Why?
Why ecoconnect?
The short answer is; to get the name of a species to take an interest in, and to make a research contribution. Happy with the short answer? Get ecoconnected now.
Some people need a longer answer.
For their own sake
Life is rare in the cosmos. So far only found on Earth amongst the billions of known solar systems. The other species we share the planet with have been successful every season for 5 Billion years. Some will say, life just ‘is’. I say “life is good”.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES) Global Assessment estimates that 1 million species are destined for extinction. That is more than 10% of the species on the planet. The IUCN Red List has 120,000 species named and assessed with 32,000 assessed as ‘threatened with extinction’. The IUCN list is an obvious underestimation.
Around 1.7 Million species have scientific names. Estimates of the number of species on the planet vary but we use a figure of 8.1 Million. It is the same figure used by the IPBES. This gives a working target of 6.4 Million species to discover.
So we name and connect with species to understand them for their own sake. Connecting may also motivate people to take steps to conserve, for their own sake.
Its fun
You get to share a fun fact. Every species has quirky fun facts about where and how it lives, what it does and how it relates. Sharing your fun fact with others will start interesting and engaged conversations about life. These conversations are on a scientific level and encourage a sense of wonder, discovering the joy excitement and mystery of the world we live in.
We hope to have meetups at some stage. These can be fun opportunities to encourage one another. Sharing like this allows us to value one another for our capacity to be conscious of the dynamics of life.
To encourage scientists
As a community of people who appreciate scientists efforts to understand life in detail we will encourage scientists to do their work. We will also encourage governments and other stakeholders to invest in science as a compounding asset for society.
To fund scientists
Naming all the species on the planet is a start to understanding them. There are many biological scientists who lack the funding to do their work. This is the major limitation to what they can contribute to the stepping stones of knowledge, a compounding asset.
People need to be paid to do their work. We are not limited to funding taxonomy projects. We can fund a wide range of scientific or artistic projects that align with our ethos.
It is important that each ecoconnection costs $100 as this will encourage the ecoconnected person to value their connection and explore what it means. It will also allow us to pay scientists for their work to establish high quality knowledge.
To establish Ecoconnections
Ecoconnections is establishing as new institution. Ecoconnections generate funds for biodiversity research and development. The ecoconnected community are people who can help celebrate and apply the results of these research projects. The research challenge - to name all the species on the planet - is a long one that will involve public and private investments throughout the 21 century. The challenge to connect a person to every species for $100US each will establish the ecoconnected community and a fund to make a material contribution to the research challenge.
It lines up with society’s goals
How much do I spend on coffee, petrol and food? How much do I spend on biodiversity? Spending priorities can be different from life’s other priorities.
Bold plans for biodiversity have been made at every level of government and most of these are underachieved. Globally, public funding that destroys biodiversity outweighs that protecting biodiversity by at least 5:1. The private ratio is worse. We want to get this right.
‘Living in harmony with nature’ is the 2050 vision for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) are a 15-year ‘blueprint to build a better and more sustainable future for all’. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (including the SDG’s was adopted by all UN member states in 2015). Whilst these goals are interdependent the principal goals that involve biodiversity are; 14 “Life below water” because “people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihood” and 15 “Life on Land” because “Two billion hectares of land on Earth are degraded affecting some 3.2 billion people, driving species extinction and intensifying climate change”.
By ecoconnecting you add to a voice that says we actually want to achieve what we set out to achieve, at every level of government. Ecoconnections are voices for other species. You might uncover specific blunders we might avoid that could damage your own species. Our research can inform people and governments in making decisions. Getting the institutional arrangements right so we can achieve this ‘harmony’ is important.
For an education
“To explore and affiliate with life is a deep and complicated process in mental development. To an extent still undervalued in philosophy and religion, our existence depends on this propensity, our spirit is woven from it hope rises on its currents.”
Edward O. Wilson, Biophilia
Simple level
Understanding a name and a fun fact about a species gives:
Practice in pronunciation and spelling of 2 new words with a specific meaning
A window into the geography and environmental politics as it applies to your species
At a subconscious level a sense of your species as you both live through the seasons
At the simple level no input is required beyond finding a fun fact you can share about your species. Just by being ecoconnected you will have a compounding education asset that will build with your life experience.
More engaged
A window on a unique anatomy, biology, ecology and biochemistry. Studying your species anatomy can give a focus for learning scientific drawring. Understanding the biology of your creature gives a starting point and a stake in understanding biology and ecology as a broader discipline. The unique gene expression and biochemistry of your species is a unique and interesting part of the web of life
Thresholds are an important idea. Many species will become abundant beyond certain thresholds of temperature, predatory, parasitic and pathogenic pressures, nutrient and other resource availability. Understanding what makes your species abundant can involve complex mathematics and systems thinking.
What your species means to other species will depend on how it relates. Is it a predator, parasite, pathogen, prey, host, food, or symbiont. Understanding these relationships can be a starting point for exploring meaning.
Developing the higher order faculties and capabilities will happen passively once you are ecoconnected as you have a stake in more things happening around you. However like most things in life you get more out if you put in.
Keep it real.
Human society is urbanising and disconnecting from daily environmental pressures. This is a good thing as our interactions with biology can be damaging for many creatures. It is also good for us as efficient food supply chains give us stability and an ability to do more with our lives than procure food and shelter. In our native condition however, education was deeply connected with environmental pressures. An ecoconnection can keep us ‘real’ by reminding us we are not machines but alive and part of this rare thing called ‘life’. This can be an orientation, a thread of seasonal continuity and sense of purpose for your whole educational experience.
The research on ‘grit’ shows that a unique personal project at a young age is important for developing the capability to progress beyond tough starting circumstances. An ecoconnection can be one of these projects.
A compounding asset
In short as an education, ecoconnecting is
a compounding asset;
a focus for when you want it;
a subtle grounding in reality that does not need to take over your life.
To build a living body of knowledge
“The trouble with whitefellas is that they keep all their brains in books” Inuit man Bob Dempsey quoted in Songlines.
The compounding asset we want to build is not just about the individual experience. With around 2M species named, it is beyond any one person to understand them all. Imagine a world where everyone is ecoconnected. That would be 1000 people per species. We want to delegate the task of understanding life. We also want to help people work together as they feel motivated, each on a small piece of the big challenge (to understand life).
Research that sits on a shelf adds no value. Someone needs to read and appreciate it. A network of ecoconnected people can teach and encourage one another so our knowledge is alive.
To benefit humans
We seek to be a balance to people centered voices. There are however important benefits for humans from a deeper ecological understanding.
Integrated Pest Management
Integrated Pest Management in Agriculture is about integrating all the management inputs to productively manage agroecologies. Chemical inputs for nutrition, weed, disease and pest control have allowed greater productivity and therefore lower environmental impacts than might have been possible without these inputs. Hi energy costs of nitrogen, and decreasing phosphorus deposit reserves will require attention to the ecological dynamics of these nutrients. Resistance management and off-target impacts will require greater attention to weed, pest and disease ecology. A shift to more regenerative agroecologies will be served by better understanding of what is there in local ecologies. The farmer does not have the capacity to study and understand the dynamics of every creature in the system. As an integrator farmers can act on available information. If some of this information is ecological information generated by ecoconnected people or research we fund then farmers will be able to make more informed decisions.
New agricultural industries
As we understand the biology of the remaining 70% of species on the planet there will be opportunities for developing new industries. These could be in new flavours, fragrances, foods, pharmeceuticals or industrial inputs. From the viewpoint of reducing agricultural impacts, broadacre nitrogen fixing perennial crops is a high priority example.
Biomimicry in medicine and engineering
Surgical implants with dragonfly wing surface structure is an example of an innovation from biomimicry in human health. Dragonfly wings have structures that disrupt bacterial cell membranes and can help prevent infection if similar structures are engineered onto sugical implants. Maybe you will come up with an innovation after thinking about the adaptations that have helped your species succeed.
It can be a helpful ethical position
We are lucky to be born human as our imminent extinction is unlikely. We also get to vote and exercise some power to decide our own fate. To take the position of another species and critique decision making offers an alternative perspective. This might be ‘live and let live’ or could be more nuanced and detailed as you understand your species’ biology.
More generally being ecoconnected is a positive step toward a world ‘living in harmony with nature’ identifying you as a person who wants to achieve this goal.
To be an objective witness
As an objective witness you will be conscious of the forces effecting your species survival. If your species is damaged by an act of deliberate ecocide someone will be aware of this. It’s a bit like being the Lorax “I speak for the trees”.
Human connections and encouragement
As mentioned above meaning comes from relationships. Be it food, predator, parasite, prey or friend. You could take your own interest in a species for free but, is this like the sound of one hand clapping? When you ecoconnect your interest is known to us and is important to us, to the person who ecoconnects you and the ecoconnected community. These people can help find and share enjoyment, that spark of wonder, from your observations and discoveries. The purpose of the ecoconnected community is to encourage people to take an interest in life.
Through life’s seasons
The encouragement of ecoconnections can be for anyone.
Babies to toddlers
Being ecoconnected as a baby can add a little more meaning to a baby’s life and give a real life discussion point, especially for urban dwellers.
Toddlers to teens
Developing a global and evolutionary perspective could be an important foundation. Like a pet you don’t have to feed the existence and perspective of your species can be a constant friend.
Teens to adults
Most subjects at school can be applied in the real world life of your species. Some time of exploring what is known will also reveal a vast amount of what is unknown about your species. Appreciation of the unknowns can open opportunites for discovery.
As we urbanise we need to curb our territorial instincts. Ecoconnecting could be a way to imaginatively exercise these instincts by exploring the geography of your species. Virtual tribes could form, structured around ecologies or species classifications.
Adults
Adults are responsible for the institutions and activities of society. Having a check perspective (your species) to keep pointing toward ‘harmony’ can lift you above people centered views. This perspective will be important as you make important decisions and your productivity peaks. You might even do some biology. If not you can better enjoy the achievements of those that do if you have an ecoconnection at stake.
Twilight years
Spare a thought. As infirmities limit your ability to travel you can live your species’ life, in your mind. The vital battles fought and dynamics of your species territory can add to your mental vitality. The idea that you were conscious of your species is important to the ecoconnected community.
To the future
The future of life is likely to involve 2 elements. The first is establishing a harmonius balance on earth where humans and the rest of life co-exist. The second, off planet, will involve decisions of which ecologies to send. Perhaps a human understanding of the dynamics of species in their wild condition can contribute to seeding life and love to the rest of the cosmos :-)