ABSTRACT
The Anthropocene has become the biggest threat to life on Earth, to such an extent that it may even lead to a true Ecocide. To overcome this, I argue that mankind has to adopt the attitude of a homo-gardinus to counterbalance a world dominated by the homo-economicus. I propose to follow gardeners from all eras who have manipulated wild nature through seeding, pruning, grafting and other horticultural practices to build a Paradise on Earth.
I propose to use the conceptual framework of pairidaeza as an enclosed park, ordered and finite, which needs to be nurtured, to operate a shift from the local garden scale to the global scale of Planet Earth, by using the concept of the “Planetary Garden”. I will tackle this argument by showing how systematic planting of trees driven by a homo-gardinus’ attitude was able to fight desertification.
Taking as a point of departure the inspiring story of Jean Giono’s The Man Who Planted Trees, I highlight four examples of how human agency can create a positive impact on Planet Earth by fighting desertification – the action of the single-handed reforestation in the Sahel, two national projects in the USA and China, and finally, a continental-scale project in Africa.
