For a long time, we have forced nature and its varied creatures to follow and adapt to our ways. But we have gradually started realizing that it is more sensible to mimic local plants and animals and their ecological settings and produce sustainable technologies and innovation. Ecomimicry is also about socially responsible innovations, designs, and technologies.
Innovation is the keyword when it comes to ecomimicry. And the target is to produce designs that are valuable both for the local community and the environment.
Ecomimicry And Blandscaping
The need to fit environmental benefits into the immediate needs of humans has led to the practice of blandscaping. It is an apology for environmental concern by creating uniform spaces of green that has none of the benefits of a biodiverse region. Such regions are merely attractive and convenient to manage.
To put it mildly, blandscaping uses the copy-paste approach to ensuring the greening of an area, rather than studying the local environment and acting accordingly. It is rather a one size fits all solution that uses identical and materials in diverse conditions without taking into consideration local conditions and requirements.
This deluge of uniformity brushes aside biodiversity and creates a monoculture of intensive single or dual crop farming. This has spelled doom for a wide range of species of both animals and plants. The diversity of a local ecology has been replaced by a handful of alien species that stifle or destroy the diversity of habitats.
Complex soil types, different plant structures, and distinctive hydrological patterns that are beneficial to nature are done away with.
This is the ideal setting for urban generalists, hardy animals like house mice and feral pigeons. These species prosper to the detriment of more sensitive creatures such as hedgehogs and pollinators such as the rare pantaloon bee.
Merely replacing concrete cover with any form of green does nothing for biodiversity. Exotic plants and trees that are in no way linked to local fauna, ornamental hedges, and acres of lawns, are just a poor substitute for a biodiverse ecosphere.
Rewilding has to be more inclusive, giving a diversity of flora and fauna an opportunity. Blandscaping is more about gentrification, uprooting native inhabitants, and replacing them with varieties that add nothing more than color to the place.
Encouraging the natural growth of nature would lead to more biodiverse habitats that are more beneficial than unban environments inhabited by a few non-native plants and trees. The purpose of such uniform greenery is nothing more than decorative and symbolic, serving little purpose.
Rewilding Nature Using The Ecomimicry Approach
The ecomimicry approach is a more interactive approach where you begin by first getting acquainted with the local landscape. Thorough knowledge of the ecosystem helps landscapers and urban designers integrate the existing ecological functionality of the place, such as the presence of pollinators, natural defense against floods, and food resources.
For instance, building around important coastal treasures such as mangroves and dunes instead of through them, adds ecological value to a place. It also adds resilience and habitat connectivity to the surrounding landscape.
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There has been an increasing trend to include ecomimicry at the heart of urban designs. Biodiversity has to be at the core of our communities as it can give access to psychological, physical, and social benefits of nature.
The ultimate aim of the ecomimicry approach is to restore biodiversity amidst human habitation and for it to succeed, a few things become essential. The first is the involvement of local ecologists acquainted with the intricacies of the habitat that is being altered.
Then the inherent significance of every plant and creature is recognized and reflected in the total design. And this approach should be planned and executed in the long term.
