REBUILDING REFUGE
artful reparation & acts of healing
While we can’t undo past harms, we can rebuild functional habitats using the techniques of ecological restoration. By encouraging native plants and managing invasive species, we are doing what we can to repair our broken habitats — and in the process, we are imbuing these habitats with meaning to avoid making the same mistake twice. The metaphor of kintsugi, the Japanese art of using gold lacquer to repair cracks in broken pottery, might be invoked: an act of artful reparation, respectfully creating something new while mending pieces of the old. This work is being done at scale throughout the world, and Chicago is one of the original epicenters of volunteer-led ecological restoration efforts.
Why does this work matter? Crucially, native plants are not just pretty flowers: they are the engines of all life. They have evolved over millennia to fulfill a primary function: harnessing the sun’s energy and transforming it into food. In a series of tight relationships, this food is eaten by other creatures — especially insects, who then feed countless birds, mammals, and other animals. Many native insects are specialists, evolved to feed on a particular type of native plant — like the larva of the Monarch butterfly which requires native milkweed. No milkweed = no Monarchs!
As native plants are eradicated, habitat is lost and biodiversity disappears. There has been a 75% reduction in insect numbers in the past 50 years, with a corresponding loss in birds and other creatures that depend on them. Human-driven habitat loss and climate change are stressing ecosystems to the breaking point, creating cascading effects that may be irreversible. It is clear that while we must protect the few remnants we have left, we must also restore degraded habitats and expand their range by planting native plants wherever we can.