Flattening
Into boxes,
Indicators,
Metrics,
Graphs –
Showing change over time.
That’s what they want –
Digestible,
For quarterly reports,
Fact sheets
And spreadsheets.
Boxes,
Lines, just
In
Time.
For: simplification,
Reporting to ones
Shareholders,
Investors,
Board members –
‘We did it.’
But what of the relevance
To the real world?
What do the numbers in those boxes truly represent?
For whom does it matter?
We are taking the most complex,
Embedded,
Diverse,
Brilliant,
Wondrous form that our species has ever known:
“Nature” –
And packaging her,
Bundling and stacking her,
Trading her in units –
For what?
To truly help her (all living beings)?
Or simply attend
To the wealthiest
Among us,
Checking a box?
Note: The phrase “n-dimensional hypervolume” describes the concept of an ecological niche. The term was coined by G. Evelyn Hutchinson, the author’s academic “grandfather” (the PhD advisor of her PhD advisor, Tom Lovejoy, who coined the phrase “biodiversity”).
—
Dr. Rachel Golden Kroner is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist and practitioner. Her career path is inspired by a deep appreciation and concern for the (human and non-human) natural world – and belief in the moral and societal imperatives for action to address the biodiversity, climate, and inequality crises. She draws from and integrates diverse approaches in the natural and social sciences to better understand complex problems and applies insights to conservation policy and practice.
