Cohabitation

Topic: Environmental Policy
Advocates of "separation ecology" often argue that it is undesirable for animals to become accustomed to human presence. By contrast, connection ecologists view it as desirable for human and non-human species to "learn to live together." Such "cohabitation" requires first that humans learn to leave these animals alone and respect their genuinely critical habitat (as they do in Boulder with increasing sophistication). Such habitat protection measures include, for example, the avoidance of areas immediately around nesting sites and the construction of new, "compensatory" habitats such as wetlands and nesting boxes. Once animals become confident of their security, however, they are almost always able to adapt to human presence. And, this adaptation enables them to inhabit much larger areas than would otherwise be possible. After all, genuinely human-free areas are going to be in increasingly short supply.