8 Ways Ecological & Sustainable Landscaping Can Save The Planet & The Human Race.

1. Reversing the loss of biodiversity.

Halting Biodiversity loss is one of the most underestimated threats to modern human civilisation. Whether preventing the loss of major predators such as the Tiger or local urban wildlife such as bees and butterflies the reduction in life diversity on our planet is a serious problem for the future of the human species.

More than one thirds of the world’s crops rely on pollinating insects to productively produce food. The understanding that all organisms are a part of a complex web of interactions and ecosystems means the loss of a single species can result in dramatic consequences for our future food supplies. Fossil fuels have given humans the opportunity to industrialise food production, modern agriculture however is completely unsustainable. For every 5 calories of oil based energy pumped in to our farming we only reclaim 3 calories of nutritional energy back saturated in herbicide and pesticide residues.

Natural biological systems which ensure soil fertility, pollination, pest control and species health are directly being destroyed by modern forms of agriculture. We are sitting on a time bomb of disaster where the natural systems which support our food security are depleting. Humans are simply propping up our future survival on the back of fossil fuel energy.

One of the greatest attributes of sustainable landscape design is its response to natural systems and natural process. Species that are local or have a specific niche are incorporated in to landscape construction schemes where they need no artificial help to thrive such as the Greenwich Ecology Park in London. Green corridors and places where wildlife can shelter help to increase species and boost local ecosystems. Diverse planting design and linking places of ecological importance help to reduce the loss of biodiversity which will intern aid the food security of the world.

Larger regional ecological and sustainable landscape schemes can link wild habitats through the countryside giving opportunities for larger species to flourish which intern can boost local rural economies and enhance more sustainable future food production.

2. Producing more local organic food.

One of the ways to ensure a sustainable healthy human population for the future is by reducing our dependence on oil to produce food. Ecological and sustainable landscaping implemented around our homes and urban environments can create productive beautiful environments for us to live and work.

Community growing areas and allotments can be a place where people come together to socialise and grow food. Raised beds and urban food production planting areas can become landscape features ensuring a local food supply free of pesticides and herbicides.

Good sustainable landscape design can implement various methods and responses to local conditions to maximise beautiful environments which also have a social benefit as well as agricultural one.

Landscape design systems such as permaculture and food forest systems can provide local food, encourage biodiversity, and create a sense of community. Producing locally grown food is the only way to ensure food security in a world with reducing supplies of fossil energy. Sustainable landscaping implementation can help create living environments where an ecological food supply becomes a reality for the future of mankind.

3. Prevent flooding

With melting ice caps and years of increasing rainfall flooding is becoming a threat to our economy and security. The problem with modern urban drainage systems is water is treated as a waste product, not a resource. Excess storm water is channelled into narrow sewers with channels accelerating water flows increasing flooding risk. The majority of water accelerated through our drainage systems carries chemicals, dangerous metals and pathogens into the drainage network usually spilling into our local hydraulic ecosystem.

Current methods of modern drainage accelerate flash flooding and increase the amounts of pollutants in our environment. This directly poses a threat to our health and the increasing potential of flooded homes and farm land.
Ecological landscape planning and sustainable landscaping can implement many landscape types and strategies to reduce flooding and the environmental calamities it brings. By implementing sustainable urban drainage solutions or S.U.D.S water can be managed in an ecological way preventing flooding ensuring a healthier environment.

Landscape drainage installations in the form of S.U.D.S include features such as permeable surfacing including, gravels, block pavers, resin bound aggregates and ground stabilising grids. Bio swales, retention ponds and wetlands enable polluted water to travel through dense plantings of wetland plants which filter and clean urban water runoff. Ecological landscape planning and construction can capture urban storm water with a  vegetated environment absorbing  water and cleaning it in an ecological way. Wetlands and ponds also give the opportunity to provide wildlife habitat, recreation and ensure the reduction of urban flooding. This will ensure a sustainable hydraulic solution for the future of our urban developments.

4. Greening our towns and cities

Modern cities are a true testament to the success of the human species living together in an organised sophisticated jungle of services with complex economic structures. They are however far from the hunter gathering societies or small agricultural settlements from which humans have been a part of for thousands of years.

Modern towns and cities are on the flip side completely reliant on industrial fossil fuelled systems which do not represent a human society in harmony with the natural ecosystem and one that would rely on the suns solar energy of today instead of that of the past. Indeed it is not only modern towns and cities unsustainable attributes which are creating problems for the longevity of the current developed world; there are some other indicators which show humans do not benefit from a life of concrete metal and glass.

It has been discovered that high density environments accelerate the decline of mental and physical well being in the people who live within them. Addiction, mental illness, stress, anxiety, obesity, depression, these are all modern illnesses associated with high density urban environments. It has also been noticed that animals in bleak zoos with grey facades and limited vegetation display irritable and degenerative mental, social behaviours.

From environmental point of view high density urban environments don’t score well either. In summer the hard surfaces of the city heat up causing the ‘heat island effect’. This causes unbearable temperatures and exposes people to airborne toxins from our car engines and industrial processes. An excess of hard surfaces cause flash flooding which pollute the hydraulic cycle from our city run off. Social breakdown, obesity resulting from a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of spiritual delight make urban dwellers less happy than their rural counterparts.
There are numerous ways these problems can be reversed by ecological and sustainable landscaping within modern urban environments. By re-vegetating our towns and cities we can actually reverse many of the negative attributes of modern developments. With intelligent ecological and sustainable landscape design our urban spaces can be planned with a less nucleated centres which allows for the integration of agriculture, animal husbandry, recreational and wild spaces. The social and economic benefit this creates is immense. City dwellers who have suffered addiction, metal health problems and criminal convictions have the opportunity to subsidise their housing with community efforts and local farming projects. Children from cities can enjoy fresh air and the opportunity to learn and exercise in a natural environment. These forms of activities in urban settings have been proven to improve mental health, well being and fight obesity.

Re-designing our towns and cities can feel like a dream away with no expectations of bulldozers and re-planning coming any time soon but the idea of re-greening or urban towns can be implemented for a better future.

Sustainable landscaping techniques such as green roofs, green walls, urban farming, permaculture, agro forestry and wildlife habitats enables towns and cities to help in solving some of the problems people face in the urban fabric. One thing that binds all these concepts together is the basic re vegetating of our urban spaces. This will reduce flooding, improve air quality, insulate in winter, cool in summer, provide recreation, improve metal health, encourage physical activity and heal the human spiritual void of no interaction with the natural world.

5. Re-wilding areas not suitable for farming.

No proposal causes more debate especially in Britain over the re wilding and subsequent reintroduction of native extinct species such as the European Brown Bear, Wolf, and Lynx.

Today if you look at a satellite image of Europe and the United states you will see lowland fertile areas reserved for farming and upland areas covered in trees and wild habitats. In Britain this is not the case our hills and mountains are very bare and mainly subjected to highly subsidised forms of grazing agriculture commonly rearing sheep. The problem is the rearing of sheep is economically unviable and simply could not continue without tax payer’s money. In a world where we need to become more sustainable this kind of upland farming surely should become a thing of the past.
It is the heavy grazing practises of sheep rearing which prevents the natural succession of scrub and forest species which keep upland areas barren and devoid of life. Not only do sheep do this but the absence of large predators means large populations of deer graze what areas are not farmed and every year have to be culled to reduce surplus populations.

An aspect of re-wilding that is rarely discussed is the symbolism it embodies and the outward message of hope it gives. In Britain we campaign and speak out about the loss of large African species at threat from extinction but we fail so terribly in reintroducing our own large native species that we ourselves hunted to extinction! This is simply double standards and makes us look a little pathetic in the international conservation arena. I think Western countries could lead the way in applying re-wilding to areas which are too highly subsidised in money and energy terms to farm.

In Britain it is stated all too often that we are a ‘crowded little island’, nothing could be further than the truth. Most national parks across the wild areas of Africa and India are in the range of 250 – 400 square miles and within that range host thousands of large prey species and on average 40 large meat eating predators such as leopards and wolves. The areas we are talking about here are comparable to Dartmoor at 350 square miles and the Chiltern Hills North West of London both highly populated southern parts of the UK.
As an example the Chiltern Hills covers the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. The upland areas are already set aside for forestry and recreation. It would make absolute sense to plant more forests in these areas and boost the ecotourism the region already generates. This could perhaps offset the carbon footprint of the controversial HS2 high speed rail line. Although the region is not suitable for large reintroductions the lynx could help to keep deer numbers under control. Only being an hour’s journey from the capital The Chilterns could offer an extra wild day trip for international tourists to London.

The truth is most of Britain’s population live in high density urban centres such as London, Birmingham and Manchester. For anyone who rambles across large parts of the rural countryside especially moor and upland areas you can normally spend all day without encountering anyone. I would say that anyone that uses the term crowded little Island does not get out into the countryside very often and probably lives in a crowded city!
It is a fact that re-wilding the correct parts of our countryside will help us to become more sustainable and economically viable as a country. The increase in woodland trees and vegetation will absorb flood waters, boost our wildlife species, sequester carbon from the atmosphere, provide sustainable timber, create eco tourism, and clean our air of pollutants. This is a far better option than farming one sheep per hectare at an economic loss.
New upland forests could be planted with a mixture of native and agroforestry tree species allowing us to farm woodlands for food production and edible fungi inoculation. The new wild uplands can be mixed with wild food crops such as hazel nut orchards and truffle plantations. Wild delicacies such as honey production could create business opportunities for rural communities.

From existing rewilding projects the full benefits of reintroducing large animal species has shown the direct landscape benefits of reinstalling a natural ecosystem. In Yellowstone national Park in the USA the reintroduction of wolves and subsequent studies of the new packs showed they help shape the environment in ways we never knew possible. 
The wolf prey species such as deer and elk were always kept moving allowing browsing to be more evenly spread out across the park. This allowed regeneration of more woodland especially around rivers. Beavers returned on their own and the whole natural ecosystem started to recover with species that were extinct returning to the park after 70 years. It had become clear that the interconnectivity between species was such a powerful force catalysed at full speed by the reintroduction of large predators back into the landscape.

The idea of reintroducing predators or large fauna such as elk back into Britain always comes up against strong criticism but in a world of globalisation and wealth being concentrated into city centres especially in the south of the country we are missing a huge opportunity in creating an eco tourism explosion and boosting our rural, wild economies.
One of the models the UK could use is the Bialowieza National Park in Poland home of the magnificent European Bison. Every year a few animals are allowed to be hunted by wealthy businessmen generating many tens of thousands of Euros for the park to spend on new projects, the park attracts thousands of visitors worldwide every year. 

Wild wilderness environments can also be utilised by the government for eco therapy schemes and youth educational purposes.   Our new wilderness environments can help in the development of young people who are not academic to learn new skills. City dwellers with social problems could have the opportunity to reconnect with the spiritualism of nature.
Even though re-wilding is a controversial subject the facts cannot be denied it gives us a real chance to develop new uses for the more wild and remote parts of the country both socially and economically. By using ecological design and sustainable landscaping a re-wilding of our rural environments can help us conquer the sustainability challenges we are sure to face over the next century.

6. Reducing carbon from the atmosphere.

The rising levels of Carbon being released into our atmosphere is of great concern by world leaders who have realised its impact on raising global temperatures and drastically changing weather patterns.
Some of the main catalysts for accelerating carbon release into the atmosphere are the combustion of fossil fuels, cutting down forests and ploughing the soil.  Pretty much by default we have no choice in our day to day lives to reduce the release of carbon into the atmosphere. The breakfast we eat our journey to and from work our leisure activities are all for the most part reliant on carbon release.

Our daily lives ability to reduce carbon can be manipulated with sustainable and ecological landscape design and planning.  Designing regional landscapes which allow us to work, live and grow food within more local structures will dramatically reduce the amount of carbon we release. Sustainable eco developments combined with local working could reduce our carbon foot print by a huge 80%. With a rise in technology, the internet and local renewable energy creation working from home is today a very real prospect.
Sustainable landscaping on a local level can also help to not only reduce carbon but actively sequester and store it back into the landscape.  By re-vegetating roofs and buildings we can help to lock carbon into our urban centres. By growing more trees and woody plants we actively allow carbon to be captured from the atmosphere and stored in the soil through the plants roots.
By allowing naturalistic planting schemes organic recycling can take place within the landscape. Dead plants can decompose back into the soil adding to the amount of humus within the soil. The larger amount of dead plant matter in the soil increases soil life which intern locks more carbon into the soil.

No dig landscape schemes with more ecological forest structures dramatically increase carbon capture and storage. Every time we plough or dig the soil large amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere so by allowing the soil to be left as in nature will help microscopic microbes to build soil and increase carbon storage. Forest gardens and food forests can allow carbon to be locked up within the trunks of trees with the added benefit of providing a sustainable source of food production and habitats for wildlife.
By using sustainable landscaping and ecological landscape design we can incorporate carbon capture and storage on a level much more efficiently than artificial methods. By planning our infrastructure better and working with nature we can help reverse climate change and carbon release for the future.

7. Reversing soil degradation and creating soil.

Soil degradation is an ever growing problem in the world today which is directly linked to biodiversity, modern agriculture and food security. It is probably the most underrated potential catastrophes waiting to happen in our modern times.

It has been estimated that in the last 50 years we have lost a third of all soil on earth through erosion and degradation. It takes several millions of years to form topsoil and it is a living breathing entity full of organic life. Not known to most people the Middle East used to be the most fertile place on earth and saw the birth of agriculture as we know it today. Ancient pictographs show large cattle pulling wooden ploughs from ancient Egypt to Iraq.
Soil erosion, desertification and degradation has become a huge problem which can be directly associated with thousands of years of heavy ploughing and soil disturbance. Continued ploughing over many years releases carbon from the soil with sunlight bleaching microorganisms that maintain fertility moisture and soil structure. When these practices go on for years without any replenishing of organic matter and nutrients the ecosystems within the soil dies leading to soil which is effectively dead.

In nature the breaking down of organic matter including dead trees, plants and animals allow the transition of nutrients through natural systems the soil is a vital part in the cycle of life and fertility. Modern agriculture does not allow natural soil fertility processes to take place forcing productivity with oil based synthetic fertilisers. These cause havoc within the soils microorganism processes leading to reduced humus content and moisture retentive qualities. Mycorrhizal fungi which mitigates imbalances within the soil by moving around nutrients is disrupted and depleted leading to soil damage which is very hard to reverse this results in ever increasing regional dust bowls and unproductive farmland.

The only real solution to the potentially catastrophic issue of soil degradation is by rebalancing nutrient exchange within the landscape. In the past before industrialization oil did not give us the opportunity to take a short cut to natural soil fertility exchanges. Crop rotation where hungry crops would be followed by nitrogen fixing crops and left fallow for nature to replenish fertility were the norm in farming practices.

By implementing sustainable landscape systems through ecological design soil fertility can be maintained and enhanced by thinking locally about the recycling of nutrients within a food system. Aquaponic fish rearing systems are a good example of this where low energy interventions combine to use elements and nutrients to where they are needed for maximum impact. The waste products from fish can be directed to crop growing beds which benefit from the extra nutrients, in turn the water is filtered and cleaned for the fishes healthy growth.
In ecological landscaping ethical design systems like those found in permaculture can plan for the recycling of elements within a system so healthy productive environments are created and enhanced. During the design process landscape elements and functions are realised in their simplest form and joined harmoniously in landscapes which increase soil fertility, increase biodiversity and produce organic food.

The power of sustainable landscape design and construction is its fundamental values of replicating what happens in nature to solve problems. This can be incorporated into ecological landscape proposals by replicating natural woodlands. Woodlands are the low energy alternative to heavily mechanised and managed farmland. The fundamental elements of human survival is capturing and utilising the suns energy. Nowhere else is this more efficiently done than in natural woodland of varying canopies. By implementing techniques used in agroforestry to produce productive systems which recycle nutrients in a natural way is a very effective way to create environments which enhance soil life.

More forest based landscape types are a sound way to reduce erosion and ensure the component parts of sustainable soil fertility are encouraged. By allowing dead organic matter to be broken down within woodland environments you can boost fertility with almost zero energy input. This is the most sustainable method of preventing soil degradation in the world today while ensuring the preservation of biodiversity and reducing climate change.
The fundamentals of agroforestry and permaculture give sustainable landscape planning extra tools in landscape design to help protect and build soil. The way we landscape our countryside as well as local living environments is going to be vital to ensure healthy productive soil into the future of human civilisation.

8. Sustainable living community landscape planning which enhances society cohesion

One of the big social issues of recent times is globalisation and its effects on our population. The benefits of modern advances such as the internet are clear but living in a world with lonely elderly, childhood obesity and family breakdown is our current model of modern society working?
An ideology of a world without poverty a futuristic vision where people just become richer and richer and everybody has a good standard of living is a nice idea. The question is can this vision be sustained? Will it really make us as people happier? Unfortunately the reality is our fast growth economies rely on the exploitation of poorer people in poorer countries whilst only small numbers of the people in the richest countries benefit.
Many working class populations who live in richer countries have found themselves with no real opportunities with jobs and work opportunities moved to cheaper overseas workers.  The last 50 years has seen an explosion in city populations with rural communities shrinking as mechanised food production and large supermarket chains make farming unprofitable.

Large bustling high density cities which promise the dream of wealth and prosperity are usually overcrowded with stretched services and health care. The centralisation of our economies have rocketed house prices to an unsustainable level allowing speculative investors of the super rich safe places to stash their capital.  This has meant normal working families cannot afford to live secure lives in the ever debt ridden towns and cities.

Landscape architect Ian Mcharg and the founder of modern GIS mapping systems discovered a direct link between high density environments, social break down and metal health problems.  It seems no surprise that in nature without the exploitation of fossil fuels 0ne human being could only be sustainably supported in very low population densities.
It has been observed over history that small resourceful rural populations have a very strong social cohesion and community spirit. Even in the developed western world immigrant minorities from poorer farming back grounds seem to have stronger family structures and relationships. It is clear that human beings were meant to live and are happier in smaller rural communities with a strong community spirit.

There are many ways sustainable landscaping and ecological planning can respond to this. Sustainable living communities could be woven into the rural fabric of the countryside to help reduce the housing crisis. Housing rent subsidies could be offered to those who produce food or engage in community efforts. Sustainable landscaping could create naturalistic food production such as fish ponds and food forests. By boosting rural economies with smaller diverse farms we could offer a parallel local economy alongside a global one. Eco homes and developments could help in training young people in construction skills and help start thousands of new ecological jobs with less aggressive house prices in rural social housing communities. Careful planning with sustainable landscapes could create a diverse tapestry of new land use, skills, and trades and specialised farm products to boost exports to world markets.

Solving the issues of a modern globalised world is a complex task but to realise a world with a local, rural booming economy as well as a centralised global one is a sure way to realise a more equal, future. Sustainable landscape design usually thought of as a limited symbolic installation can have a far bigger holistic potential to make the world a more sustainable, prosperous and happier place.