Emma Marris’s Rambunctious Garden is a book that describes a new type of conservation that we should adopt instead of trying to restore patches of our nature to pristine ecosystems. Her main point focuses on how we are losing nature by misplacing it. We should not look at nature as pristine ecosystems, but as rambunctious gardens.
Marris points out why recreating pristine ecosystem is almost impossible. First, there is no pristine wilderness on planet Earth in 2011 (2). There is no way to preserve pristine if there’s no more “virgin” areas untouched by human influence. We stirred the globe too much that it is difficult to reverse the damages and changes we had done on our planet. Second, there are few or no spots on earth with ecosystems that remained unchanged for more than 12,000 years (34). Even without human influences, climate changes and natural disasters like wildfires can change an ecosystem dramatically. Yellowstone, a model for many preservation efforts in the world, is “non-equilibrial”. The fire in Yellowstone in 1988 was an example. Species can be wiped out by one fire, where they can be recovered or be replaced by new species that better adapt to the new ecosystem created by the disaster. Third, secular climate changes occur constantly without human input, which provide constant changes in ecosystems. We are currently in the interglacial period, where temperature is getting warmer on its own and ecosystem is constantly changing. Setting a baseline and trying to counter all the human influence and natural climate changes is ineffective. Some pristine species, according to the set baseline, might not be able to survive and grow in the climate and the environment of their ecosystems today
Marris also gives some examples of recreating pristine ecosystem to prove it as time consuming and ineffective. Recreating pristine ecosystem includes getting rid of the invasive and undesired species in an ecosystem to allow the “original” species to grow. Tony Cathcart took eighteen months to conduct the removal of introduced animals in a fenced block in Scotia Sanctuary. It took more than 6 years to remove introduced species in about thirty miles of ecosystem. As Marris states, “… unless the whole country decide that its number-one priority is ridding Australia of feral animals, these little fenced islands are all that pristine focused conservationists can hope for” (11). Recreating pristine ecosystem is ineffective in terms of time and money. Also, recreating pristine ecosystem includes forcing the inhabitants to evacuate the land they live in. It creates problems and inconveniences to inhabitants that are doing little damages to the nature. On the other hand, recreating pristine ecosystem by getting rid of thousands of species is doing way worse to the nature than what those inhabitants ever did.
I agree with the case Marris presents in the chapters about having rambunctious gardens instead of pristine ecosystems as the best conservation method. As Marris describes it, “Rambunctious gardening is proactive and optimistic; it creates more and more nature as it goes, rather than just building walls around the nature we have left” (3). I think Marris is saying that we should work with nature instead of restoring our environment to its pristine look. As she states, no single goal will provide for a well-rounded conservation program (14). Thus, a conservation program should be a collection of alternative goals (13). Part of the project can be cleared of undesired species to teach people about its ecological history; part of it can be a protected area for endangered species, another section can specialize in species that are important to the culture of its people and economics of its area. I think doing conservation projects as such is one of the better ways in achieving conservation, without damaging the true nature to recreate the pristine nature.
