I have a dream ......
On balance, what's needed is .......... balance !
Ecosystems that can be self-managed by the biota within, and with enough connectivity to respond to evolutionary pressures - basically I think I've just described Earth ....... with one little difference .......
It's time to put the Nutters back in the Asylum ! :brains:
The only thing that belongs in fragmented pockets are ...... us. Humans.
Chuck most of us in the minimum number of Crystal Cities literally miles high - fully self-sufficient in power (sustainable, solar, wind, geothermal, wave power a' la
Carnegie, trigeneration biogas, etc) /water (well from the sky silly) /and some food (productive cool walls, etc). Sited for minimal impact on the land, and connected by the absolute minimum of (critter friendly) efficient transport infrastructure.
Vast swathes of urban decay (such as like Detroit and such, such for example like) could be transformed as models of sustainability.
Most of the areas taken up by human sprawl are the riparian areas, and associated wetlands, floodplains, lowlands, valleys, woodlands, etc. Most of this could be returned to nature. The land necessary for agriculture would need to be inclusive of core conservation and connectivity methodolgy, and be managed holistically for true sustainability. If this means humans will have to stop breeding like flies, then hey - we'll just have to stop breeding like flies ......
Specific conservation areas would remain managed to maintain biodiversity during the transition. Other areas would be returned to "Old-Growth" status on an accelerated program, yielding some sustainable resources in the process.
There's nothing wrong with the Capitalist Free-Market Economy ...... it's just missing one little thing. The value of the Environment. The Environment needs to be number #1. Laws and Financial Accounting need to be re-written to reflect that. Exploitation of a Global Inheritence by a corrupt few needs to be resigned to just an embarrassing chapter of history.
The critters (whether megafauna - or - predator; hunter - or - prey) will then be free to interact with the plant kingdom to achieve balance (in whatever dynamic form that takes going forward), and the periphery of the 'Human Islands' carefully managed to mimimise conflicts.
Please wake me up when the Golden Age dawns .......... :cat:
Chosun :gh: