Eden Ecology and Indigenous Ecology

CBC recently re-broadcast an interesting Ideas episode called "Healing the Land" (actually in two parts: "After the Fire", and "From Eden Ecology to Indigenous Ecology").

I'm not normally too impressed with what I've heard about indigenous thought on ecology and environmentalism, which I find to be quite often overly simplistic and idealistic, often incorporating a lot of quasi-religious mumbo-jumbo. But this doc, particularly the second part, made me sit up and listen.

For one thing, it introduced me to the concepts of Eden Ecology and Indigenous Ecology, and the differences between the two. Eden Ecology (not particularly well-named) is traditional mainstream ecological thought, based on the idea that, after a catastrophic event like a major fire, a wild area should be returned, as far as possible, to what it was before the fire. So, the same trees, etc, should be replanted, in an attempt to return it to how it was just before the fire, on the assumption that that is how it should be, and how it has always been.

Of course, there is no such thing as "how it has always been", as biomes constantly change over time (hence my quibble with the label "Eden Ecology").

Indigenous Ecology, on the other hand, at least as expounded here,  seems to be more flexible and more pragmatic. It is more concerned with returning the land to something healthy and productive. Whether that is the same as it most recently was is less important. Thus, if a region was ill-adapted to the current (and future) climate in a warming world, then Indigenous Ecology would say re-plant different trees, ones that are better adapted to the current (and future) climate. 

Interestingly, they would even be on board with technology like genetic engineering and CRISPR to make the land more resilient if need be, which surprised me. And, as for maintenance of the land, Indigenous Ecology has always been much more in favour of smaller prescribed forest burns in order to avoid larger catastrophic fires.

Interesting stuff. Maybe I will be less inclined to to write off Indigenous environmental philosophy as hopelessly romantic and idealistic in the future.