Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
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MARCH / APRIL 2023
Intelligent Tinkering BY ANN ADAMS
I
recently read the Aldo Leopold quote: “The outstanding scientific discovery of the twentieth century is not television, or radio, but rather the complexity of the land organism. Only those who know the most about it can appreciate how little is known about it. The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: ‘What good is it?’ If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.” This quote got me thinking about a number of things, including how this scientific
People, Profit, and Planet INSIDE THIS ISSUE Holistic Management practitioners are working around the globe to help improve their communities, land, and businesses. Shangani Holistic (page 5) works with surrounding communities to understand the needs of small-scale pastoralists and introduces Holistic Management practices. Photo credit: Max Makuvise.
In Practice a publication of Holistic Management International
NUMBER 208
discovery was a little behind the Indigenous knowledge of the complexity of Nature that had been in existence for millennium. And, I know that Leopold was revolutionary for his time suggesting that perhaps we might want to be cautious in how we approached land management, even from a holistic perspective. Even for holistic managers the concept of viewing each part of the whole as having a place can be challenging. To be fair, what was originally part of a functioning given whole versus what has been introduced and/or taken over that same whole is part and parcel of the confusing discussion of what is “native.” That’s why the understanding of the four ecosystem processes and the ability to discern how they are functioning on a landscape are so critical. It moves us past the slippery slope of this plant or that plant being good or bad and gets us focused on how is the landscape functioning in it’s ability to cycle water and nutrients well or use energy from the sun to grow a diversity of plants that can feed a diversity of organisms. Helping people to focus on management that helps them to understand and partner with Nature is far more likely to result in “intelligent tinkering” than trying to get rid of a problem species that may well not be so much a problem when the environment shifts because of good management practices. Or, sometimes, those problems become less of a problem species because the manager realizes their place in the system or is more focused on covering bare ground since that is public enemy #1 if you are wanting healthy ecosystem function. Leopold’s caution to not discard “seemingly useless parts” is the caution of unintended consequences. I have found this caution to be important within the social context of a whole as well as within the ecological context. So many times we see a particular person within a whole as the “problem” when in reality it is often the system or the social dynamics that have allowed or encouraged that person to be
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the problem. You might get rid of the problem person but not the root problem or logjam that may be the larger issue. Again, the Holistic Management® Framework with it’s seven testing questions helps us in our intelligent tinkering to spend time discerning what is the root cause of a problem so we can develop a solution to address that root issue as well as potential short-term solutions to address immediate need. Likewise, making sure we are looking through social, environmental, and economic lenses help us to consider the picture more fully of any ecosystem (social or ecological). Lastly, testing questions that address longterm concerns like how an action will move you toward your long-term vision as well as the gut check of how you feel right now, provide a lens into short- and long-term consequences. Like any tool, Holistic Management is only as good as the person or people using it. If we have shifted our paradigm to recognizing that if the “whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not,” then we will spend more time considering not only the value of each part, but how those parts relate in ways we can potentially learn from and grow in our understanding of the greater whole. That is a journey I continue to enjoy being on as it has inspired awe in me at the incredible design of the universe and given me tools to relate more deeply with the natural world around me, as well as my human community.
Do You Have a Story? Do you or someone you know have a great story to share with the IN PRACTICE readers about what has been learned or achieved with the practice of Holistic Management? Share your ideas at: anna@holisticmanagement.org.