Bioregionalism

Lore & Background

Bioregionalism emerged in the 1970s, developing primarily along the western coast of North America from a broad coalition of poets, artists, writers, community leaders, back-to-the-landers, and the Digger movement from the late 1960s Beat Scene in San Francisco. It arose as a counter to the mainstream environmental movement, which many felt was reactionary and negative, envisioning a positive, place-based alternative to capitalist or nation-state frameworks. The movement grew from relationships with the civil rights movement, the American Indian Movement, and efforts to reclaim languages, territories, and maps, as well as from the anti-war, anti-nuclear, and Digger movements, and increasing awareness of ecological pollution. Allen Van Newkirk, a Canadian poet and biogeographer, coined the term 'bioregion' as it relates to bioregionalism and founded the Institute for Bioregional Research. Berg defined a bioregion as a geographical area with coherent and interconnected plant and animal communities and other natural characteristics, often defined by a watershed, plus the cultural values humans have developed for living in harmony with these systems. Bioregional mapping is a participatory approach to cartography that focuses on mapping natural, ecological, and human realities within a bioregion, highlighting interconnectedness and integrating ecological data with cultural and historical insights. This practice grew largely from the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, Nisga'a, Tsilhqotʼin, and Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nations, who used bioregional mapping to create some of the first bioregional atlases as part of court cases to defend their sovereignty in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Tsilhqotʼin Nation v British Columbia.

Reader's Guide

Bioregionalism's significance lies in its challenge to conventional political and economic boundaries, proposing instead that human systems be aligned with natural features like watersheds and ecosystems. It differs from 20th-century environmentalism by being proactive rather than protest-based, viewing humanity and its culture as part of nature and focusing on building a positive, sustainable relationship with both sociological and ecological environments. The philosophy opposes homogeneous economy and consumer culture, seeking to highlight unique ecology, encourage local food and materials, cultivate native plants, and promote sustainability in harmony with the bioregion. Its legacy includes influencing place-based thinking and decolonization efforts, as bioregional mapping has been used by Indigenous nations to assert sovereignty. The concept of bioregions, while distinct from scientifically based ecoregions, incorporates humans and is informed by ecology, geology, and biology, effectively functioning as kincentric ecology. Examples of bioregions include Cascadia, which crosses national boundaries, and the Ozarks, which overlaps state lines. The movement continues through organizations like the Planet Drum foundation and through maps such as David McClosky's map of Cascadia.

Did You Know?

• Bioregional mapping grew largely from the Tsleil-Waututh, Nisga'a, Tsilhqotʼin, and Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nations, who used it in court cases to defend sovereignty in the 1980s and 1990s.
• Bioregions are not synonymous with ecoregions; bioregions are watershed-focused and factor in humans, while ecoregions are scientifically based and focused on ecology.