AIMS OF THE ARK
1. To raise awareness of the extinction event we are experiencing.
Right now, it might be the loss of rare or unusual mosses, or creatures you might not come across often, but one day very, very soon, it will be that beloved hedgehog or thrush.
The lesser known and lesser loved species are vital parts of the web of life and unknown to most of us, they have a crucial and supportive job to play in the lives of many other creatures. So focusing on saving only the more well known creatures is a narrow activity. We need to create safe havens for ALL the creatures we are supposed to share this planet with.
2. To create safe and abundant havens for as many wild creatures as possible.
There is a rising need for resting places where nature can develop the mechanisms to digest, counteract and disassemble the toxins we have soaked her with.
3. To give as much land as possible back into nature’s hands. For example, there are 40 million acres of chemically treated monoculture, grass lawns in the USA alone. Even 10% of this reserved for small Arks would provide habitat for billions of creatures and change the ecological future of that continent.
4. To create a web of interconnected living sanctuaries that will become the seeds to restore our planetary diversity and health.
5. To offer people something important to do to support life on earth.
6. To create a movement that empowers people.
Photo by Moya McGinley
7. To support people, schools, corporations and local governments to let their gardens, parklands and public wastelands become wild, become untidy and wild, without being shamed by passers-by and neighbours. Messy is good! There is very little life in a ‘tidy’ garden.
8. To rebrand “weeds’ as native wild plants that are natures ecosystem foundation stones. To help educate people about the huge value of meadows and scrublands in habitat creation and ecosystem development.
9. To get people to question deep seated, unconscious actions in their management of nature in man-made landscapes.
Why are we cutting that lawn?
Why are we ‘weeding’ the beds of non-native shrubs and flowers?
Why remove dandelions and other native plants when they are such an important source of pollen for insects in the spring?
Why are we killing and cutting everything?
10. To open a window on sustainable food production and encourage more of us to grow food using life supporting approaches (for example no-dig and permaculture). This grass roots movement will help affect change in the conventional farming model and create more space for nature and a healthy biodiversity.
11. To raise awareness of the dangerous and destructive effects that chemicals have on every aspect of the natural world – including us. We have been sold a lie that chemicals are necessary in gardening. They bring death to a natural ecosystem on so many different levels. Once a balanced, diverse landscape is restored, everything moves back towards a harmonious natural self-sustaining system.
