“We are all bound by a covenant of reciprocity: plant breath for animal breath, winter and summer, predator and prey, grass and fire, night and day, living and dying. Water knows this, cloud knows this. Soil and rocks know they are dancing in a continuous giveaway of making, unmaking, and making again the earth.” – Robin Wall Kimmerer[1]
Reflecting on Robin Wall Kimmerer’s moving observations I can’t help but consider what her insights may imply for the life of my peers, and those of future generations. We belong to an environment equally molded by the scathing pain of ecological crisis[2] and the promise of restoration[3]. At only 22, myself and those in my circles have experienced unmaking in the form of forest fires, tropical cyclones, flooding , uncharacteristic drought, and dying reefs. I have also observed the beginning of remaking in the form of the re-emergence of keystone terrestrial and marine species, the growth of coral heads, and restoration of wetlands. After walking Tidmarsh, reading Robin Wall Kimmerer’s work, and reflecting on principles of restoration I found myself nagged by an unrelenting question. These experiences have influenced my life overwhelmingly, but how does this cycle of unmaking, and making influence the land as well as all of its other residents. Be they living, and non-living, how do they experience these changes?
Though it may vary from practitioner to practitioner, there are general principles of restoration which apply to cranberry farms. The first involves removing barriers to the free movement of fish, wildlife, sediment, and water. Infrastructure used in cranberry agriculture such as berms, dams, interior water control structures, and cell-spanning dikes must be removed. The extent of the remediation is dependent on a host of factors such as a site’s specific hydrology, the amount of cranberry farming infrastructure present, and the ideas of partners including the landowner. Ultimately, removing these barriers should promote the free movement for water, sediment, and organic matter as well as aquatic and terrestrial organisms.
Beyond addressing barriers of movement, wetland restoration of cranberry bogs must also look below the growing surface to address the anthropogenic sand layers which were added during farming to aid cranberry production. Over time, these layers raise the growing surface separating the surface from the water table and creating a Kit Kat Bar effect (see figure 1). This layering disrupts vertical percolation of water and impacts plant life on site. If left as is after a farm is retired, these sandy layers dramatically reduce the likelihood of wetlands emerging. More likely, the sandy dry soil surface will become a habitat for upland and even non-native plant species. However, if the layered soil can be broken up and the legacy seed bank released, and if the water table can be raised, the growing surface can become wet and wetland plants will be able to establish themselves. I wonder, as native seeds begin germinating and reconnecting with the land they belong to, what information will be passed on? Does this reconnection between seed and soil share a semblance of the sweet, joyful feeling we might all share when we develop lost ties to kin, kith, and place from which we became separated?
Figure 1.) Layered soil, or the “kit kat” bar effect.
Another related principle of restoration is physical simplification. This entails a host of activities such as rebuilding degraded channels and introducing large pieces of wood, rock, and riffles which partially set in motion the ecological foundations for a self-sustaining wetland. By adding length and sinuosity so that a restored stream channels approximate their pre-farm state, the overall time water spends on the land increases, accepts flood waters from major storm events, and allows water percolate downwards into the aquifer. The large rocks and debris added in stream and across the restored growing surface provides shade for marine and terrestrial life. I imagine that as wildlife returns and grapples with the task of navigating restored channels the shade of the logs and rocks are nothing less than welcome. Similarly, as wildlife settles in and herons patiently perch for fish, they are probably grateful for the inundated embankment. When looking at those embankments we may exercise similar gratitude as we remember how storm surges are able to overwhelm concrete-urban spaces, while those of us situated near wetlands remain unscathed due to the ecosystem service of flood protection which wetlands provide.
Using a mix of time-lapse, real-time video and selected audio recordings, this film documents the transformation of a landscape as it transitions from cranberry farm to a restored wetland.
While restoration can overcome, and manage some challenges immediately, restoration also leaves certain challenges to mother nature and father time. The diversification of self-sustaining biota and proliferation of threatened, rare, or endangered species, for example, can only be partially addressed in the present. More likely, we must wait and listen to what time invites. Nonetheless, in the present how might our understanding of wetland restoration inform our connections to land? I have personally realized how I have become more sensitive to the covenant of reciprocity in its short term expression. As we visit sites which are in the process of restoration, we might observe the fragility, and beauty in the reciprocity of mushrooms growing from leaf litter for example. This observation paints a clear picture for a process leading to long term soil health in a reciprocal system. There are equally important, long term reciprocal processes which are harder to observe. The sequestration of carbon, succession of species, and nutrient stability of aquifers hold their own unique, relatively slow moving roles in this covenant. Is there a kindred way we can act once we recognize our roles and selves in a similar covenant among these systems? In the past it was the work of environmentalists such as Rachel Carson that led us to end the use of pesticides such as DDT. Carson’s work was rooted in a recognition and illustration of pesticide’s impact on the covenant of reciprocity. Now labelled legacy pesticides, traces of them still remain in the soil. We can similarly express gratitude by acting as stewards to the land by taking it out of production and restoring its historic hydrology. Not for the sake of altruism, but from the same recognition of our role in this covenant which all living, and non-living things share with land.
A recent photograph of Crown Coral mushroom growing in the rich humus of leaf litter.
One of the steps we can take which acts on that recognition is, at the least, to continue our quest for understanding and listening to land as it goes through the processes of making and unmaking. That said, I do not expect you, or myself to be overly romantic with our pursuit of understanding. As Yassin Bey says, “to make something … true, it ain’t got to be special, it aint got to be new, maybe its best if it bears repeating like breathing, eating, bathing or sleeping”. Maybe it is enough that you continue visiting sites such as the Tidmarsh Wildlife Sanctuary, or the Foothills Preserve throughout the seasons (even when it’s cold and inclement outside.) Tend to the places which have been restored or are in the process of restoration with careful observation and consistent stewardship. In sum I merely ask that both you and I together make sure to care for the intellectual fire and passionate attachments which ignite the interest, curiosity, empathy and gratitude for land as we experience the onslaught of the change, which is set to come.
[1] Kimmerer, R. W. (2016). Braiding sweetgrass. Tantor Media, Inc.
[2] IPCC, 2021: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.
[3] United Nations. (2021, June 4). UN launches decade on ecosystem restoration to Counter 'TRIPLE environmental emergency' | | UN NEWS. United Nations. Retrieved September 2021, from https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/06/1093362.