Bringing them home.
Listen.
Underneath the hum of motors, the swoosh of traffic, the incessant chatter and clatter of our busy lives, there is an unnoticed absence.
A strange unfamiliar sound on the earth.
Silence.
The earth our shared home, is falling silent. Our non-human kin are leaving us.
The millions of miraculous creatures we are supposed to be sharing this ball of life with, they have almost disappeared. To the edge of a cliff we have driven them and often over it, never to return.
These places we have taken and emptied without a thought for the creatures that called them home, they are broken and barren, emptied of sound, of movement, life, health and magic.
Mostly all of us are suffering from a phenomenon called ‘Shifting Baseline Syndrome’, where every passing generation has no memory of what ‘natural’ used to be. They just accept the current depleted version of the earth as being what nature has always been.
This is the Great Forgetting.
The oceans used to be crystal clear, kept that way from the massive beds of oysters on the sea beds and the waves used to be visibly heavy with life.
The skies used to darken when the sun was blocked out by flocks of birds or butterflies passing over on one of their heroic migrations.
The earth itself used to move with life, heaving with vast cities of creatures. The plains and grasslands would be a shifting patchwork of life in all its forms. Our land was covered with a full set of clothes, a diverse network of native woodlands and glades where a myriad of creatures made homes. Humans lived within this abundant system with awe, respect and compassion for thousands and thousands of years. In full awareness of the knowledge that if we took too much for ourselves or began to treat living beings as commodities, we would find ourselves in the wasteland.
But we got busy and we forgot all that.
And here we are.
The only reason we get to live here on this magical abundant paradise that we call ‘Earth’, is if the planet can continue to support us with clean air, water and food.
The earth is a living organism, made up of millions of species all working together in harmonious and often mysterious ways. These are the threads in the web of life. They support each other, control each other, nourish each other. Each of these threads that we remove in our efforts to continue to grow exponentially and expand our interests and greed, has a knock-on effect on the rest of the web.
We do not know when we will remove a thread that is holding it all together.
Most of humanity has ignored the consequences of our actions for too long. We live in a crazy system of constant expectations of economic growth in a world with finite resources. Politicians cannot be trusted which should be obvious after years and years of broken promises, blatant lies and shiny, green spun photo opportunities. They have had too many chances and it is now clear that the birth of a new world is up to us to imagine.
This ship is visibly sinking and they are still fighting over what colour the lightbulbs on the deck should be. This is not something that will only affect future generations. This is happening right now. The collapse of nature leads directly to a collapse of society and those noisy but wonderful two legged creatures called humans will fall silent too.
But there is hope, these systems can change, but only from the ground up. The direction our world is heading is not controlled by people so much as systems of behaviour that are established and adopted over many years. Together we can build new systems that lead to different outcomes.
A new vision of local, ‘walkable’ communities is needed. One where everything is slower, where life has meaning and richness again. Where our neighbours are our support, our communities are our strength and a simple life becomes one worth living.
A good place to start these changes is at home, to become the leaders we are missing.
We are the Ark is a new movement of people giving their patches of this earth, their gardens, back to nature. Acts of Restorative kindness to the earth.
A movement that converts gardeners into stewards, and toxic forgotten land into living sanctuaries.
Little pieces of earth on every continent are already being carefully returned to their original residents. Families, in fact whole interconnected neighborhoods of creatures are invited and allowed back to establish permanent residency. All kingdoms are included; bacteria, fungi, plants, insects, birds, animals. A reconnection with nature and a remembered love for the earth is restored.
It empowers people to take personal action today and participate in a “Community of Stewardship” that will not be stopped in its efforts to restore the earth – because we know deep in our bones that the results of rewilding and arking are fast, astonishing and real.
We are the Ark:
– Invites people to re-wild portions of their gardens, window boxes, parks and public land. Any patch they can, to create a patchwork quilt of sanctuaries that wraps its way around the globe.
– Empowers them to give land back to nature, and guides them through the transfer process.
– Creates sanctuary for as many wild and native life forms that can fit, rooted and un-rooted.
– Asks people to grow their own chemical free food in the rest of their land, or support local, organic, regenerative producers and farmers.
Humans have taken too much. It is time to thoughtfully open our gardens, parks, waterways and farming corridors to nature, and let her take the lead as she knows best what every single Ark can become. It’s time to let go, and keep a steward’s eye on the process in case a steward’s help is required.
We ask Ark stewards to erect homemade signs proclaiming “This is an Ark” with our website clearly displayed to inform their human neighbours about the need for Arks.
This has become is a global patchwork quilt of hope. The earth needs to rest. To heal. To become wild again. As do we. Every patch of land that nature restores to sustainable balance becomes part of much needed groundswell of living diversity on which our very survival depends.
Fall back in love with nature by setting your land free and being amazed and enchanted by the wonder of the wild creatures, rooted and un-rooted that turn up almost overnight.
It is as if the earth calls them in saying “There is safety and sanctuary here. You are home”
Become a Guardian, not a gardener and let natures noisy voice soothe our souls once again.
Mary Reynolds is an Irish gardener, landscape designer, author and public activist, known for being the youngest contestant to win a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show. She currently works as an author, designer and environmentalist, and published her first book The Garden Awakening in 2016.
www.marymary.ie