Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World

Emma Marris is a talented writer and lucid thinker who has written a brilliantly sensible book. "Rambunctious Garden" is about the future of nature. It rejects the "wilderness cult" and melancholic perfectionism which has dominated much of nature conservation policy in the last century. Instead, with thorough research and documentation, Marris explains the importance of "adaptation" policies which accept the reality that there is no pristine nature left on this planet and that it is not possible to restore nature on Earth to its former state.Marris may step on some toes with her dismissal of the traditions of John Muir and Henry Thoreau whom she describes as being forerunners of a trend in conservation that, by the 1980s, had become "full blown misanthropy". One senses an impatience and near disdain in her attitude toward traditional conservation ideology and its "Romantic, religious" obsession with pristine nature. She herself presents a more postmodern, realistic view of how, not simply to conserve pockets of wildernesss, but to respectfully and productively cohabit with all of nature.Reading Marris's insightful history of conservation and ecology science, I was struck by two realizations:One is how little is actually known about nature's processes and how very hypothetical and untried ecological science is.Two is that adaptation models have been considered unacceptable. Marris points out that nature is always changing and in flux--why is this news? However, cosmologists were also reluctant to give up the "steady-state" model of the universe and accept it as changing, expanding; it seems the human desire to keep things as they are (or were), to want to conserve the status quo, runs deep, no matter how contraindicated by life and death.Regarding the many unknowns in ecological science, Marris's chapter on "rewilding" makes evident how very difficult it is to predict what consequences ecologists' decisions will have on the future of nature and how even acting with the best intentions may be disastrous, although Marris is hopeful that ecological science will create balance and "more nature" than it will destroy. Yet so many ecological choices and policies are based on untried hypotheses. A plan to reintroduce large predators like lions and cheetahs to the Great Plains of the United States to bring that damaged ecosystem into balance was recently devised by a handful of men who had a meeting at Ted Turner's ranch. They suggested that "towns and farms" that do not want wild predators roaming their area could "fence themselves". This is not all that different than current large predator policies that allow mountain lions to roam regional parks in the West, sometimes (rarely) attacking hikers or wandering into towns. A proponent of the Great Plains idea wrote that without large wild predators "...nature seems somehow incomplete, truncated, overly tame... Human opportunities to attain humility are reduced." Personally, I prefer the John Muir style of misanthropy.More disturbing, regarding the arbitrariness of hugely important ecological decisions, is the influence of commercial value. In a chapter on "assisted migration"--a very new practice of repopulating species further north or further uphill to help them survive global warming--Marris indicates that a decision on what tree species to preserve on 25 million hectares of forest in British Columbia is mostly influenced by the "surprising importance" of just one man's ideas, a British Columbia forester, for whom the commercial value of forests is primary.Perhaps all this arbitrariness is the underlying point of Rambunctious Garden. Nature, Earth and its life/death cycles are in constant flux. The only real known is that nature will take its course. Individual species, including humans, will have to adapt or die off. Marris is hopeful that adaptive policies can conserve much of nature, including humanity, and she makes a powerful case for her beliefs. Her arguments for adaptation--as opposed to only preserving hypothetical pristine baseline states for protected ecosystems--are followed by her chapters addressing responsible ecological stewardship through adaptive policies such as "rewilding", "assisted migration", "novel ecosystems", "designer ecosystems" and "conservation everywhere".Marris's vision is eclectic, inclusive, pragmatic and optimistic. The final pages of her last chapter "menu of goals" are moving and inspiring. They also contain a magnificent description of Sandhill cranes at a river in Nebraska which reveals her remarkable creative talent and love of nature. Rambunctious Garden is a compelling read throughout and seems to me, a layperson non-scientist, to be a very important voice in the field of ecological science--and more, an extremely important book for absolutely everyone.

"Rambunctious Garden" is the the most important conservation biology book thus far in the 21st century. I'm an active participant in, and advocate for, two of the leading-edge conservation options Emma Marris covers in her book: assisted migration and Pleistocene rewiding. I can attest that she not only got those topics "right", but I learned even more. Adding that to my experience of deep learning in the rest of the less familiar chapters, I came away with a full and enthusiastic "yes" to her notion of "rambunctious garden." I now see a vast landscape of distinct paths in conservation all interweaving within a robust, necessary, and alluring paradigm shift that offers cultural gifts to our species and lifeways while doing a better, more flexible and peacefully questing job in protecting our furred, feathered, scaled, sun-powered, and lignified kin in this grand and ongoing epic of evolution.As well, as a science writer myself (evolution and ecology), I applaud this book for showcasing the vital role that science writers play. (Note: This is Connie Barlow writing this review, not my husband, Michael Dowd, whose Amazon account I share.) That role is far more than sorting through the science and presenting it in understandable and inspiring ways, which at least a few scientists in every field are masters of. Rather, no participant scientist can faithfully present the contrarian views during the rambunctious time of a paradigm shift in their particular field. Marris doesn't hide the fact that she is not only intrigued by but inclined toward this new way of viewing human-Earth interactions. But as to how the shift in perspective and possibility actually ought to play out on the ground -- well, for that, she lets the actors (scientists, land managers, and citizen activists) speak for themselves.My only misgiving is that, not surprisingly, two classic conservation goals may appear to be cast aside in the early chapters: the goals of wilderness protection and prevention of species extinctions. But read on. In the last third of the book, where Marris brings the new pathways into a landscape view of the paradigm shift overall, those two classic goals are seen to maintain a vital presence in the now patchier quilt of conservation biology. And from my perspective, each will likely turn out to be even better cared for (tended), if they too are allowed to evolve in form and function.As a long-time wilderness and biodiversity activist of the boomer generation, I see myself on both sides of the paradigm shift -- exultantly rambunctious in some areas, but deeply rooted and perhaps too unbending in others. But thankfully we all eventually die, and it will be the next generations who choose which of our contributions will carry forward. And here is where writers who preference the "pristine" need to continue to wax nostalgic and pass those deep memories and emotional responses forward. Those of us who watched the mayfly hatch in Michigan this spring with not a single bat zigging through the swarm know in our bones that something precious was missing. So along with Emma Marris's book on our shelf (or Kindle), there should always be a place for Darwin, Leopold, Krutch, Eiseley, Carson, Lopez, Tempest Williams, and fellow expositors of near-pristine nature during their own times. Let us never become autistic to the diminishing sounds and sights of spring -- simply because the change is less pronunced over the span of a single life. Only then will "rambunctious" not open the door to loss.

Cheer up everyone! The rambunctious gardener is here to save the planet!As the author writes in the opening chapter, "This book is about a new way of seeing nature...we are already running the whole Earth...to run it consciously and effectively, we must admit our role and even embrace it [and develop] a nuanced notion of a global, half-wild, rambunctious garden, tended by us."Marris' argument runs roughly as follows:1. The Earth's ecosystems have always been dynamic. It makes no sense to see "change" as an enemy in itself.2. Humans are part of nature and have been bringing about environmental change since prehistoric times. The notion of pristine nature is a chimera.3. Rather than strive to (re-) create Eden, we should embrace change and welcome our role as the engineers of Earth. Techniques of species translocation can create novel ecosystems so that they meet our needs - including, where it is feasible - maximising biodiversity.Her analysis sees value in many kinds of unconventional and marginal ecosystems - which, she maintains, are unfairly dismissed by traditional conservationists. She also endorses the view that so-called "invasive species" may be the saviours of ecosystems which are under pressure, rather than their nemesis.At a time when we seem to be inundated by bad news - species extinctions, habitat destruction, climate crisis - this perspective should give us grounds for optimism, because in the garden, nature is always looking for new opportunities and there is always something that can be done to make things better. Marris' optimism is the greatest strength of this book, but it is also its great weakness.In glossing over any detailed analysis of why ecosystem change today might be both quantiatively and qualitatively different from change in the past, Marris makes a grave oversight. We are in the midst of a 6th extinction wave, one that may dwarf any that has taken place in the Earth's history. Not only that, but humans are causing climate change at a pace that is probably unprecedented. The ocean's carbon shunt, the global nitrogen cycle, the atmosphere itself are all being profoundly altered. It will take a whole lot more than "gardening" to remedy this - nothing short of major political and economic change is required. The trouble is that Marris' arguments offer a congenial analysis for those who see no need to alter the trajectory of the human exploitation of the Earth's resources - for all around us we see how open-cast mining companies, ocean-floor dredgers, motorway construction companies and agribusiness multinationals use very similar arguments to buy off politicians and the public with promises of "amelioration" schemes. If human activity today is essentially no different from in the past, then why should we worry?One of the author's own examples illustrates the hazards of her viewpoint. Migrating Sandhill Cranes gather in huge numbers on a small island in the Platte River, a spectacle which Marris understandably finds exhilarating. As she points out, this spectacle is largely the result of deliberate action by humans, as we have developed most of the surrounding area so that it is inhospitable for the Cranes, but to compensate, we annually dredge the river and mow the island to create a small area which can accommodate them. For her, this is a splendid example of nature and human ingenuity working together. What Marris fails to acknowledge is that this makes the Crane population extremely vulnerable, and that rather than being a self-sustaining, functional feature of the ecosystem, just a small change in policy or chance accident - a shift in climate, a succession of poor winters - could obliterate this corner of the "garden" forever.Leaving aside her main argument, Marris includes a handy final chapter which neatly summarises the strengths and weaknesses of differing approaches to conservation - do we aim to protect genetic diversity, or keystone species? How might our outcomes differ if we concentrate on preserving keystone species as opposed to ecosystem services?In the end, I was pleased to have read this book. It is a readable and concise account of how conservation scientists need not always view change as synonymous with disaster. But in the end, hubris leads to nemesis, as any fule no.

very good

Amazing

The conservation movement is so often hidebound by its certainty of its high moral ground and the grim determination of its mission. This book is about standing back and exploring the basic questions; why do we do the conservation thing; what are we seeking to achieve; are we spending our cash, energy and social capital wisely?Marris is not afraid to challenge the beliefs of the conservation religion. She is unlikely to convert the fundamentalists but this is great food for thought for those who love this planet and want the best for it, whether for its own sake or for the benefit of future generations.The book is crammed with examples and quoted opinions which must cause the reader to pause and consider. And it is all written joyfully and beautifully.Read it. Enjoy it. You won't be quite the same afterwards. Are you ready to be challenged?

Brilliant! just the right balance of science with personal involvment and explanation. A shrewd assessment of the need for fresh, unbiased consideration of a very timely issue.