We were once told that “The world’s biodiversity is so rapidly slipping through our hands that it has become the problem we have created for which our descendants will be least likely to forgive us.”

We can now see that when we put aside our differences, “We have the collective capacity to recover varieties, species, communities and habitat types that had been on ...

We once blindly accepted the premise that “Wildlife conservation and economic use simply do not mix. Why restore a species to its habitat, then hunt or fish it? Instead, we should take shots not with guns, but with cameras. We should protect charismatic megafauna as watchable wildlife in accessible reserves where people can see them. These flagship species that will allow “trickle ...

Economists once warned us that “Conservation will cost so much money and jobs that the growth of local and regional economies will inevitably be slowed, disrupted or diminished.”

It has become evident that “Cooperative restoration strategies generate more livelihoods with live-able wages, valuable ecosystem services and local multiplier effects. These can be done in a manner that sustains local assets and enhances regional ...

We once held that “Biological conservation is about the rescue and relegation of imperiled species to protected parks, zoos, botanical gardens and seed banks.”

We now sense that “Lasting biological conservation comes from restoring relationships among plants, animals and microbial populations in a gradient of habitats that all include both natural and cultural elements.”

-Brother Coyote

We once believed that “Science alone would be enough to ensure the rational management and wise use of natural resources for the public good.”

We now humbly recognize that “Scientists, policy makers and on-ground resource managers need to be in constant dialogue with ethicists, faith-based communities and culture bearers. If we ignore the need for dialogue between science and the spirit, we will ...

We once fatalistically asserted that “Poor minorities in urban areas and indigenous communities in the hinterlands often become the victims of hazardous wastes and other contamination. That is because they have yet to develop the economic power, political standing or environmental leadership capacity that will keep bad things from happening in their midsts.”

We now relish that fact that “People of color are ...

We once felt inclined to “Write off the conservation value of disturbed, anthropogenic and cultural managed habitats as well as domesticated species. We opted for investing only in the protection of wilderness and the remaining diversity of wild, untrammeled species.”

We now feel emboldened to “Engage people of all ages, races and classes in the restoration of diversity in culturally-managed landscapes. That includes ...

We once presumed that “Hunting and fishing by the poor and hungry are killing off the earth’s fish and wildlife, so we have to been forced to protect nature from people in order to prevent the over harvesting that will extirpate species if left unchecked.”

Today, we are delighted by the successes that are achieved when “We positively re-engage people in the processes ...

We once assumed that “Placing more wildlands and waters under the management authority of government agencies will allow us to avoid the tragedy of the commons.”

We must now admit that “Co-management with local communities can level the playing field. Why? Top-down command-and-control management of resources and landscapes by bureaucracies can often disenfranchise or bankrupt local communities’ capacities as long-term stakeholders.Tragically, it has ...

We once passed judgement that “Destructive human behaviors need to be constrained so urgently that top-down regulation has become the most expedient and firm means of protecting the environment and saving species.”

We now concede that “Our tool kit of conservation and restoration strategies will need to offer far more options than regulation, restriction and punitive actions. Instead, we will need to unleash ...

We once self-righteously felt “We have to demonstrate the drive to fix environmental problems others who can immediately see the necessity of doing so.”

We now understand that “We need to make change happen by working with others and changing ourselves. We need to include others in envisioning and implementing shifts toward a more inclusive set of players.”

-Brother Coyote

Welcome to my new set of daily reflections on a paradigm shift toward a kind of “conservation you can taste.” Let’s take a look at the kind of paradigm shifts which have begun to occur since the earliest days of the environmental movement, to what we see in the actions of those involved in the collaborative restoration movement today.

I call ...

It is indeed amazing that a week after our President pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord and denied that climate change is real and solutions to it create jobs, he tries to turn his attention to “our crumbling infrastructure of bridges and roads.”  Why is the infrastructure crumbling at an unprecedented rate? Climate change!

Not long ago, 98 percent of urban leaders ...