WE NEED TO SEE IN THE WORLD. BUILD AN ARK – AN ACT OF RESTORATIVE KINDNESS TO THE EARTH.
BY MARY REYNOLDS ILLUSTRATIONS BY RUTH EVANS
Listen. Underneath the hum of motors, the swoosh of tra c, the incessant chatter and clatter of our busy lives, there is an unnoticed absence. A strange unfamiliar sound on the earth: silence. e earth, our shared home, is falling quieter by the day. Our non-human kin are leaving us. e millions of miraculous creatures we are supposed to be sharing this ball of life with, are disappearing. Humanity has wiped out 69% of all wildlife since 1970, and 75% of insect populations have been decimated. To the edge of a cli we have driven them and o en over it, never to return.
Mostly all of us are suffering from a phenomenon called ‘Shifting Baseline Syndrome’, where every passing generation has no memory of what ‘natural’ used to be. We just accept the current depleted version of the earth as being what nature has always been. is is the Great Forgetting. e oceans used to be crystal clear, kept that way from the massive beds of oysters on the sea beds and the waves used to be visibly heavy with life. e skies used to darken when the sun was blocked out by ocks of birds or butter ies passing overhead on one of their heroic migrations. Now we get excited when we see one individual. e whole skin of the earth used to move with
life, heaving with vast cities of creatures. Our land was covered with a full set of clothes, a diverse network of native woodlands, wetlands, prairies, and glades where a myriad of creatures made homes. Humans lived within this abundant system with awe, respect and compassion for thousands and thousands of years (and many still do in parts of the world). We lived in full awareness that if we took too much for ourselves or began to treat living beings as commodities, we would find ourselves in the wasteland. But we lost our way. And now here we are. Eking out an existence in the wasteland, living at the edge of a cliff ourselves.
The only reason we get to live here on this magical, abundant paradise that we call ‘Earth’, is because the planet continues to support us with clean air, water and food. The earth is a living organism, made up of millions of species all working together in harmonious and often mysterious ways. These are the threads in the web of life. They support each other, control each other, nourish each other. Each of these threads that we remove in our efforts to continue to grow exponentially and expand our interests and greed, has a knock-on effect on the rest of the web. We do not know when we will finally remove a thread that is holding it all together.
Most of humanity has ignored the consequences of our actions for too long. We live in a crazy system of constant expectations of economic growth in a world with finite resources. Politicians cannot be trusted which should be obvious after years and years of broken promises, blatant lies and shiny, green spun photo opportunities. They have had too many chances and it is now clear that the birth of a new world is up to us to imagine. This ship is visibly sinking and they are still fighting over what colour the lightbulbs on the deck should be. This is not something that will only affect future generations. This is happening right now. The collapse of nature leads directly to a collapse of society and those noisy but wonderful two-legged creatures called humans will fall silent too.
But there is hope, these systems can change, but only from the ground up. The direction our world is heading is not controlled by people so much as systems of behaviour that are established and adopted over many years. Together we can build new systems that lead to different outcomes. We must all become the leaders we are missing and if we want to save the planet, we must start with our own patches of it.
These places we have taken for ourselves,
Mary Reynolds
without a thought for the creatures that called them home, they are broken and barren, emptied of sound, of movement, life, health and magic.
Gardens are green deserts for our "THE ONLY REASON shared kin. It’s time to convert our gardens into Arks and become part of the solution instead of greenwashing ourselves into WE GET TO LIVE HERE ON THIS MAGICAL, ABUNDANT believing we are helping, by PARADISE THAT gardening. Generally, we are not, WE CALL ‘EARTH’, despite what the gardening IS BECAUSE THE industry would like you to believe. Creativity is a vital part of human life, but we have got to learn how to be creative without causing PLANET CONTINUES TO SUPPORT US WITH CLEAN AIR, WATER damage to nature. It’s time to learn AND FOOD" to share. Not everyone is lucky enough to have some land under their care, but even creating a wild window box full of native plants and other supports will be a
welcome stopover service station for our beleaguered birds and insects in the vast food deserts we have created for them.
We are the Ark is a grassroots movement of people, committed to giving at least half of their patches of this planet, their gardens, back to nature. If not half, as much as they can manage. ese are acts of restorative kindness to the earth. This is a movement that converts gardeners into stewards, and toxic, forgotten land into living sanctuaries. Little pieces of earth on every continent are already being carefully returned to their original residents. Families, in fact whole interconnected neighbourhoods of creatures, are invited and allowed back to establish permanent residency. All kingdoms are included. A reconnection with nature and a remembered love for the earth is restored.
WE ARE THE ARK: • Invites people to restore native plant communities as the foundation stone of all working ecosystems. Working with the native seed bank and native plants of local provenance (if possible) in their gardens, window boxes, parks, and public land. Removing any non-native plants, especially the invasive ones. Any patch they can give back, to create a patchwork quilt of sanctuaries that wraps its way around the globe. • Empowers people to give land back to nature and guides them through the transfer process. To acknowledge the missing threads of life that keep an ecosystem healthy, and to step in and “become” the wolf, the deer, the missing creatures, and the services they provide. On a simple level this means creating as many di erent layers of ecosystem maturity as possible; from bare earth patches, to grazed grassland, meadow, scrub, woodlands and all the supports we can provide in between. All the life is in the edges so as many di erent layers as you can t on your patch.
All help is welcomed and encouraged. • Aims to allow and support connectivity between these Arks, especially focusing on protecting the vital ancient woods, hedgerows and trees that are being lost at the rate of knots. • Asks people to grow their own chemical free food in the rest of their land if they are able, share land with friends and neighbours to do the same, or support local, organic, regenerative producers and farmers.
To stop supporting the industrial farming, shing and forestry systems which are largely causing the collapse of nature. • Provides lots of ideas for extra creature supports, directions to create as many di erent habitats as possible in their Ark. • Asks people to erect a homemade sign for neighbours and passers-by, saying
“This is an ARK – An Act of
Restorative Kindness to the Earth” to remove the ‘shame’ of having a notso-tidy (simple versus complex) garden, to inspire others to join the movement.
Humans have taken too much. It is time to thoughtfully open our gardens, parks, waterways, and farming corridors to nature, to let her breathe. is has already become a global patchwork quilt of hope. e earth needs to rest and heal. To become her true nature again. As do we. Every patch of land that nature restores to sustainable balance becomes part of a much needed groundswell of living diversity on which our very survival depends. ese Arks will become the seeds of restoration, living islands of patient hope, of belief in our future.
Fall back in love with nature by setting your land free and being amazed and enchanted by the wonder of the wild creatures, rooted and un-rooted that turn up almost overnight. It is as if the earth calls them in saying “ ere is safety and sanctuary here. You are home”.
Become a guardian, not a gardener and let natures noisy voice soothe our souls once again.
Mary’s new book, We are the Ark is out now. See our competition page for a chance to win a copy.
