The ecological crisis, the human condition, and community-based restoration as an instrument for its cure

There is a growing belief that the global ecological crisis which confronts humanity today is one of the most critical turning points that human civilization has ever faced. The causes of this trend are believed by some to lie in environmentally destructive propensities that create ecological imbalances. The basis for these imbalances can be ascribed to many forces, but can be largely reduced to a few central trends, the intensity of human consumption multiplied by sheer human numbers, combined by the lack of will to change, or worse, to fundamentally understand how our behaviors today are producing tomorrow's problems. None of these forces appear to be receding as global population and human consumption continue unabated with societies more inclined to watch, register, and witness these trends than to actively seek solutions. Global population is projected to continue to increase, but few demographers are certain if and when human popula-