What is a bioregion?

"What exactly is a bioregion?"

This is a very common question. A good place to start is with this simple definition from the Planet Drum Foundation in San Francisco: bioregion [bio=life, region=place].

There was a lot of interest in bioregions in the 1970s, mostly in North America it seems. The Decolonial Atlas points to David McCloskey, a Seattle University sociology professor who adopted the term "Cascadia" to describe a large area of the Pacific Northwest as “a land of falling waters.” Cascadia is defined by the geology of the region, primarily by the watersheds of the Columbia, Fraser and Snake Rivers. It stretches from the Pacific coast to the crest of the Continental Divide, and from California north to Alaska and contains 75 distinct ecoregions.

Ecological systems

Focusing on ecological systems, One Earth's scientific approach includes a Bioregions Framework Map. This is how they describe the scale of a bioregion: "A bioregion is considered to be generally smaller in scale than a biogeographical realm but larger than an ecoregion. On land, the most widely held bioregional framework is the ‘biome’ (sometimes called an ‘ecozone’)—a broad community of plants and animals adapted to specific climatic conditions found across a range of continents. Conceptually, bioregions are major subdivisions of biomes, contained within established realms and delineated by a process of intersecting biomes with large-scale geological structures—mountain ranges, plains, plateaus, and basins—as well as commonly used climate zones. Bioregions incorporate adjoining freshwater and marine areas."

Using the framework of catchments, we mapped the South Devon bioregion onto the geographical spread of the South Devon Catchments Partnership but extended our western boundary to the Tamar, the big river that has divided Devon from Cornwall since the decree of King Aethelstan, the first King of England in 936, and our eastern boundary to the River Teign. Our northern boundary is where the five main rivers of South Devon (from west to east the Yealm, the Erme, the Avon, the Dart and the Teign) rise on Dartmoor.

Human systems

Bioregions contain more than ecological systems and human systems. Back to the 1970s. Author Kirkpatrick Sale, wrote in 1974 that "a bioregion is a part of the earth's surface whose rough boundaries are determined by natural rather than human dictates, distinguishable from other areas by attributes of flora, fauna, water, climate, soils and landforms, and human settlements and cultures those attributes give rise to." AI connects Sale to The Transition Town movement with a shared vision of "creating sustainable, resilient, and self-sufficient communities, emphasizing local economies, ecological awareness, and community engagement to address climate change and other challenges." This brings the story up to 2006 and the clear urgency for communities to take action in the face of global warming, with Totnes named as the first Transition Town. But for me, this shifts the emphasis too far into the domain of 'local'. And perhaps AI's version misses the deeper wisdom; the concept of "interbeing," meaning the interconnectedness of all things.

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BLC's definition of a bioregion and the practice of 'bioregioning':

"A bioregion invites us to inhabit a place in a way that is full of relationship. Seeing where the natural boundaries of our bioregion are, we can then see the many eco-systems and human systems alive within it. All of these systems like fresh water and biodiversity or transport and health are connected. There is also a connecting story that starts in deep geological time, shows up in the landscape and soil and then in human culture. Bioregioning is the collective practice of bringing vitality to these connections, angling the systems towards regeneration, and taking actions for a climate resilient and biodiverse future." - Isabel Carlisle, 2021

This description brings us closer to a 'sense of the bioregion', along with the potential of seeing and embracing the complexity that comes with a regional framing (vs a local one) and acknowledgement of the aliveness of the bioregion itself.

Building bioregional foundations

"A bioregion is […] about re-establishing our connections to the local landscape and its cycles. More than that, it is about building the network of local knowledge that would mean critical decisions are made in the best interests of the bioregion, and, crucially, that local citizens have greater agency in those decisions." -Justin McGuirk, Future Observatory Journal, Issue #1: Bioregioning

This brings us to what BLC does, and why we do it, specifically the foundational work entailed in developing new approaches to bioregionally-scaled Data & Evidence, Governance & Organisation and Funding & Resourcing; BLC's Pillars. Prototyping these pillars in relation to a bioregional frame aims to demonstrate how it is possible to make a shift in the growth-based infrastructure that we all play a part in upholding. Of course, a major shift like this requires understanding, discussion and debate, with civil society having a central role in decision making.

Bioregional information exchange

In thinking about the role of communication in making any shift possible, I go back to the 1970s. Peter Berg, founder of Planet Drum, developed the concept of bioregionalism after attending the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Environment, defining a bioregion as "a geographic area defined by natural characteristics, including watersheds, landforms, soils, geological qualities, native plants and animals, climate, and weather...[which] includes human beings as a species in the interplay of these natural characteristics." In communicating with people about this complexity and beauty, he drew on his involvement in the civil rights movement in the 1960s to reach people through performance and "bundles" of information.

As a graphic designer and BLC's creative lead, I love the brilliant and 'alive' concept of these Bundles, and the 10 examples that were made—read about and see them here. "The first publications were called a “Bundle”—not a book, rather individual essays, poetry, graphics and posters, each printed separately and then assembled unbound into an envelope—named PLANET/DRUM. The PLANET/DRUM Bundles were originally conceived to spread planetary information—a “voice for the planet,” and to have production/publishing decentralized, passed around among activists in various locales around the planet, making PLANET/DRUM beats from various places. The first Bundle invited collaboration with, “Do you have a message to send out?”

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Bundle #9 1985. Amy Berk and Cheryl Meeker, SF Main Library display, 2023. Photo: Joe Johnson.

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A Bundle for today

In a way, The Saltmarsh Project created a Bundle; an assemblage of depictions of our ecosystem restoration work and the work of 6 artists and their interpreted information about the Dart's saltmarshes. We also talk about 'bundling' a new set of bioregional health measures with conventionally expected or understood impact metrics. I am reminded of the network of Armada Beacons in Devon ready to be lit should the coast be invaded. The map showing locations of the beacons draws 'lines of intervisibility' between them (see the map in The Lab). Putting bioregional bundles in the hands of everyone in the bioregion and beyond... that's what I'm exploring next.