The reality of our times

I spent many years (decades) volunteering to save biodiversity. In 2009 and 2010 I spent 80% of my time traveling, (paying almost $20 out of my own pocket) in the long and tedious process, starting with the scientific and technical discussions all the way to ending up with 20 simple targets (Aichi targets) that any politician and business person could undrstand. The origin of this intense work (I traveled 302 days in 2010 on 49 trips to 5 continents) was the complete failure to HALT biodiversity loss by 2010, agreed almost a decade before by all countries. When I read the outcomes of Sharm el-Sheikh and Montreal, it seems that humanity has not understood that we are walking on death row, with exponencial steps. This is probably due to a complete incompetence of science, academy,business and politics to truly comprehend systems and holistic approaches.

Disciplines, departments, ministries – almost all of our institutions are set up in reductionist ways. Poverty could never be solved through economics but we still measure and most “ivy league” institutions still teach GDP (PBI – producto interno para brutos in Spanish 😉 – there is an almost perfect correlation between GDP and Gini.

We made a huge mistake teaching we had to take care of nature when actually we should have taught people that if nature does not function, we don’t exist. With a loss of 95% of biodiversity in Latin America, I see little hope for the survival of humanity over the next few decades. This attitude of supremacy started with the well-known Greek philosophers but was further entrenched by Descartes with his dualism and separation of spirit and matter. This gave western man (yes, mostly men!) the idea that nature was there to be dominated. We are supposed to extract its resources, straighten rivers, build walls on coastlines, drain wetlands and cut forests.

I have based my work on 5 big challenges: 1. is it humans and nature or humans are nature, 2. reductionist thinking and acting, 3. we are taught to think in linear terms, change is exponential, 4. we still believe in the wrong things (like putting poison on our food to be able to feed humanity) and 5. the ability to UNLEARN.

This is why RCN is vital for the future of the planet (yes, believe me!). In order to work in a truly transdisciplinary way, it has to be based on a bioregion, with local governance structures, active participation of society, strengthening culture (way beyond arts and folklore), focus on local economies and bringing back life. This cannot be done without a change in our deep consciousness (I can’t believe that Descartes is still used in most universities).

After 40 years of work in so many different spaces, having sat with Evo Morales and Lula at a lunch meeting, worked with and gotten medals in national congresses, talking at hundreds of universities, given thousands of talks, and having been one of the several hundred thousand people that attend the global meetings, I have decided that Bucky Fuller was completely correct, forget the H1, it’s useless. Let’s see what is worthwhile keeping but let us bring the bioregions together to SHOW, demonstrate, whatever you want to call it, that regeneration is possible, it works, and is business. It is useless to keep on discussing definitions, goals, and agreements. We already ran out of time. I feel totally sick when I hear success stories about the new agreements to reduce emissions. Our legacy carbon is already way above anything that could sustain life. We either draw the carbon from the sky and put it beneath our feet and REVERSE biodiversity loss (bring life back to the planet) over the next few YEARS (remember exponentiality) or let’s retire and go live on a high ridge at the beach and watch sea level rise.

We either start global cooperation or we will fail badly. We need several million first responders for regeneration, it is our duty to train them, educate them and have the metrics to prove that regeneration is happening and is cheap.

Nature gave us many warnings: droughts, floods, heat, and cold, mostly affecting the vulnerable. It has sent us the last present, one which we can’t even see, but it put all of humanity on its knees. But most importantly, in the 4 months vacation we gave it, it gave the whole planet a demonstration of its resilience, it clearly told us that if we let it do what it has to do, life can flourish even in the most degraded spaces.

Nature-based solutions aren’t about the application of technology, it is about understanding how life works. Just to clarify above, 94% loss of abundance of biodiversity. (Living Planet 2022 report).

We need MRV, measuring, reporting and verification to build a new wisdom pool (this is far beyond only data, information and “knowledge” –  especially when scientists are stuck with statistical analysis and have forgotten common sense). 

In our regenerative farms, we have 50% more insects than the average in national parks! In cattle farms without forests, 70% of the bats we capture are vampires, whereas, on farms with forests, it is only 3%!! These are economic numbers for the farmers, that will move them to regeneration because it will make them more profitable.

 

In our regenerative farms, we have 50% more insects than the average in national parks! In cattle farms without forests, 70% of the bats we capture are vampires, whereas, on farms with forests, it is only 3%!! These are economic numbers for the farmers, that will move them to regeneration because it will make them more profitable.

RCN has convened a radical collaboration process with other networks of local and regeneration work. Only this big movement is capable of producing this knowledge, together and fast! 

HAVE A GREAT 2023, change is finally here!


— Eduard Müller

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