Message from the President

THE CENTER FOR HUMANS AND NATURE
EXPANDING OUR MORAL AND CIVIC IMAGINATION

Organic life baffles our modern minds. The very meaning of life is in doubt. The problem of life is the problem of modern philosophy and science—so claimed Alfred North Whitehead more than 75 years ago. Despite the advances in the biological sciences, genetics and biochemistry, but also evolutionary biology and ecology, this situation has changed little. In fact, arguably things have gotten worse. Now life is also the practical problem of modern life, culture, society, politics, and the 21st century global economy.

We have unthinkingly plunged head first into complex environmental, conservation, community and cultural crises, already here or looming, that threaten ecosystems, species populations (flora and fauna), fertile soils, fresh water resources, and climate, indeed, the future diversity of life itself. The causes of these natural and cultural crises are many and interact with one another: burgeoning human populations (6+ billion), overuse of natural resources, and economic and other activities that degrade and pollute the earth’s nature and the resiliency of its long term evolutionary, ecological, and humanly cultural processes.

These natural and cultural causes, at work on both regional and global scales, determine the mission of the Center for Humans and Nature. We explore, articulate, and promote long term moral and civic responsibility for human communities and the natural ecosystems and landscapes within which they are embedded. Following the insights of evolutionary biology, ecology, and everyday life, we recognize the bewilderingly complex and inescapable interactions—historical, dynamic, systemic—of humans and nature. This fundamental earthly reality sets the terms of the Center’s intellectual, moral, and civic work.

Founded in 2003, the Center for Humans and Nature is a relatively small private operating foundation. A chief characteristic of our work is the central recognition that the crises of nature or conservation are also deeply cultural. This recognition shapes our overall philosophic or intellectual program. We work with other scholars and civic practitioners to explore the intellectual foundations (scientific, philosophic, moral, historical/cultural) of contemporary conservation efforts and their animating visions.

At the same time, we work in various regions, again with collaborating organizations and individuals, to discern where historical and present cultural habits of thinking, feeling, and action have gone morally and civically awry. We endeavor to promote in their stead a community culture of conservation sensitive to a full range of values pertaining to humans and nature. How practically can human communities and individuals fit and live well within nature? This is a fundamental 21st century question that faces us all, calling upon our most profound responsibilities.

To date we have had important practical successes in our regional projects. However, neither we nor kindred groups that are working along the same lines, have had the requisite impact on civic society. There is a long way to go before we can stem the negative cultural tide thwarting broadly effective conservation efforts. We cannot do this alone, even with our loyal, talented, conservationist colleagues. However, we can remain ever flexible, keeping our eye on fundamental and central conservation issues, especially our “misfit” cultural habits (from the economic to the ecological to the spiritual and all points in between). We can work unflaggingly to promote effective cultures of conservation and help to spread their influence to an ever widening circle of communities regional, national, and global.

Is there really any other moral and civic alternative?

STRACHAN DONNELLEY, PH.D.
PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR HUMANS AND NATURE