Regenerative Habits
July 19, 2022
"We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make, which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee."
I recently read the book Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear, and was fascinated by the idea that tiny habits - the idea of a 1% change - can accumulate to enormous differences over time. Do the tiny actions in my day build or take away from the life I ultimately want to live? It's a fascinating and powerful idea that also applies to the work of building landscape resilience. Do the tiny actions or processes happening in your neighborhood, backyard, or empty lot next door increase or decrease land health over time? What about species richness? Topsoil? Water-holding capacity? Just like we have habits and systems in place that can cause either clutter or clarity in our house or within ourselves, we have the opportunity to participate in small actions that inspire regeneration, diversity, and resilience right where we are.
In thinking of 1% habits, I am reminded of the many stories of single individuals who replanted forests, wetlands, rehydrated deserts, or brought rivers, springs, and shores back to life with small, individual, and consistent action over time. These actions often aren't difficult by themselves, but they require strategic, consistent action over time. Simple actions really can increase land health, soil, and ecological diversity in astounding ways. What is one small action that you could envision for yourself in your backyard or local landscape that could add up to make a big difference over time?
Take the incredible story of Jadav Payend in India who planted tiny trees, seeds, tubers, rhizomes, and cuttings... a bit each day which ultimately regrew a 550+ hectare forest! His inspiring story is captured in "Forest Man", a mini-documentary (16 minutes long) about how he has been planting trees consistently in a denuded floodplain since 1979 and inspiring others through action. Is there a landscape near you that would benefit greatly from just a few native seeds planted each day or even every week? Could we re-grow forests over time? Knowing the history of an area and what was once there can help inform these visions and make them more concrete.
There's also the example of Turkey Creek in the dry Chiricahua mountains of southern Arizona where Josiah Austin and Valer Austin Clark built simple, loose rock structures (like check dams), one at a time since 1982 to prevent erosion and capture water. Little did they expect these simple loose dams to so dramatically revitalize the landscape! It even captured the attention of USGS hydrologists who did a study where they documented (video is ~ 10 mins) the incredible difference they saw in the landscape. If a single couple can transform an entire watershed with simple rock structures, what could many of us do with collective and strategic actions each day?
Norman, L. M., Lal, R., Wohl, E., Fairfax, E., Gellis, A. C., & Pollock, M. M. (2022). Natural infrastructure in dryland streams (NIDS) can establish regenerative wetland sinks that reverse desertification and strengthen climate resilience. Science of the Total Environment.
Or let's take a different landscape: mangroves! The amazing story of Haidar el Ali in Senegal who began planting mangrove buds in 2009. The project has become one of the largest mangrove restoration sites of its kind with each bud planted growing to establish a new mangrove tree. Check out the BBC short video (3 min) to see how simple the action of planting mangroves can be to jumpstart ecology, regulate salt and fresh water supply in deltas for growing food, and add resilience to shorelines.
Read the story here: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-49375146
The big question in my mind when determining what action is needed is "Are you seeing health increasing or decreasing over time in your landscape?" If it is building, how does one support that health even further? If health is being lost, what strategic actions could reduce or reverse that trend? For example, when it rains, does the water have a chance to slow down and soak in, or does it rush off the landscape taking soil and nutrients with it? Could we invest in our land over time by building soil, increasing species diversity, and stabilizing slopes? It could be planting native meadow flowers in lots near you that have none. It could be replacing invasive plants with natives - a little each day - transforming a single species lot to one filled with plant diversity to support a thriving and abundant ecosystem. It could be collaborating with a local watershed association to do water capture projects. Surprisingly small diversions to reinvest water can make enormous differences across a region, and it can even change small-scale water cycles that have the potential to shift rain events locally! Even in urban areas where it doesn't seem like there is much room for planting (perhaps these areas need us most!), ask yourself if land health is increasing or decreasing and what can you do about it? Think bold and big, and yet don't forget the small actions and habits that move the needle each day to make that big idea or cultural shift a reality. Sustained small, yet consistent actions over time matter immensely.
Many times I feel we humans think we can do nothing but harm landscapes. Yet this is not true. We are needed. There are some landscapes that are now eroding completely on their own. They are losing diversity, caught in a vicious degradation cycle, and unable to sprout young seedlings in soil that is rapidly disappearing or stressed by more extreme weather events. Some landscapes are now missing key players and nutrient-cyclers like animals (macro and micro!), birds, bugs, or key predators. We, humans, are needed now more than ever to support and engage with the land around us. We are needed to help restore systems or structures in the ecological fabric so resources like water and organic matter and plants can be reinvested back into the landscape. We must learn to listen and learn to see health increasing or decreasing in our landscapes. We must learn to hear it when the land or soil is "calling for help". We don't have to sit idly by and let landscapes degrade, erode, accumulate pollutants, or create runoff to our waterways. Regenerative habits are a way for us to lean into a sense of agency to shift, reinvest, and remember who we are. It can be hard work, and it is also joyful work. It can be small actions that add up to big differences over time. Yet we must act.
Resources:
Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results by James Clear
"Re-greening Dryland Watershed": https://www.usgs.gov/media/videos/re-greening-dryland-watershed?fbclid=IwAR1vrYXoII_P4p9ssXM_BCddYaxmmWynhY1HFuSdDNV3zYsLP8gmYGVhHfI
"Ancient Methods for Preventing Desertification and Recovering from Drought": https://www.usgs.gov/news/science-snippet/ancient-methods-preventing-desertification-and-recovering-drought
"Six Projects Restoring Vital Mangroves Around the World": https://www.oneearth.org/six-projects-restoring-vital-mangrove-forests-around-the-world/
"The Man Helping to Save Senegal's Mangroves": https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-49375146
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