JOURNEY INTO REGENERATIVE DESIGN
THE LAND ETHIC
by Aldo Leopold, from A Sand County Almanac (1949)
More than 75 years have passed since Aldo Leopold published his popular journal documenting his seasonal outdoor experiences and his philosophy regarding humanity's relationship with the natural world. One of his chapters, titled "The Land Ethic," has captivated and inspired hearts and minds perhaps more than any other section of the book. He calls upon private landowners to take up the challenge of finding a deeper interrelationship with his or her land. He argues that conservation is not just the work of governments and non-profit agencies in places remote from civilization, rather it is the work of each and every person who has the opportunity and ability to take greater responsibility for stewardship of a parcel of land, and who will be fundamentally transformed by the experience.
"A land ethic...reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and this in turn reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land. Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal. Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity."
"I have purposely presented the land ethic as a product of social evolution because nothing so important as an ethic is ever 'written' ...It evolves in the minds of thinking community."
"The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively: the land."
"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise."
"In short, a land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it."
The entirety of Aldo Leopold's chapter "The Land Ethic" from his Sand County Almanac is available in this pdf document for those who want to read further.