gaspard koenig


Gaspard Koenig, philosopher: "The ecological transformation of our imagination is underway, and it is irreversible."
https://archive.is/fapp1

Today, the concepts of habitability, rewilding, and coexistence with non-human living beings are gaining ground. As anthropologist Philippe Descola puts it, "We have won." All avant-garde movements, whether scientific, literary, or activist, are moving in this direction. The 20th century is taking its time to die. Its agony is unbearable and convulsive, but it is doomed.

The agroecological transition is key. Agricultural land currently covers half of France's surface area and a third of the Earth's land surface. While we can always add greenery to cities, the majority of the decline in biodiversity, and conversely, the potential for regeneration, stems from our fields and countryside.

We must therefore rethink our relationship with humus. We must lower our gaze from the sky to the earth. Living soil is a reservoir of biodiversity, a sponge for water, a carbon sink, a diverse landscape, and even a healthy microbiota. Visually, it also means moving away from a monochrome and orthonormal aesthetic (yellow wheat, blue sky, straight lines) to appreciate a more anarchic beauty, that of spontaneous order. Finally, philosophically, it is a way to allow different species, including our own, to coexist. This is why our century must be physiocratic: the true source of wealth is the earth. By reinventing agriculture, we will simultaneously rethink society.

It's too simplistic to think that abolishing capitalism would solve all our problems. Extractive industries predate and far surpass our current neoliberal madness. The Romans polluted their environment with lead, medieval peasants cleared land in unsustainable ways, and Soviet regimes were among the least respectful of nature. Our tendency to overexploit our environment is inherent in our humanity, even in our animal nature. As biologist Marc-André Selosse explains, deer grazing on young shoots or macaques gorging themselves on shellfish are simply responding to the dictates of natural evolution: short-term self-interest.
We must therefore decouple the ecological question from that of the economic system. We are seeing the emergence of a kind of ecological socialism in China. We, for our part, can invent a liberalism constrained by planetary limits, as John Stuart Mill [1806-1873] already envisioned in the mid-19th century .

Rather than relying on the goodwill of large corporations through corporate social responsibility, policymakers must establish rules or fiscal mechanisms that force the market to remain static. The circular economy and regenerative agriculture are good examples. It is perfectly possible to conceive of market exchanges without growth, by respecting a golden rule: only do what you know how to undo. Rather than vainly dreaming of transforming human nature, it is better to establish a system of incentives that harness its worst vices for the common good.

I remain committed to defending the ideal of a society that is free, open, and ecological. First and foremost, there is one heartening certainty: life will emerge victorious from all climate and ecological crises. In a few million years—a mere trifle on the scale of natural evolution—ecosystems will have regenerated, and our mistakes will be forgiven.
In the shorter term, we can clearly see the titanic struggle unfolding between two visions: that of artificial intelligence and that of living organisms. It is up to us to prove that the ecological project is not only more sustainable, but also more desirable. However, let's not fight the wrong battle. It is only when public opinion has shifted that political parties will finally take the environment seriously. The various doctrines can then be rebuilt on this foundation.


RENCONTRE AVEC #40 GASPARD KOENIG - Réconcilier nature et liberté
https://youtu.be/rELlFaCPsgU?si=ueNWHODEALPvzoih



Gaspard Kœnig : Comment j’ai arrêté de croire au progrès technique - En Société du 21 juin 2026
https://youtu.be/0C9ebqolvmc?si=7rtOgM0svgBXTfmj

Tzv. forced regenerative farming

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High fuel costs forcing Philippine farmers to abandon harvests

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/high-fuel-costs-forcing-philippine-farmers-abandon-harvests-2026-04-07/

Carbon-Negative Construction
https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2022/01/carbon-negative-construction/

Hemp’s rapid growth, dense canopy, and ability to grow in nutrient-poor soils make the plant more efficient than trees at sequestering carbon. In construction, hemp is combined with a lime-based binder to create hempcrete, a carbon-negative biocomposite that can sequester over 100 kilograms of CO2 per square meter.

“Hempcrete’s not only healthy and nontoxic, but is also resistant to fire, pests, mold, and mildew,” says Drew Oberholtzer, cofounder of Coexist Build, an architecture studio with a regenerative organic farm that doubles as a research and development lab for hemp-based building materials. The sustainable building material also boasts benefits for indoor air quality and, as its name implies, can be precast in blocks. This eliminates the time needed for curing on site and makes it easy to incorporate it into existing construction trades.

Although hempcrete can be cast like concrete, it isn’t a substitute. The lightweight material lacks the structural integrity needed for load-bearing. It can, however, be used in place of traditional drywall, insulation, and siding—where its high thermal mass offers energy-saving benefits by reducing the need for heating and cooling.

TADEAS:

Savory Institute


Denmark recently became the first country in the world to put a tax on livestock emissions. The tax will go into effect in 2030, and after a 60% tax break is applied, farmers will end up paying 120 krone ($17) per tonne of CO2-equivalent coming from their livestock, which will eventually rise to 300 krone ($43) per tonne in 2035.

This move comes on the heels of other measures the Danish government has implemented in recent years to reduce emissions and meet climate goals and, given that agriculture is one of Denmark’s largest sources of emissions — with pork and dairy being their largest industries — this is an opportunity to make some headway towards those goals.

We at Savory are particularly disappointed in this tax given that our new Savory Foundation — which focuses on funding large-scale grassland regeneration projects around the world — is based in Denmark, but more than that, we have serious concerns with regards to how this new tax makes no effort to incentivize a transition towards carbon-sequestering forms of regenerative grazing.

Yes, our global agricultural system is massively flawed and contributes significant amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but this is a blanket tax on ALL forms of livestock management that makes no differentiation between land-degrading carbon-emitting forms of production or land-regenerating carbon-sequestering forms of livestock production.

If Denmark really wanted to incentivize a transition towards a more sustainable livestock industry — which we agree is needed — they could create a sliding scale for this tax so that regenerative farmers who are improving soil health and sequestering carbon aren’t penalized. This could be accomplished either through soil samples analyzed in a lab — even though that would be costly to producers so ideally would be subsidized by the government — or modeling based on the latest research of what’s possible, not just average emissions of the typical producer which is the basis for this tax.

Still, even if we were to expand the conversation from just emissions to one that also includes drawdown, the focus on greenhouse gases is a reductionist view that misses the forest for the trees. The climate crisis is intrinsically tied to our global loss of biodiversity, our broken water cycles that amplify droughts and flooding, and our impoverished soils, rural communities, food systems, and everything in between.

At the intersection of all these issues is ecosystem function, so why do we only ever hear about carbon? The global narrative surrounding climate change would be best served by a shift towards restoring ecosystem function. Imagine an alternate world where Denmark's new tax was one that took a more holistic look at ecosystem function — assessing not just carbon but also biodiversity and water-holding capacity — and rather than penalizing everyone involved it paid farmers who demonstrated positive improvements to their ecosystem processes?

A Carillo
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10160951062127954&id=589507953

We can achieve incredible results if we work in sync with Nature, even in the Chihuahuan Desert during one of the worst dry spells in the last 75 years, plus dealing with record-breaking high temps. Thanks to our holistic / regenerative ranching practices we have been able to infiltrate and protect every inch we have got so far, and we got just 4" of rain since January. I took these pictures this week. Not all the pastures across the ranch are this lush, but we have a good stand of stockpile grasses that will be critical to keep going until the next rains with minimal or no inputs.

TUHO: tady clanek, ktery zpochybnuje savoryho tvrzeni o regenerativnim farmareni a jde zpet do historie

Ten years ago, Allan Savory delivered a TED talk that sparked a global craze about healing the climate with ranching. His claims have been exhaustively refuted, but few have engaged the history of the myth.

Rhodesian Snake Oil: Genesis of the Regenerative Ranching Myth ‧ Unpopular Science ‧ AuthorRise
https://www.authorrise.org/blogpost/18d58574-d5df-4b60-8328-4ce867182a1b

Solar zachranuje biodiversitu, pudu a obnovuje soil carbon sinky

Regenerative Agriculture Gets Mojo, With or Without Agrivoltaics
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/06/19/regenerative-agriculture-finds-its-mojo-with-or-without-agrivoltaics/

Regenerative-agriculture-conference-2023 –                  UKRAINIAN ECOSTATIONS NETWORK
https://mey.org.ua/en/regenerative-agriculture-conference-2023-2/

This conference is the beginning of a journey to build a vision for sustainable and regenerative agriculture in Ukraine as part of a post war recovery. It will be a unique combination of farmers and scientists from within Ukraine, expert speakers in the field of regenerative agriculture from around the world, and active citizens who are looking for new models of agriculture

A Children's Story About Holistic Management

Today, Christopher Cooke asked Chat GPT to explain Holistic Management and soil regeneration as if it were a children's story, taking place in the distant future at the beginning of civilization. Below is what he got back -- pretty good stuff. Please read it to your children and grandchildren and see what they say. Perhaps someone could illustrate it and turn it into a children's book.

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Many, many moons into the future, on a brave, new world called Nova Terra, a group of pioneers decided to start a civilization. They called themselves the Terra Novans. They were people of diverse skills, and amongst them, there were farmers like Elder Greenthumb and his grandchild, Seedling.

The Terra Novans, under Elder Greenthumb's guidance, began to cultivate crops. However, they quickly noticed that the crops on Nova Terra were not growing as they should. "The soil isn't as rich and healthy as it was on our old home," said Elder Greenthumb, with a worried furrow in his brow.

"But Grandfather, how can we improve it?" asked Seedling, eager to help.

"We must learn from the mistakes of the past and apply two ancient principles, Seedling: Holistic Management and Regenerative Soil Management," answered Elder Greenthumb.

Seedling was puzzled. "What do those mean, Grandfather?"

Elder Greenthumb, with a twinkle in his eye, explained, "Holistic Management is viewing our entire habitat as one big, interconnected system. Just like the human body, everything affects everything else. If we hurt one part, the rest suffer too. We must care for our plants, animals, soil, and water in a balanced way."

"And Regenerative Soil Management?" inquired Seedling.

"Ah, that's the magic to reviving our soil, dear Seedling. It's like recharging a battery. Our soil needs nourishment to be productive. We do this by composting, crop rotation, planting cover crops, and using our livestock to 'heal' the soil."

"But how do animals help the soil, Grandfather?" Seedling asked, intrigued.

"Well," chuckled Elder Greenthumb, "When animals graze, they eat the plants, encouraging new growth. Their hoofprints create spaces for seeds to nestle in, and their droppings... well, they serve as a natural fertilizer."

Seedling giggled at the thought but understood the principle.

The Terra Novans began to practice Holistic Management and Regenerative Soil Management. Over time, the soil became healthier, their crops grew stronger, and their animals thrived. They saw their new home bloom into a thriving, sustainable civilization.

Elder Greenthumb and Seedling taught the Terra Novans to view their settlement as one big, interconnected family, where everyone, even the smallest creature, played a part in the health of the whole.

And so, from the stars, a new civilization was born, one that respected and cherished its new home. As the Terra Novans looked out onto the fields of their flourishing crops, they knew that they were guardians of Nova Terra, promising to protect it for countless moons to come. And that, dear star-child, is the story of how to cherish and respect every world we inhabit. The end.

slovenska dust bowl

Polícia SR
https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=516766600650778&id=100069523273964





Robert Dohál
https://www.facebook.com/100013687248262/posts/1685548881911337/


Last Saturday in Hohenau we experienced a rare natural phenomenon here. There comes a dust storm A strong northwest wind blew more and more waves of dust from the fields northwest of the town. Actually, until now, this would have been a non-exceptional report about a natural phenomenon of a special kind. Just need to tighten things up a bit and correct the report a bit.

So the actual truth is this:

The dust of the fields was soil. Its finest, most valuable particles of mostly organic origin were blown by the wind in thousands of tons from the surrounding fields. A small dust bowl, so to speak (windosion in the American Great Plains in the 1930s). But the truth still looks a little different. In fact, the cause was not the wind, but irresponsible farmers who had to "prepare the soil for sowing" a few days earlier. Bare floors with a broken soil structure are unable to withstand wind or water erosion. Of course, when "preparing the soil", the farmers did not know what was coming their way. But the truth is, they should have always had to expect this situation and maintain the land in a way that prevents such a scenario. This is called "Regenerative Farming", its base is direct sowing into unprepared soil - No till. A number of farmers here in the cadaster are doing ecological farming. This means they are getting rid of artificial fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. So the soil should be healthy. But healthy soil does not erode. So maybe we should reconsider what organic farming really is.

Back to yesterday again though And am also a farmer I ran a company in Slovakia and that’s where I come from too. There were "dust storms" there yesterday as well. Every time something like this happens, people rant about communism, about the kolchos, about the large land areas, about the "agrarbarons" who took over and privatized the original kolchoses and are destroying the Slovak landscape. When I got in my car yesterday and drove through the Hohenau and Rabensburg areas, I found that everything is the same. The same erosion in Austria as in Slovakia. It doesn't matter at all who owns the farm and the land and how big the plots are, it only matters whether they are managed by a well educated farmer or a fool who doesn't want to educate himself and change something about his agriculture.

And one more thing I figured out. 90% of the dust came down to the village from a huge plot that I believe is managed by Lichtenstein. So not the Liechtenstein family personally, but some administrator the family employs there. So even the top companies employ stupid and uneducated managers, who are convinced that the main criterion for their success is high returns, and who don't care if the country still produces anything in 50 years. The Principality of Liechtenstein should know something about this. And if they don't know how to do it, I'm happy to advise them.