Rewilding the planet: An archipelago constructed of sand is bringing new life

There’s a handful of efforts like this which I find really exciting and hopeful. It’s clear we can do damage to the environment but I think it’s important to try to learn and take positive restorative steps given our position of stewardship of the planet. I’ve heard this kind of effort be called “ecomodernist” as it’s a step after the idea that all human intervention is only destructive and the best option is to do nothing.

Pleistocene park in siberia https://pleistocenepark.ru/

American Prarie plains rewilding in Montana https://americanprairie.org/

Ecomodernist manifesto http://www.ecomodernism.org/

Re: Rewilding the planet: An archipelago constructed of sand is bringing new life

#6

Post by andsoitis » Sun, Jun 18, 2023, 9:39 PM UTC

> rewilding

Highly highly recommend watching Wild Life: https://films.nationalgeographic.com/wild-life

From filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin.

After falling in love in mid-life, Kris and the outdoorsman and entrepreneur Doug Tompkins left behind the world of the massively successful outdoor brands they'd helped pioneer -- Patagonia, The North Face, and Esprit -- and turned their attention to a visionary effort to create National Parks throughout Chile and Argentina. WILD LIFE chronicles the highs and lows of their journey to effect the largest private land donation in history.

Re: Rewilding the planet: An archipelago constructed of sand is bringing new life

#7

Post by HeWhoLurksLate » Sun, Jun 18, 2023, 10:20 PM UTC

andsoitis wrote: post #6

> rewilding Highly highly recommend watching Wild Life: https://films.nationalgeographic.com/wild-life From filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. After falling in love in mid-life, Kris and the outdoorsman and entrepreneur Doug Tompkins left behind the world of the massively successful outdoor brands they'd helped pioneer -- Patagonia, The North Face, and Esprit -- and turned their attention to a visionary effor…

Woah, those are the same group? That's incredible

Re: Rewilding the planet: An archipelago constructed of sand is bringing new life

#8

Post by meristohm » Sun, Jun 18, 2023, 10:40 PM UTC

Regarding rewilding, I'm all for it, just not in the E. O. Wilson's racist half-earth way. Humans are and can continue to be part of nature. There might be room for bringing back some of the mega-fauna that we killed off around the world, though, with preserves and parks.

Re: Rewilding the planet: An archipelago constructed of sand is bringing new life

#9

Post by ilamont » Sun, Jun 18, 2023, 10:48 PM UTC

They did something like this with Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor. Not a completely new island, but greatly expanded from its 20th century footprint as a glue factory and trash dump, thanks to landfill from the Big Dig:

From 1935 to 1959, Spectacle Island became the city’s dump, bringing 350 tons of waste to the island daily.9 In this time, the island grew by almost 36-acres.10 The dump on Spectacle Island sat exposed, with trash seeping into the harbor, until 1992 when the “Big Dig” began in Boston. The Central Artery/Tunnel Project brought sediment to Spectacle Island to cap off the landfill and turn the island from an abandoned garbage dump to a park.

https://www.nps.gov/places/spectacle-island.htm

Re: Rewilding the planet: An archipelago constructed of sand is bringing new life

#10

Post by kadoban » Sun, Jun 18, 2023, 11:14 PM UTC

ilamont wrote: post #9

They did something like this with Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor. Not a completely new island, but greatly expanded from its 20th century footprint as a glue factory and trash dump, thanks to landfill from the Big Dig: From 1935 to 1959, Spectacle Island became the city’s dump, bringing 350 tons of waste to the island daily.9 In this time, the island grew by almost 36-acres.10 The dump on Spectacle Island sat expo…

I did not know that Spectacle Island was real.

It featured prominently in Zodiac, the old Neal Stephenson book, but sounded a bit wild to be a real thing.