permaculture

[Wesley Roe and Santa Barbara Permaculture Network <lakinroe@silcom.com>]

NEW BOOK /Beyond the War on Invasive Species
A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration
By Tao Orion
Foreword by David Holmgren
FACEBOOK PAGE 
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beyond-the-War-on-Invasive-Species/372616849596042

http://www.chelseagreen.com/beyond-the-war-on-invasive-species

Just got my copy/ have read the forward 
but the Intro by Tao is worth the price of the book 
Invasive species are everywhere, from forests and prairies to mountaintops 
and river mouths. Their rampant nature and sheer numbers appear to overtake 
fragile native species and forever change the ecosystems that they depend on. 
Concerns that invasive species represent significant threats to global 
biodiversity and ecological integrity permeate conversations from schoolrooms 
to board rooms, and concerned citizens grapple with how to rapidly and 
efficiently manage their populations. 
These worries have culminated in an ongoing “war on invasive species,” where 
the arsenal is stocked with bulldozers, chainsaws, and herbicides put to the 
task of their immediate eradication. In Hawaii, mangrove trees (Avicennia 
spp.) are sprayed with glyphosate and left to decompose on the sandy 
shorelines where they grow, and in Washington, helicopters apply the 
herbicide Imazapyr to smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) growing in 
estuaries. The “war on invasive species” is in full swing, but given the 
scope of such potentially dangerous and ecologically degrading eradication 
practices, it is necessary to question the very nature of the battle.
Beyond the War on Invasive Species offers a much-needed alternative 
perspective on invasive species and the best practices for their management 
based on a holistic, permaculture-inspired framework. Utilizing the latest 
research and thinking on the changing nature of ecological systems, Beyond 
the War on Invasive Species closely examines the factors that are largely 
missing from the common conceptions of invasive species, including how the 
colliding effects of climate change, habitat destruction, and changes in land 
use and management contribute to their proliferation. 
Beyond the War on Invasive Species demonstrates that there is more to the 
story of invasive species than is commonly conceived, and offers ways of 
understanding their presence and ecosystem effects in order to make more 
ecologically responsible choices in land restoration and biodiversity 
conservation that address the root of the invasion phenomenon. 
The choices we make on a daily basis—the ways we procure food, shelter, 
water, medicine, and transportation—are the major drivers of contemporary 
changes in ecosystem structure and function; therefore, deep and long-lasting 
ecological restoration outcomes will come not just from eliminating invasive 
species, but through conscientious redesign of these production systems.