From the President:

The Global Ecology Foundation’s mission, in broad terms, is to align philosophy, knowledge and action in a way so as to bring sustainable practices into reality. We believe that, generally speaking, humankind and global ecological systems have reached a state of environmental challenge that is a precursor of collapse. This is occurring at more than a dozen levels, from loss of thousands of species that mutually supported life on Earth and which allowed our present human cultures to evolve, to loss of the natural balancing forces that make up our climate patterns, to loss of arable soil and water due to poor stewardship and overextending human population beyond the levels local regions can support.

Because many of the ecological effects we see are a result of actions outside of our borders, finding a way out of this dilemma requires thinking and acting beyond local and regional geo-political boundaries. This can be interpreted as a need to develop integrated approaches utilizing the indigenous and traditional knowledge that originally helped our cultures survive, supplemented by existing alternative technologies and future innovations. These new systems necessitate a need for continued research, and must be applied on a scale larger than local and regional boundaries.

Nothing appears sacrosanct in this broad approach. From our understanding of mutual symbiosis, that is, the interaction of species in such a way that both benefit, we know that species survival is sometimes dependent on humanity’s largesse to provide reserves, habitat protection, restoration, etc. In return, by globally applying balanced systems, we gain an esthetic value that further enhances our lifestyle through recognition of life’s beauty and diversity, and by appreciation of ecosystem values such as clean air, soil and water. The most damaging of these values is modern-day, large-scale farming, which we now recognize must be regarded as part of the overall ecosystem. Current farming practices that deplete natural resources cause the biodiversity that contributes to ecosystem diversity to be depleted. Since our culture is derived from our environment, ecosystem diversity must be maintained to preserve the richness of humanity. Agroecology provides a balanced agricultural approach to farming practices. Though perhaps not entirely beneficial when first integrated into the ecosystem, properly applied agroecology comes close by allowing good stewardship to maintain soil and crop biodiversity, and thus improving the robustness of mankind’s own human-based ecosystem context.

In general, GEF promotes advancement of ecologically beneficial practices through a wide variety of activities. Our projects initially take only small steps in returning to the context of a naturally occurring ecosystem (recognizing we have placed ourselves outside of a sustainable ecological order) by increasing our understanding of the benefits from such interactions, and how we can improve upon them. Whether bees, soil, biofuel production, restoration of forest trees, or building diverse and symbiotic, layered agricultural systems, our goal is for a steady and improving planet that will continue to support humanity as part of its biodiversity for millennia to come.

We believe the diverse and rich cultural context from which humankind is derived contributes to resolving currently existing sustainability challenges by allowing a many-faceted approach to building a sustainable world.

William Steiner, PhD.
President