What does Decolonizing Nature mean to you

Decolonizing nature to me means not only to promote more eco-friendly initiatives that counteract our rapidly expanding, wasteful, and urbanizing world as well as working towards utilizing local and traditional knowledge systems to reconnect humanity with nature, both physically and mentally. This process of decolonization challenges our way of knowing and promoting a more mutual and positive relationship with nature. Decolonizing nature will hopefully contribute to preserving cultural, traditional, and indigenous knowledge that is threatened by our Western and globalizing world today.

For me, decolonizing nature is essentially about including non-Western views in how we define nature, science and our society in general. This requires the acknowledgement that our narrative of nature is still colonized, since indigenous voices were marginalized during decades of colonization and never properly revalued since then. As ecological science is embedded within colonialism itself, it takes some effort to get out of it: we should decolonize our mind, know our history and build knowledge in a representative, inclusive way. We have lost an enormous wealth of knowledge about nature because of the West's colonial attitude towards indigenous peoples. It is time to give this knowledge the attention it deserves.

Decolonizing nature is for me a certain way of thinking, a pattern that leads me up to the shattering of my earlier beliefs and bringing about of something new, something devoid of dogma, of the publicly acclaimed. One could call it a niche, this way of thinking – the way to decolonize – but I would not give it such little regard. Instead, I would call it a reorganisation, a metanoia that gives power to that which we have robbed, the cultures that we have unrightfully proclaimed as primitive. This giving of power is, in my opinion, needed to satisfy our decaying souls and help us on our journey in discovering our roots anew. It also gives us the opportunity to interact with myriads of other cultures and influence each other on a deep level. In allowing other cultures and beliefs to stand on the same pedestal as ours, we would undeniably be stripping ourselves bare, letting down all known barriers. Yet we must undergo this ordeal, atone for what the ‘Western’ mind – in its pathological proclamations – has done to other cultures.

For me decolonizing nature means that we will try to incorporate ideas and knowledge from indigenous communities in Western thinking. It is hard to do because it is a paradigm shift for most Western people including me. It is a completely new way of looking at indigenous communities. In my view this is important because throughout Western history there has been little interest and respect for conquered peoples and there certainly was no interest in getting to know these peoples and learning from them, most of the time it was the opposite from what we are trying to do now. I think it is a shame that my forefathers were so ignorant and egocentric because that way of looking at other societies resulted in most of the problems the world is facing today. For example pollution, climate change and inequality are problems for which Western thinking is too narrow to solve. Because they are inherent for our capitalist, globalist society, some would say they are just ‘externalities’ and go on with their day. But we will have to solve them and that’s where indigenous thinking could come in.

Decolonising Natures Knowledge, a re-/discovery of indigenous knowledge & reassessment of the novelty of (some) Western scientific knowledge.” If there is one thing I like, it is knowing things. Inspired by Da Vinci as figurehead of the Homo Universalis and driven by unlimited curiosity, the kind of knowledge we lack most in Western society, and thus piquing my interest, is that knowledge which is conveyed within indigenous societies and regions where Western society has failed to recognise the value of said knowledge. Although this knowledge was not (and still is not) often transferred through writing, large parts of it have been recorded through objects. When looking at the African Sub-Saharan region, there is for instance a notable and incredibly rich tradition of masks used in all kinds of scenarios & settings (a tradition we also find within many other indigenous cultures around the globe).

Decolonizing nature within the Western legal spheres – to me – means opening our mind to what we knew but had forgotten: I am because we are. Our Western society has been based on economic growth models which disregard our impact on nature. Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’-theory refers to the so-called self-regulatory or self-correcting nature of the free market. This effect means that the pursuit of individual self-interest leads to collective prosperity. By adhering this principle within the wider legal and economic context, we disregarded and forgot the fact that we are because other people are, I am because our planet is. Today, it is widely accepted and proved that climate change will be the greatest threat for humankind. (UN Secretary-General, A. Gutteres speaks of ‘Code Red for Humanity’). Adopting the African Philosophy of Ubuntu will save us. See for example, environmental and ecological economics. Those economic models include this philosophy. Environmental externalities (i.e., a cost that is suffered by a third party as a consequence of an economic transaction) are seen as the biggest market failure the world has seen so far. Environmental and ecological economics include environmental costs within economic theory. This means that it no longer sees humanity as being separate from nature. Humanity is because nature is. There is no me without we, including the environment. Decolonizing nature therefore means to me that we should continue this tendency of integrating the African Ubuntu Philosophy within our Western legal and economic systems, and in general, becoming more aware that humanity and nature are one.

To me decolonizing nature is a process moving humans and nature closer to a singular entity. For a long time humans have nourished the idea that we are separate from the rest of nature, some even have advocated that we have an intrinsic value that is higher than rest of nature, meaning we are the rightful owners and the planet and rest of its inhabitants function as our resource. To me decolonizing nature is not listening to this idea, and to not let it have a strong root in how our world is run. There is a greater quote from the movie inception. -What is the most resilient parasite? An idea that is fully formed, fully understood, that sticks right in there somewhere. Anthropocentrism is an idea, a human created idea for short term pleasure. But it is not an idea that will let humans thrive in the long term, for that we could need a more holistic idea. An idea where we live in harmony with ecosystems. I found it interesting to use indigenous knowledge for inspiration and learn alternative ideas to how we can see the planet.

For me, to decolonize nature in our modern life, we have to reconnect with our surroundings (land, plants, animals, natural resources like water bodies etc.) and treat them with respect and as part of us (human). We have a lot to learn from the indigenous way of living. In the case by which land is considered a gift and cared for in a way that lives, both materially and spiritually depend on it. This in mind is caring for the generations to come.

Decolonizing nature means to me, a way of thinking, a de-human-centric way of thinking. In anthropology, decolonizing is a very important concept because anthropology is constantly reflecting on the relationship between humans and nature, humans and animals, humans, and everything. This of course does not happen overnight, but requires a common effort by all, and a continuous way of thinking.