Rambunctious Gardens by Emma Marris talks about how the conservation of nature is unsuccessful using current methods. Marris believes that restoring effected areas to “baseline” is ineffective. She states that there isn’t a place on the Earth that hasn’t been affected by humans. “We have stirred the global pot,” she says (Marris 10).
Since nature is always changing and being affected by everything around it, it is almost impossible to restore it to its “baseline.” Also, nature has its own way of changing nature. Volcanic activity in Hawaii affects the ecosystems present there. Like Hawaii, ecosystems need a fresh start to allow the species to grow without interference from other factors. Usually, the removal of certain existing species can be lengthy. There just isn’t enough participation from people in order for this restoration to be a quick process.
Marris visited many restoration projects such as the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and the Scotia Sanctuary. Such projects require a lot of effort to begin and complete. For many of these projects, invasive species are first removed so that the original species have an opportunity to grow. Human beings were included in the species that were removed. This is an extremely difficult endeavor to partake especially with all the obstacles. This proves how ineffective current conservation methods are. Even though some results can be observed, it just isn’t strong enough to bring about dramatic changes.
Marris believes that nature should be preserved through this idea of a rambunctious garden. The rambunctious garden includes nature everywhere. This includes places in the city such as trees on the sidewalk and the backyard of a suburban home. If everyone took the effort to help protect nature, they should start with the nature that surrounds them already. This project will require less effort from people. This only holds true if everyone participates to protect the nature around them. The money and time spent on restoring areas to their previous “forms” is a tedious and ineffective strategy.
Even though Marris believes that the idea of a rambunctious garden will help us preserve nature, I still believe that it will be futile. The rate at which humans are affecting the ecosystem is too drastic for such small changes to make an impact. I do agree that it is a good step to begin with and can set the foundation for environmental protection projects in the future. Most people have accepted the fact that restoring nature is a lost cause. I also believe that protecting nature is far fetched due to the selfish nature of mankind. It’s a pity that nature cannot be appreciated as it was. However, trying to protect the very little nature around us isn’t going to change the majority of the ecosystems throughout the world.
