(not) Our Forest

Abstract

This research begins with a fascination for nonhuman activeness. This is based within a theoretical framework of multispecies world, in which nonhumans are seen as active beings that continuously disturb. Seeing nonhumans as active beings causes some policies, or interventions, to look strange. One of these policies in the Netherlands is the new forest strategy commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture in the Netherlands: the expansion of forest by 37.000 hectares within ten years. Even though the goal of the forest strategy is to provide more biodiverse spaces, the new forest is still there because it is pleasant for us humans. The research therefore aims at an alternative to this forest strategy through researching the main question: How can new ways of connectedness between humans and nonhumans be generated in existing and newly constructed areas perceived as ‘natural’ or ‘nature’?
In order to research new types of connectedness, the theoretical framework of multispecies world is further explored. This results in design principles on human, nonhuman, and abiotic movement, hybrid as an explicit human structure where there is a condensation of movement, and landscape as being, which is a forest structure designed as if it has legal rights.
After this, the dune region, with in specific Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen is analysed in terms of movement, transitions and identity of the area, and problematic areas where a landscape as being is necessary. In terms of movement there are different movements found in the areas of the forest/savannah, the dunes, the water infiltration system, and the flower bulb fields. Transition zones are found between these areas. Hybrids are placed here in order to let make humans more aware of nonhuman movement. Problematic areas around Amsterdamse Waterleidingduinen are considered to be the Oosterkanaal, that retrieves water from the dunes, and the cultivation of flower bulbs.
These elements result in a research by design that tries to generate new ways of connectedness between humans and nonhumans. Time, and materiality become very important in the design. The hybrids have a timespan in which they need to be build anew or left to decay. Therefore, every thirty years there is a reassessment of the relation that humans have to the landscape. Through the design it becomes clear that the multispecies approach taken on in the design, does not generate new connections with the presence of movement, hybrid, and landscape as being. But it does generate different ways of connectedness because of the rebuilding of hybrids that are a direct response to the landscape and its corresponding movements, and the changes that happened in the landscape. A multispecies framework therefore proposes an alternative design for the forest strategy that instead of moving towards an end goal (which the forest strategy does), mostly marks a beginning of a relation to the landscape that is revaluated through a cyclical approach to time. This approach thus does not lead to new connectedness, however it does lead to different connectedness.