Humans reshaped the planet, now can we fix it?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nHumans have spent thousands of years transforming the natural world from controlled burns that reshape landscapes to industrial agriculture that feeds billions of people. According to one of the researchers who has spent his career studying this transformation, the question now is whether those same civilizational capabilities can be turned toward repair.<\/p>\n
According to Erle Ellis, a geographer and environmental scientist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), as well as head of the Anthroecology Lab, it is possible and there are ways to accomplish it, and they are already available.<\/p>\n
What does the Anthropocene really mean?<\/h2>\n
Anthropocene refers to the scientific name given to the current geological era in which the determining factors are no longer geological forces but human efforts. Human interventions in the planet, such as climate change, mass extinction of species, and pollution, have been linked to geological forces.<\/p>\n
Ellis has worked with UMBC for decades and has studied societies of various sizes, from village settlements to global commercial activities, as they impact ecosystems.<\/p>\n
This is a way of looking at it from a less pessimistic perspective. The same cultural adaptations, fire, agriculture, institutions, and shared norms, that caused environmental damage are, in his view, the mechanisms through which recovery becomes possible.<\/p>\n
Ellis makes a clear distinction between awareness and action. Societies have long demonstrated the capacity to cooperate around shared problems and to reorganize their relationships with natural systems, but this capacity is activated by fear as well as aspiration. He argues that focusing exclusively on fallibility and limitations risks obscuring the collective agency that has historically brought about change.<\/p>\n
As such, recent scientific research within the environmental social sciences has supported this line of thinking. It is clear that change within culture and collaboration across institutions works better than technological solutions alone.<\/p>\n
Ellis describes the essential elements needed to achieve true curriculum reform. \u201cRe-emphasizing the kinship ties between all living beings, our common evolutionary lineage is a start,\u201d he said, \u201cwith new ways to connect people and nature, from remote sensing to webcams, from nature apps to community conservation reserves, corridor networks and ecotourism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellis said, “Aspirations for a better future must also make peace with the past through the restoration of indigenous and traditional sovereignty over lands and waters.”<\/p>\n
This perspective is consistent with emerging research showing that indigenously-managed lands outperform traditional reserves when it comes to biodiversity outcomes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n