“Plants are not optional on this planet. With a few exceptions, neither we, nor anything else, can live without them. We invariably take plants and the benefits they provide for granted. Who takes time to think that the oxygen in each breath we take has been produced exclusively by plants? Who is grateful for the forests when we are blessed with the rains that provide the fresh water we all require, water that is filtered clean by the tangled mass of roots it flows through en route to the nearest stream” (15)?

I am reminded of the issue of clean water, “clean” water is highly sought after today. Many water companies advertise that their water is clean and from the purest place on earth, whether it be from Fiji or from the “clearest” springs, when in reality the water in the bottles are full of chemicals and un-natural things.

“We are losing our birds because we have taken away their homes and their food and filled their world with dangerous obstacles that take a terrible toll” (30).

There is one thing that I want to highlight about this quote that may not be what Tallamy was trying to get at but I think it important nonetheless. Obviously Tallamy is referencing the loss of birds, which, as a birdwatcher, I find very important, yet he also hints at humans entering their world. As humans I think we all fall into the trap of thinking that Earth is our world, when, in reality, it is not. This goes with my next quote:

“Our impact on every square mile of the earth’s biosphere, that thin zone on the planets surface in which the conditions for life are ideal, has been so great that we must give up the old notion if preserving nature in its pristine form. That however, does not mean that we must give up in nature altogether. Nature’s living components – its 9 million or so species of plants and animals – are, for the most part, still with us, although most species are in a desperate struggle to adapt to the changes we impose on their environment daily” (32).

We impose on their environment.

Collaboration is key but in order to obtain any sliver of alliance we need to first have recognition that this world, this big hunk of life spinning through space that we call home, is not only our home. We must recognize that because we have called this place home and saw some sort of claim to the land, we have also pushed out the other beings, plants and animals alike. We have pushed them out of their home, we have caused species to go extinct. I sound pessimistic when in reality I am optimistic. Like Tallamay I think that we have to desperately adapt to the changing environment around us. And like seeking clean water, we must abandon some notions of nature we have and change our view on the Earth.