Throughout Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild World, Emma Marris discusses about the unachievable “pristine” ideal of an ecosystem in today’s world. In the last chapter, she describes seven goals that society and individuals should focus on in a collaborative effort to conserve and nurture nature—goals that may not always work altogether, but decided upon based on the unique situation.
The first goal Marris proposes is to protect the rights of other species—claiming, “all living things have intrinsic value” (154). Therefore, ecologists need to decide how to protect and save specific species.
The second goal Marris states is to protect charismatic megafauna. As “keystone species”, megafauna ultimately have a significant influence on understanding how an ecosystem functions and appears (156). However, this goal fosters some controversy since the argument of saving and protecting one species over the other is a very heated topic.
Marris mentions a third goal of decelerating the extinction rate by distributing resources to specific endangered species. This may be slightly probomatic since people groups have very different beliefs on which endangered species should be saved and protected.
The fourth goal Marris describes is to protect the genetic diversity in an ecosystem. The fifth goal mentioned is to “define and defend biodiversity” (the varied species within an ecosystem). This can be achieved through hydroseeding, gardening, and reforestation (among others). This is especially an easy goal many people can accomplish in their own backyards. Man-made bird feeders and private/public gardens help protect the local environment.
The sixth goal stated is to “maximize ecosystem services” to get as much human functionality out of the ecosystem. This means employing and applying policies such as financial incentives and taxes. While money is a great motivational factor, it unfortunately highlights an impression that one has the power to destroy and a superficial control over nature through money.
Finally, Marris describes the seventh goal as to safeguard the spiritual and/or aesthetic experience of nature. I especially agree with pursuing this goal because nature exists to be appreciated. Such beauty and unique-ness of an ecosystem is relaxing, comforting, mesmerizing, and, sometimes, indescribable.
Nature is not static—it is extremely fluid. It has been altering and changing for millions of years, and it will continue to constantly evolve. Society makes the mistake of defining ecosystems as something that is only beautiful when “pristine” and should be kept preserved for years to come. Hopefully, with these seven goals, individuals and groups in society work to conserve the fluidity of nature.
