Much of Maine’s forested landscape is described by some as “working forest.” This same land area is viewed as an industrial fiber farm by others. On the coast, communities are taking steps to protect their “working waterfronts.” On both fronts, people are finding it increasingly difficult to find work themselves. The global market for pulp and efficient fishing fleets with global reach make it difficult for our “limitless” forests and oceans to continue to provide the many services they have offered for centuries. However when we refer to these great common resources, one aspect of the discourse is absolutely certain: we must have forests and oceans that “work” in the ecological sense or both jobs and the biosphere will suffer.
The role of the forest as a supplier of fiber and timber, while perhaps preeminent in our eyes now, will undoubtedly be viewed as just one of many roles filled by the forests of the future. We must look beyond the trees to understand forest ecosystems. Forests are a fantastical community of organisms that endear, challenge, and intrigue as they keep us company on our small planet. These beautiful, complex systems store and release the water we drink, clean the air we breathe, store energy, modify local and global weather, provide us with over 30 percent of our pharmaceuticals, offer incomparable recreational values, and generally do all this at far lower life-cycle costs than we can provide using human technology. We should not think less of ourselves because this is true – forests have been practicing these skills for hundreds of millions of years. We only began our more serious tinkering a couple hundred years ago.
Healthy oceans have also had millions of years to perfect the business of raising fish and other organisms at a dynamic yet sustainable rate. Just as farming for sustainable yield has its place on the land, sustainable farming of certain marine species appears to be a possibility, but we have much to learn about this still. The farming of shrimp in coastal areas that once supported important mangrove forests has been an ecological disaster and has had a devastating impact on the local citizenry. The microscopic plants and animals of the living ocean play a role in modifying our weather by sequestering the important global-warming gas, carbon dioxide. Ocean currents move heat around the globe and have made human habitation in Northern Europe possible. Seasonal currents supply nutrients to the ocean food web and support vast fisheries of global importance.
We, as a species, continue to exploit resources and “move on” to some extent, but this is not a sustainable strategy in a world of 6.3 billion people. Moving on means consuming someone else’s forest resources, drinking another community’s water supply, or catching fish that once would have fed other people. Solving the challenges of creating forests and oceans that work, and can thus provide sustainable livelihoods, is no longer just a local issue. We cannot simply rally the local neighborhood, pick up the litter, and expect to slow global warming. Local communities can play a role in envisioning healthier communities. Communities are made up of individuals that can each play their roles. The “neighborhood” that is challenged is global and global solutions must be sought.
How are we to proceed in envisioning and creating this more livable, more sustainable society? I finally come to the promise of this column, an invitation: I invite you to participate in USM’s effort to create solutions by attending one of Bill McKibben’s Convocation Keynote Addresses on Thursday, Nov. 6:
What Comes Next? Going Beyond Globalization in the search for Sustainability.
Bill McKibben, scholar in residence at Middlebury College, former staff writer for “The New Yorker” and author of 39 books, including “Hundred Dollar Holiday” and “Maybe One” will examine the spread of globalized consumerism and suggest ways we can imagine a more feasible society. The talk will be presented twice and will be followed by a book sale and signing opportunity. Please join us.
Time: 2:45-4:00 p.m. and again at 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Place: Luther Bonney Auditorium, USM Portland Campus.
Reservations Please: call 228-8367.
Dudley Greeley can be contacted at [email protected].