What is Reconciliation Ecology?
Humans now occupy approximately 83% of earth’s land surface (Sanderson et al. 2002). By occupy I don’t mean that humans can actually be found living on every square meter of that 83%, but rather that humans have changed the land surface in some way that will affect the flora and fauna of the area. Most likely that number has already grown substantially since it was first estimated in 2002. This means that there is an ever dwindling amount of land left over for the millions of other species that inhabit our planet. Recognizing that this small amount of land left over was not nearly enough to sustain the majority of the species on our planet, Dr. Michael Rosenzweig developed the idea of reconciliation ecology. In his own words, “reconciliation ecology is the science of inventing, establishing and maintaining new habitats to conserve species diversity in places where people live, work and play.” How will we establish and maintain new habitats in our cities and towns? It will require a ser
