Ecological restoration cannot and should not be relegated to pastimes for people who live “out in the boonies”; we need environmental and social restoration in metro areas as well.
Enda Hayes recently wrote, “While the water-energy-food nexus is all around us, it is rarely seen, considered or understood by the public or indeed by some policymakers. The total global population is increasing and is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050, with an estimated 70% living in towns and cities. If these trends continue by 2050 water demand is projected to increase by 55%, energy demand is projected to increase by 80% and food demand is projected to increase by 60%.”
Rural areas should not be seen as “sacrifice areas” for wood, water and energy extraction for the sake of maintaining urban growth rates.
Furthermore, city folks may need the physical and emotional engagement in the work of restoration as much as any of us do. As a West Coast agrarian group called FarmFolk/CityFolk implies through their very name, we need bridges not disparate worlds barrancas between these seemingly disparate worlds.
Brother Coyote, OEF
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Source: Enda Hayes (2016): Water Energy Food
