Bioregion and environmental stewardship among ethics, development and conservation

Abstract

Hydro-geological and climatic emergencies highlight the crisis of the environmental system by marking reactions so deferred in time that the man in the street cannot perceive their social convenience. Starting from an ecological interpretation of history, the paper addresses the problem of redefining ethical content of environmental conservation and  development strategies following each other in response to emergencies, suggesting a reflection on which utopian visions and real territories are those where the preconditions of environmental balance could still be re-established. If spatial policies affect the environment and the quality of life, as well as land use conditions are crucial in reducing or accentuating intensity, frequency and duration of extreme events, it is equally important to develop a land ethic of the earth making everyone capable to perceive themselves as part of the biota, the ensemble of organisms that occupy a given area in an ecosystem. Rediscovering the importance of roots and cooperating with our biotic community is the crucial step to transform a merely utopian planning into a new eco-territorialist vision, starting at the local scale what is so hard to achieve at the global one.