The Sunflower Forest: Ecological Restoration and the New Communion with Nature [Hardcover]

William R. Jordan III (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0520233204 | ISBN-13: 978-0520233201 | Edition: 1

Ecological restoration, the attempt to guide damaged ecosystems back to a previous, usually healthier or more natural, condition, is rapidly gaining recognition as one of the most promising approaches to conservation. In this book, William R. Jordan III, who coined the term "restoration ecology," and who is widely respected as an intellectual leader in the field, outlines a vision for a restoration-based environmentalism that has emerged from his work over twenty-five years.
Drawing on a provocative range of thinkers, from anthropologists Victor Turner, Roy Rappaport, and Mary Douglas to literary critics Frederick Turner, Leo Marx, and R.W.B. Lewis, Jordan explores the promise of restoration, both as a way of reversing environmental damage and as a context for negotiating our relationship with nature.
Exploring restoration not only as a technology but also as an experience and a performing art, Jordan claims that it is the indispensable key to conservation. At the same time, he argues, restoration is valuable because it provides a context for confronting the most troubling aspects of our relationship with nature. For this reason, it offers a way past the essentially sentimental idea of nature that environmental thinkers have taken for granted since the time of Emerson and Muir.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

As stewards of the landscape, environmentalists have traditionally been categorized as either preservationists or conservationists, designations that are often considered not only limiting but mutually exclusive. Jordan recommends a third classification, "ecological restoration," for proponents of a method for eliminating and correcting environmental disturbances and destruction through sustained rehabilitative activities. In a wide-ranging philosophical exploration of humanity's relationship to nature and an astute etymological explanation of the spirit behind the science, Jordan explores environmentalism from anthropological, sociological, literary, and religious disciplines to create a new paradigm for interacting with the environment. Influenced by pioneering conservationists such as Aldo Leopold and John Muir, Jordan takes a metaphysical approach, quoting philosophers as distinguished as Joseph Campbell and Ralph Waldo Emerson and alluding to literary works as diverse as Charlotte's Web and Moby Dick. Elevating ecological restoration beyond the basic technical aspects to encompass ethical and social considerations, Jordan forges an ambitious model for solving the environmental challenges that threaten native habitats. Carol Haggas
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Elevating ecological restoration beyond the basic technical aspets to encompass ethical and social considerations, Jordan forges an ambitious model for solving the environmental challenges that threaten native habitats."--Booklist -- Review

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 264 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520233204
• ISBN-13: 978-0520233201
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sunflower Forest, July 8, 2003

By 

Peter Friederici (Flagstaff, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sunflower Forest: Ecological Restoration and the New Communion with Nature (Hardcover)

Ecological restoration has often been viewed as either a fringe hobby -- a few aficionados re-creating a patch of prairie on weekends -- or as a distraction from the vital and politically charged work of preserving more or less undisturbed landscapes. But William R. Jordan III argues that it's vital to the preservation of the Earth's ecosystems, and to ourselves. Jordan, founder of the journal Ecological Restoration, writes that restoration is "a way of achieving an ecologically close relationship with the rest of nature," as well as "a context for confronting the most troubling aspects of our relationship with our fellow creatures." The Sunflower Forest is an important book about a practice that is, in coming years, bound to become one of the most important ways we deal with our surroundings. Thanks to Jordan's wide-ranging intellect and compelling writing, it's also a great pleasure to read.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Way more than eco-philosophy, August 25, 2006

By 

Paul Grant "historian-in-training, author, sp... (Madison, Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sunflower Forest: Ecological Restoration and the New Communion with Nature (Hardcover)

Bill Jordan says restoration is the only approach to ecological stewardship that will last in the long run, which is the only run that counts. Restoration assumes a heavy human hand, exactly something that rubs the nature-as-sacred camp the wrong way. Jordan proposes a metaphor for guiding ecology: community. One reason both "liberal" and "conservative" politicians and activists scorn restoration ecology is because we hate community. We like having friends, but true community is very costly, an observation in line with scripture. True community goes against sinful nature, and requires society's full efforts to avoid disintegration.

Jordan lists four stages of a human's community involvement in life. These four struck me as very important for understanding life, but less important for building ecological principles:

1. I am not God. (Some people never figure this out)

2. Get a Job. (We all need to contribute to the world)

3. Giving Gifts. (Giving connects others to us)

4. Receiving Gifts. (Receiving connects us to others)

This one surprised me. How is receiving a greater communal than giving? It's a simple answer that is changing my life: receiving a gift binds us to someone else, while giving a gift only binds others to us. As long as we only give and never receive, no one has any claim on us and we retain absolute control over the relationship.

The Sunflower Forest is a science book that taught me more about community than many books ostensibly about community. It's also an insightful, if a little "out there" treatise on restoration ecology. The lessons are profound, but the policy recommendations - a debate within a narrow field of eco-philosophers - will date very quickly.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be a classic, May 2, 2011

By 

Todd J. Levasseur - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Sunflower Forest: Ecological Restoration and the New Communion with Nature (Hardcover)

This book is ambitious, broad in scope, interesting, and well written. Jordan advances a new theory about shame and eco-ritual that needs to be taken seriously by everyone from policy makers, ecophilosophers, educators, ecologists, and farmers. There is a lot of depth here and new terrain is covered, and it is covered with humility and clarity. Worth the read, and then pass it along.