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Individuals can't save the world alone. But if millions of us work together to save our own patch of earth – then we really have a shot. How do we do it? With Acts of Restorative Kindness (ARK). An ARK is a restored, native ecosystem. It's a thriving patch of native plants and creatures that have been allowed and supported to re-establish in the earth's intelligent, successional process of natural restoration. Over time, this becomes a pantry and a habitat for our pollinators and wild creatures who are in desperate need of support.
These ARKs will become the seeding grounds for our planet's new story. They will be sanctuaries for our shared kin – the rooted and unrooted – and safe havens for the magic and abundance of the natural world. Most importantly, the ARK-building actions are within our control and laid out here in We Are the ARK. In these inspiring pages, discover how one person's actions can effect big change in this world. Even the tiniest postage stamp patch of land matters! Together we are building a patchwork quilt of life that will wrap its way around this planet.
Mary Reynolds is a reformed internationally acclaimed landscape designer. The youngest woman in history to win a gold medal for garden design at the Chelsea flower show in 2002, she has since given that all up to be part of the solution to the crisis we are all living through, the climate and biodiversity collapse. She is the bestselling author The Garden Awakening, and a motivational speaker and founder of the global movement We Are The ARK
"Inspirational for all."
– Library Journal
"Mary Reynolds gives us a much-needed reason for hope. The gardener, the conservationist, the city planner, and the nature lover will all be inspired for this wonderful book shows how thousands of even small wildlife friendly gardens, including school gardens, can provide habitat for embattled wildlife around the world."
– Jane Goodall, Phd, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute UN Messenger of Peace
"Native-plant gardening has many boosters, but Reynolds and illustrator Ruth Evans package their advocacy in an especially coherent, homeowner-friendly way, deftly outlining the problem."
– Booklist
"In this exquisite manifesto, Mary Reynolds brilliantly reconceives what the land around our homes and communities could be."
– Paul Hawken, author of Regeneration
"Mary has seen the future of conservation. You may be surprised to learn that it is you!"
– Doug Tallamy, author of Nature's Best Hope
"A highly readable manifesto on future gardening from a great communicator in which there is hope on every page."
– Gardenista
"Restoring healthy and biodiverse patchworks of the earth is essential for maintaining a livable planet. If you feel hopeless and like you can't individually make a difference with climate disruption and biodiversity loss, please read this book. It's a great blueprint for having an impact on your immediate environment and becoming a steward of nature."
– Julia Jackson, founder Grounded.org
"A visual, literary, and poetic masterpiece. A manifesto for not just rewilding our land, but for reigniting our inextricable connection to nature and agency as stewards of our planet."
– Shyla Raghav, Shyla Raghav, Head of Partnerships, CO2, TIME
"Mary Reynolds argues for a radical shift in how and why we garden."
– Horticulture
"Expertly written, thought-provoking and inspiring, it shows how great garden design can respond to the environmental challenges we're facing."
– The Irish Times
"This illustrated book demonstrates that if people worldwide conduct acts of restorative kindness, the planet's natural ecosystem could be restored. That will take enabling native plants and creatures to do what they do naturally as well. In short, this is an absorbing book of hope that indicates how collective action can preserve much."
– Library Journal
"This marvelous, insightful book is a rallying cry to all garden owners, nature lovers, and practical ecologists. It imagines a future that remains ours to make if we just give nature a helping hand."
– Tim Smit, co-founder Eden Project
"A truly beautiful book: inspiring, educational, and uplifting. It helps remind us where our real home is and how to get back to it."
– David Flynn, The Happy Pear
"We are the ARK is a remembrance of our earth being, of care and kindness, and of diversity and cooperation. It reminds us that we are the earth, that earth care is the essence of our being, and helps us return the earth to the fullness of her life, peace, and abundance through our caring, sharing, and gratitude."
– Dr. Vandana Shiva, founder of Navdanya, and the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy
"Mary's work is brilliantly simple, and simply brilliant. It offers rare inspiration in dark times. Buy the book and get going."
– Paul Kingsnorth, co-founder of the Dark Mountain Project
"A climate solutions book [...] that is proactively solutions-focused."
– Worth
"Proactively solution focused."
– Yahoo! Finance
