Declaring for a healthier planet

The state of the environment

Across the globe we have witnessed recent major events causing acute damage to human settlements. Beyond scientific warnings about changing climate patterns leading to more frequent extreme weather events, rising sea levels may combine causing a cascade of alteration to the natural world; atmospheric oceanic and terrestrial.

Within the last five years the volume and spread of waste plastics and ocean pollution have become more widely discussed in public. Forest destruction and land clearance by fire across South East Asia is now sadly an annual occurrence. Continuing to cause habitat loss, catchment erosion, water pollution and pumping millions of tonnes of carbon directly into the atmosphere. Severe water shortages were concerning several States. Unprecedented droughts have been followed by extreme flooding events, ravaging land already left in poor condition and testing the adequacy and resilience of cities and their urban infrastructure.

While the choking haze of a smoky sky brings some of these issues directly to public attention, I believe there are ‘hidden’ environmental aspects that pose significant threats to human habitation, community, safety and contentment. Issues like land contamination, chemical waste can be obvious. However atmospheric pollution and water oxygen depletion and residual pollutants through food-chains, may disguise further negative impacts on ourselves and on existing eco-systems, the habitat of other living species. We now realise more than ever before, that there is a long cascade of impacts that our human societies have made, excavating, reaping and exploiting, with little acknowledgement of the ‘costs’ on the natural environment of this planet.

Call to action

Many of these issues are very broad, but all of them have origins that are particular to a place and time. All have direct local impacts, even though these may not be seen immediately. Singapore as a global investor, regional initiator and commercial centre can and should be a leader in addressing these concerns. However as design professionals with direct interest in the physical environment, in nature, natural systems and green urban development, this is a situation where Landscape Architects can take a positive position, communicate a clear message and start to act.

As professional designers in the Landscape Architectural field I believe it is squarely within our values, knowledge, skills and practice to make a declaration independently and in concert with many other organisations around the world. Calling ourselves first, and then others for immediate action on the state of the environment, what can we do?

Action principles

1.  Protect, preserve and enhance Bio-diversity

Earth’s incredible diversity, complexity and abundance of life across many different climates and eco-systems must be protected and preserved. As an expression of our moral and intelligent position as a sensate, social and teachable primate species sharing this extraordinary planet with countless other species. As we recognize human rights, shouldn’t we now recognize animal rights as distinct but linked to ourselves as inhabitants of earth?

2.  Communicate publicly

Give public voice to these important matters in individual and collective professional action, in projects, engagements and shared professional activities. Highlight ‘landscape architecture’ as a profession already with embedded principles, relevant knowledge and skills for addressing climate and environmental matters; from strategies to site-planning and design, community engagement to landscape management.

3.  Aim for sustainable resource use

Plan and design for the wise use of resources that minimises our individual and collective “carbon footprint”. Reduce extraction of stone, avoid virgin forest timbers, transition to harvested water and increase use of re-cycled green waste materials.

4.  Conserve water

Recognise the essential fundamental of water for all life; clean water and water for humans and healthy aquatic environments across diverse eco-systems. Promote the wise use [re]cycling of water through the design of water courses, aquatic and xerophytic regimes, rainwater harvesting site water management from catchments to discharges for more cyclical healthy sustainable urban water systems.

5.  Enhance Urban environments

Advocate “green infrastructure”, the living dynamic landscape systems that sustain our settlements for clean air and water, micro-climate amelioration, select energy production, urban forestry and farming, open space for health, recreation, ecology, habitat preservation and water management.

6.  Nurture healthy social places

As social beings we must plan for ourselves, our families and our communities to enjoy healthy settlements, residences, places of work, education, recovery, spiritual practices and recreation. These require landscape architectural thinking and design that is positive, purposeful and productive.

7.  Promote mobility for all

Promotion walk-ability first and foremost, then other multi-modal forms of transport and importantly the network of spaces and corridors that will allow and encourage these access and connections to be clear, useful, efficient and robust.

8.  Transition to renewable energies

Seek to minimize the consumption of power for landscape support systems by passive design, by selection of efficient elements, utilizing renewable energy sources and consider on-site micro generation systems.

9.  Foster food production

Return to the origins of landscape architecture with the reinterpretation and incorporation of appropriately scaled forms of growing fresh healthy edibles, from individual plots to community gardens and to urban farming at scales and levels of productive usefulness, appropriate to the context of specific projects and developments.

Each one a huge aspiration, can we make these legitimate goals, and turn them into real achievements?