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pcplantdb - Re: [pcplantdb] How do we want to define locales?

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  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>
  • To: john@eco-living.net, pcplantdb@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [pcplantdb] How do we want to define locales?
  • Date: Sat, 11 Sep 2004 17:33:21 -0700

John Schinnerer wrote:

Looking for some input here in terms of how we want to define
locales. Something like Continent/Nation/State/City, Lat/Long, a
thorough climate description, or a combination of all of these?


I favor a bioregional approach in general.
That is, defining location by a combination of topographical and
biological descriptions.
Continent, bioregion, sub-region, city/town/village(s) where relevant.

Its important to use what we have that works, what a broad user base will
understand
and what will have meaning for them; read: a lot of professionals in related
fields:
farmers, nurserymen, gardeners, landscape gardeners, landscapers, landscape
planners, landscape architects,
horticulturists who work in any of these fields.

I agree with you that bioregion is better and has more real meaning but for
the sake
of getting th DB off the ground a Zone systems is better, for now.

Here's a serious proposal:

Include fields for zone, bioregion, ecotone and biome and let these areas
fill with input as the project evolves;

For such concepts as bioregion which promote a deeper understanding of nature
and nature's forces
and represent a realm of knowledge about plants, though maybe esoteric, te DB
should contain significant
resources to help understand this concept and broaden knowledge of it by
providing as much data as possible
about it.

We have an opportunity here to re-seed a bioregionally based understanding
of place and subvert the nation-state pathology that currently dominates.

Promoting PIW and permaculture itself will go a long way toward accomplishing
this goal.
An immediate goal would be to rid the world of the weedkiller/chemlawn/pest
control mindset.

For that reason I would prefer *not* using nation and state designations
and boundaries as primary location indicators. In the DB, sure, but not
as primary location indicators. Use bioregional location specifiers as
primary information for locales.

Use zone _and_ bioregion. Good not to exclude bioregion.

If we do some eventual integration with GIS stuff, and even without that,
Lat/Long would be good to have, since it's an internationally applied way
of defining locations. Eurocentric to be sure, but not in such
destructive ways as the nation-state stuff.

Absolutely right-on about doing this. Great idea.

><><><><><

John S:

Are there many eco-monasteries in US? You mentioned this term once before.
I am interested in this and might want to start one. We need more of them.

LL
aspiring pagan eco-monk.
--
L.F.London
lfl@intrex.net
http://market-farming.com
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech




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