What's A Bioregion?

The concept of a bioregion is an emerging idea. It is as new and elusive as the evolving theories of ecosystem and biosphere which are also newly-emerging concepts of biological organization. Definitions of bioregion attempt to help define and determine the location of an individual in the natural world of the biosphere, and to help each person develop a sense of place. Bioregions are thought of as the natural countries of the planet in terms of ecology, economics, and political decisions regarding resource management and planning issues. More and more people are beginning to consider the wellbeing of the places where they live to be central to their own wellbeing. According to bioregional proponents like Peter Berg and Ray Dasmann, early members of the Planet Drum Foundation, a bioregion can be determined initially by use of climatology, physiography, animal and plant geography, natural history and other descriptive natural sciences, but finally it must be defined and understood in terms that refer to a terrain of consciousness as well as to a geographical terrain-to a place and ideas that have developed about how to live in a long-term sustainable way in that place. The term Bioregion has also been in the 90s by various California State agencies to designate administrative areas based primarily on the natural sciences and broad geographical considerations. The term bioregion in this context was used in the Memorandum of Understanding: Agreement on Biodiversity of the State of California. The use of the concept of bioregion in this more restricted sense may prove useful in learning more about natural systems from a scientific point of view and dealing with resource management issues. Below are some definition and an article on how to be a Bioregionalist, presented here by the Research and Electronic Committee of the Bioregional Association of the North Americas (BANA) (9/96) .

Definitions The following definition was adopted by The Bioregional Association of North Americas (BANA) 7/96: A bioregional individual or bioregional group works to: 1) Discover, understand, restore, and/or maintain the local natural systems; 2) Develop and/or practice sustainable ways to satisfy basic human needs; 3) Support the development of a new cultural identity based on the nature of one's place. Below is a definition given by Peter Berg in the Symposium on Biodiversity of Northwestern California, October 28-30, 1991. "A bioregion can be determined initially by the use of climatology, physiography, animal and plant geography, natural history and other descriptive natural sciences. The final boundaries of a bioregion are best described by the people who have lived within it, through human recognition of the realities of living-in-place. All life on the planet is interconnected in a few obvious ways, and in many more that remain barely explored. But there is a distinct resonance among living things and the factors which influence them that occurs specifically within each separate place on the planet. Discovering and describing that resonance is a way to describe a bioregion." How To Be a Bioregionalist? Part One: An Overview by David Haenke Bioregion: A life region. A geographical area whose rough boundaries are determined by non-human, rather than human, forces. Bioregions are distinguished from one another by characteristic flora, fauna, water, climate, rocks, soils, land forms, and the human settlements and cultures to which these features give rise.

Bioregionalism is a way of life that is both a viable path for the future and an embodiment of the most ancient, time-tested knowledge of our species. Bioregionalism sees all things through ecology, the root laws and principles of life itself. It is a unique way of defining and understanding the place where we live, and of living there sustainably and respectfully. Bioregional principles and practices are "new" only for people raised under the influence of Western industrial-technological society. Its essence has been reality and common sense for native people living close to the land for thousands of years. At the same time, bioregional concepts are valid in terms of science, technology, economics, politics, and other fields of "civilized" human endeavor. Using ecology as the discriminator, bioregionalism takes the best and most presently relevant of the old, and synthesizes it with the most appropriate of the new. Bioregionalism is the most thoroughly ecological of all Twentieth Century movements. Its principles apply equally well to urban and rural regions. Furthermore, they have the potential of uniting people of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. The bioregional movement is evolving the theory and practice of integrated systems of ecologically-based economics, agriculture, forestry, technology, law, governance, politics, education, health care, energy, and everything necessary for the human dimension of a given bioregion to function sustainably. All this is done within the context of maintaining, or restoring the whole-life community (which includes all other species and ecological entities, such as trees, animals, plants, bodies of water, along with humans) under ecological laws and principles. This inclusion of the non human in the definition of community is vital. Indeed, one of the basic tenets of bioregionalism is the notion of "eco-centrism", where existence is seen from a life-centered perspective, rather than from a

human-centered one. Bioregionalism is an active alliance with the Earth, in virtually every dimension of our individual and collective existence. It is the eventual confluence of all the sanity that is left on the planet. Part Two: Practical Suggestions by Beatrice Briggs You may be a Bioregionalist and not even know it. Here are some tell-tale signs that identify members of this growing tribe, and some suggestions for getting started down the bioregional path. 1. Revise your address. Bioregionalist tend to answer the question, "Where do you live?" in terms of the boundaries of the local ecosystem, rather than those of the nation-state. For example, my own bioregional "address" is located in the shadow of Blue Mounds (elevation 1,716 feet , called "wee-hau-kaja," or "high place with a wonderful view," by the Winnebago) in an unglaciated area, formerly oak savanna, tallgrass prairie and wetlands, now primarily agricultural, under increasing pressure by housing developers, on Ryan Creek, tributary of Elver's Creek, tributary of the Wisconsin River, tributary of the Mississippi. A lot more information than if I had simply recited my postal address! 2. Track the energy flows. Water and food and fuel are essential for human life. Find out where your drinking water comes from and where local waste water goes. Become knowledgeable about watershed issues. (Hint: A watershed is an area drained by a body of water, such as a lake or a river. Everyone lives in one.) Know how far your food traveled to get to your plate and the conditions under which it was grown. Make an effort to eat locally grown, seasonal, and organic produce. Where I live, that means strawberries in June, not January, and no lettuce in the heat of July and August. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Kick the petroleum habit. Go solar. Support (or develop) the local economy, rather than the trans-national one. 3. Become passionate about maps and mapping. The minute you start looking for maps of your bioregion, you will discover the
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frustrating inadequacies of most existing ones. Street maps obscure the geographical features. Topographical maps ignore the vegetation. Vegetation maps leave out the historical sites. Watershed maps stop abruptly at county, state, or national borders, even though the water flows on. Consult Boundaries of Home, edited by Doug Aberley, for a useful introduction to bio-cartography. (New Society Publishers, PO Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC, V0R 1X0, Canada.) 4. Discover the "real" name and totem of your place. Too often, current place names reflect only the relatively recent human history of the area. Go beyond the names of dead royalty and foreign colonizers, to learn the ancient names, which are usually more evocative of the original character of the landscape. If the area still retains its indigenous name, find out what it means. For example, the word "Chicago" comes from a Neshnabek word meaning "place of the wild onion." The local bioregional group, therefore, is called the Wild Onion Alliance and its totem plant is the Allium cernuum, a prairie species, one of several native onion plants which perfume the air of remnant wild lands in the early spring. 5. Make a calendar. Name the Moons. Collect information about the seasonal cycles in your area. Find out when the native plants bloom, when the birds migrate, the animals mate, the young are born. Identify the times of greatest danger (of heat, cold, drought, flood, smog, traffic, gang warfare, etc.), as well as the times of opportunity. Ask knowledgeable residents, "How do you know when spring/summer/fall/winter (or the applicable seasons where you live) arrives?" Based on this data, give a bioregionally appropriate name to each of the thirteen "moons." Avoid the tendency to identify everything from the human perspective. 6. Take a walk. Document your discoveries. Get out and discover the sacred places in your bioregion. Go on foot or other non-motorized conveyance. Invite family members, friends and young people to accompany you. Bring field guides, history books, maps, and, if possible, a local expert to show you around. If a group is doing interesting work in a particular area, arrange for a special tour. Better yet, ask if you can help out for a day or an afternoon. Whatever you
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do, take a camera, notebook and/or sketch book to record your impressions and experiences. This documentation will help you remember what you saw and will enable you to more easily share your discoveries with others. 7. Tell a story. Sing a song. Learn the natural and human history of your area and try to tell it in a way that captures the attention of both children and adults. Learn-or invent-a song about your bioregion. Sing it at feasts, festivals, and while washing the dishes. 8. Throw a party. Celebrate the distinctive characteristics of your bioregion with rituals and celebrations. Bring people together to honor the full moon, solstice, equinox, first snowfall, melting of the ice at winter's end, harvest, beginning of the rainy season, time of the annual grass fires, or whatever makes sense in ecosystem terms. Keep it simple. Involve both the artists and the scientists.. Share food. Dance with the spirits of the land. 9. Get a project. Find some aspect of the bioregion which needs help: a polluted waterway, endangered species, deteriorating neighborhood, city council, school, park, wild place, and get involved. Form a team of folks who share your concern. Make decisions by consensus. Put out a newsletter. Rock the boat. Have fun! 10. Grow roots. Building strong local communities requires people who sink deep roots into the soil. Deal with the neighbors, elected officials, and ecosystems at hand, rather than constantly seeking utopia elsewhere. When you live where you want to be buried, you know you are home. David Haenke is one of the founders of the bioregional movement on Turtle Island (an ancient name for the North American Continent), and is director of the Ecological Society Project of the Tides Foundation. He lives in the Ozarks, where he is currently managing a sustainable forestry project in the Bryant Creek Watershed.. He can be reached at Box 3, Brixy, MO 65618, USA. Tel: 417.679.473. e-mail: dhaenke@igc,apc.org.

Beatrice Briggs is one of the founders of the Wild Onion Alliance and has helped to organize several Great Lakes Bioregional Congresses. She currently serves as coordinator of the Turtle Island Office, in which capacity she has been very involved in preparations for the upcoming bioregional gathering in Mexico. She can be reached at 4035 Ryan Road, Blue Mounds, WI 53517, USA. tel: 608.767.3931; fax 608.767.3932; e-mail beabriggs@aol.com.