Whose Niche is it Anyway?
Whose Niche is it Anyway?: 10th to 11th September, 2011
A critical examination of FIELDCLUB’s portrayal of the human as part of a system of ‘ecological niches’, and an attempt to map the enmeshment between the human and the non-human at the FIELDCLUB site. Can the human ever be included as a subject in food web modelling? Or, are the boundaries of the human niche too extended to be described?
The biological sciences were represented by Shaun Lewin - Ecologist and G.I.S. Data specialist, and Paul ‘Birdy’ Laney - a local amateur conservation expert, whose innovative systems of conservation agriculture have received national acclaim. The discussion investigated the necessary de-anthropocentrisation that the inclusion of the human in food web modelling implies. We also made an assessment of the impact on local biodiversity perpetrated by FIELDCLUB, and discussed recommendations for an ongoing ‘integrated’ conservation methodology at the FIELDCLUB site.