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Desertification has been a buzzword for years now. For example the Sahara is expanding into the Sahel, in the process of desertification. It is usually used as a direct synonym for "land degradation." This article challenges that approach and critiques how the term has been wielded against landscapes and people.  In our conversation, Rosetta points out the problematic roots and uses of the word “desertification”—which is tied to the presumptive conclusion of drylands as “unproductive” landscapes needing to be fixed. Even though the United Nations states that drylands are associated with food insecurity and economic poverty, I was more curious to critique the confounding factors of land access, land privatization and borders preventing open migration, and intensive and flood irrigation-dependent agriculture not suited to such bioregions.
The podcast interview with Rosetta Elkin can be heard here.
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Zealandia is a heroic effort by New Zealand to create an area for native species to thrive in safety. The effort has seen great success with native species surging beyond its borders to re-establish themselves within New Zealand.
I wanted to shortly share a project that I visited in December that, though small scale, did a really great job at what they're trying to achieve: Zealandia, close to Wellington, New Zealand. They basically created a nature reserve which specifically targets native species that were decimated by intrusive species. Not only is that small reserve a safe haven but maybe more importantly it serves as a "replenishment area" for the surroundings as well. Threatened species retreat to Zealandia for safe mating and breeding. The reserve's surplus then spills over into other areas, thus helping recovery beyond its borders. It's a good model for the power of strategically selected protected areas.
It's a beautiful place and was very happy to see how it works. Topic
U.N. Water Conference - Rights of Nature: The missing connection to enhance and implement the SDGs on Water Register Here (free) to attend virtually on zoom. Description The Rights of Nature will have a voice during this year’s U.N. Water Conference held in New York. On Friday, March 24, 2023, the “Rights of Nature: The missing connection to enhance and implement the SDGs on Water” event will take place at the U.N. Headquarters at 3.30 PM. This event will explore why the Rights of Nature framework presents a powerful legal, non-anthropocentric, holistic tool for water restoration and protection, and how an Earth Rights-based approach to Nature can help meet and complement the global goals and objectives of restoration and protection of water ecosystems, as well as ensure water for the environment, effective governance and the maintenance of the ecosystem’s life cycle in benefit of Nature. This will be presented through several cases of rights-bearing aquatic ecosystems.
Recommended podcasts list!
- BBC Earth - Growth Busters - Mongabay Newscast - Rewilding Earth Podcast - The Climate Pod - Jane Goodall Hopecast - Overpopulation Podcast - What on Earth (EIA News) - Wild Crimes - LifeWorlds
BBC Earth:
GrowthBusters
Rewilding Earth
The Climate Pod
Jane Goodall Hopecast
What On Earth? EIA podcast
Wild Crimes
The Overpopulation Podcast
Mongabay Newscast
LifeWorlds
Covered in this post:
Effectiveness ignores the voices of the people most affected by injustice. It uses flawed concepts of data and evaluation. It minimizes complexity. It is short-term-focused. It punishes failure, and rewards risk-aversion. It uses harmful proxies for quality. It ignores the intrinsic worth of individuals. It favors larger, mostly-white-led organizations. Solutions: First, we must ground “effectiveness” on race, equity, and social justice. Second, we must see Representation as essential to effectiveness. Third, we must trust the people most affected to define effectiveness. Fourth, we must invest in organizations holistically. Fifth, we must consider the entire sector when measuring effectiveness. If you want to read the in depth examination of these points, check out the full article here. Rethink Priorities composed a report on Global Health and Development, one of which was assessing REDD+. The REDD+ framework for reducing deforestation and mitigating climate change: overview, evaluation, and cost-effectiveness  Read the full discussion on the EA forum here.
Radical Anthropology is hosting a panel discussing explores ways that anthropology might inform, foster, and support climate & environmental activism through connection to local knowledge, or TEK (traditional ecological knowledge), with a focus on England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and Europe in general.  Tuesday, 14 March⋅18:30 – 20:30
UCL Anthropology The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) 2022 report recognizes Indigenous alternatives to Western models as exemplary curation of biodiversity. How can anthropology support this theoretically and practically through landscape, relationality, storytelling, spirit, and connection? What would be equivalent to Indigenous TEK? How can this be instrumental in enhancing wider community connections to landscape, riverscape, skyscape? Panel includes:- • Raj Puri (Kent) environmental anthropologist and ethnobotanist; • Paul Powlesland, lawyer, rights of nature activist, Friend of the River Roding; • Pauline von Hellermann (Goldsmiths) regenerative anthropology, the Commons. Seminar Room at UCL Anthropology dept and on ZOOM. Please sign up on eventbrite  Deep Adaptation is a group dedicated to preparing for biosphere collapse. People in DAF notice that biosphere and climate disruptions are forcing people and other species to seek new ways and places to live. While all societies face collapse, racialised and Indigenous communities, and almost all non-human species, pay the earliest and highest price. The DA Forum invites participants to understand collapse from a global and historical perspective, rather than as something that has not happened yet. DA Forum participants recognise that many communities have already experienced the trauma of collapse, whether from natural causes or due to war, slavery, colonisation, or other social injustices.  The International Tribunal on the Right of Nature - by GARN (Global Alliance on the Rights of Nature). Spurred by the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2009 and on the basis of the Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth thereby adopted, social movements, communities and academics have started to develop and implement legal instruments for the recognition of the rights of Nature, the so-called Earth Jurisprudence.  Building up on the unprecedented inclusion of the Rights of Nature in the Ecuadorian Constitution and in Bolivian legal systems, and of legal actions seeking the recognition of legal personhood of endangered ecosystems, a global movement has been taking shape. First in New Zealand with the Whanganui river, and in Ecuador with the Vilcabamba river, as well as in Colombia first with Atrato river or in Bangladesh and India with the Yamuna and Ganges rivers and watersheds, have been granted legal personhood or have been recognized as living beings with their own rights, and the number is constantly growing. Furthermore a The Universal Declaration on the Rights of Rivers was also developed, and global coalitions such as the GARN (Global Alliance on the Rights of Nature) been established.
The International Tribunal on the Rights of Nature, was established by GARN and has been analyzing many cases related to ecosystems at risk and their rights, in its sessions this far. Still, it is with rivers and their rights that the drive to develop systems of law, and new categories or rights, that complement the traditional anthropocentric human rights systems with a more biocentric approach, has been spearheaded.
Kiss the Ground is a feature length film about how powerful healthy soil is and how we can regenerate our planet. The film shows how, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is an important missing piece of the climate puzzle.
Available on Netflix and Youtube.
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