5. Designs for Life: Priority Threat Management and Nature-Based Plans
SYNOPSIS:
Today we are joined by Dr. Tara Martin and Herb Hammond, who have pioneered fascinating methods in developing large-scale maps and management plans for biodiverse, high-priority conservation landscapes. What really sets them apart is their ability to integrate both cutting edge Western science and indigenous worldviews, a synthesis called ‘two eyed seeing’.
In these interviews, they debunk the misguided idea that separating humans from nature is the best way to restore and manage ecosystems, and show instead how human touch is vital in tending to the land. Tara and Herb are bridge builders, between the hard data science and predictive modelling, between governments and policy, along with private investment, and most importantly, the lived realities on the ground.
Dr. Tara Martin is a scientist, professor, and the founder of the Martin Conservation Decisions Lab at the University of British Columbia. We cover the basics of conservation decision science and “priority threat management” (a tool she’s pioneered) and discuss her lab’s work with First Nations across Canada, especially in the Fraser River Estuary, along with the role of art and beauty. Peppered throughout the interview are glorious descriptions of the eco-cultural landscapes that she’s worked tirelessly to protect.
Herb Hammond is one of the most respected elders in the space of nature-based planning. Herb started out as a conventional forester but soon became dispirited with the destructive practices of the industry, and went on to found The Silva Forest Foundation which he ran with his wife Susie for 30 years. Over the course of their career they’ve developed over 25 large scale nature-directed plans for Canada and around the world, upending ways that landscape management is conceived and implemented.
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Designs for Life
QUOTES:
Tara Martin
We may need to change the way we're doing our science to make it more usable, and to be asking the right questions in the first place.
The biggest threat to these ecosystems was the loss of First Nation stewardship. Almost all of our ecosystems actually need active management. They need people to help them to recover, which will involve some tree clearing and bringing back fire.
If we had a salmon sitting at the decision table, we would all speak differently. We would all think differently. We would all make different decisions. An elder in a meeting once brought a seat to the table and he said, this is the seat for the salmon.
These were the old growths. And we rarely think that these little herbaceous plants can also be ancient. Imagine the stories that this plant could tell, the different climates that's already lived through, all the different languages that it's heard…
We use art, to help us to work with our knowledge holders in a way that is non extractive and full of beauty and reciprocity.
Herb Hammond
What I do in the world is to be part of nature. That’s my goal.
It's not so much nature-based as it is nature-directed. Nature is in the driver's seat here.
I think that most people have lost touch with their hearts, and they they've lost touch with common sense that comes along with heart-based thinking.
Economies are a part of human cultures, and human cultures are a part of ecosystems. So it follows logically from that, that if you protect ecosystems, you will always have healthy cultures, and if you have healthy cultures, you defacto have healthy economies.
It's amazing how many people make decisions about forests without ever being in the forest. Their problems come in envelopes and leave in envelopes.