And yes, #WoodMeadows are my new jam. I’ll be writing more about them as a model for human activity creating biodiversity, in a democratic and engaging way. I am, to put it mildly, quite excited.
How do we live together in #nature? Wood meadows, a managed & productive #ecosystem, can achieve this balance, a model of human activity benefitting #biodiversity.
For research, I’m going to the 14th European Conference on #Ecological Restoration this August in #Estonia, where the wood meadows are the most biodiverse sites in the world.
A #WoodMeadow is an ancient, multi-functional, productive ecosystem. A wood. And a meadow. Like a #ForestGarden.
The quote that sparked my fire:
“Neither in any other community of Western Europe, nor anywhere in the tropics, does the number of vascular plant species within a few square meters reach the numbers counted on the Estonian wooded meadows.”
Next no dig bed in preparation, just waiting for some rain to wet the card before adding compost and woodchip. It’s quite a damp bed as in a little hollow so eventually will be home to a willow #permaculture#NoDig#Veganic#ForestGarden#Gardening
#WoodMeadows (think landscape scale #ForestGarden) are an example of how humans can live in balance within nature.
I want to create a Common#WoodMeadow in West Wales.
There's an amazing ecological restoration conference in Estonia (home of the most biodiverse area in the world) this August. I can't afford to go, so I have made my first ever fundraiser 😳 Trying to raise £940!!
Think ancient, multi-functional, productive ecosystem. A wood. And a meadow. Like a #ForestGarden.
The quote & paper that sparked my fire:
“Neither in any other community of Western Europe, nor anywhere in the tropics, does the number of vascular plant species within a few square meters reach the numbers counted on the Estonian wooded meadows.”
My discipline, anthropology, is not seen as a “growth" discipline, and departments are being closed down. But the world needs Anthropology and Anthropologists now more than ever!
Here are my 8 reasons for this:
POSSIBILITIES
At a time of polycrisis, when the destructive fallouts of capitalist modernity are ever more apparent, anthropology highlights that there are myriad alternative ways of thinking and living; that there is so much to learn from other peoples in the world. 1/n
@natureworks I can't thank you enough for this. Yes, 100% applicable to a #ForestGarden. In fact, your reply made me realise that my whole understanding of anthropology is, actually, centred in forest gardens; that's what I do, basically! and forest-garden centred thinking is core to my idea of #RegenerativeAnthropology, Yesterday I mentioned this in a talk about #RegenerativeAcademia and someone said: so we need Forest Universities, like Forest Schools 💚. Wanted to share that with you!
Handy tip I learned from my friend Martin: if you only have a few trees to guard against rabbits, use a spiral of chicken wire held in place with a bit of bamboo. Stop using plastic!
“It is quite striking if you’re used to working with plants just how erratic the climate-plant system is becoming - and this is just the start of decades of increasing chaos.”