We Are the ARK

Returning Our Gardens to Their True Nature Through Acts of Restorative Kindness

By: Mary Reynolds, Ruth Evans - illustrator

Narrated by: Jane Copland

Length: 4 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

“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 can provide habitat for embattled wildlife around the world.”—Jane Goodall, PhD, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace

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 minutes, 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.

©2022 Mary Reynolds (P)2022 Timber Press

Critic reviews

“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 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

A new story of the ARK

The narrator does an excellent job. The information contained in the book is difficult to process, but should be required reading in American schools. The world must be made to understand the harm we have done as well as how we can slow the process. The author shows us hope if we are willing to create an ARK even through small measures.

Saving the Earth….

This should be required reading (or listening) by every human on the planet. Important information presented in an understandable way.

Just okay. There are wildly better options for your time

The absolute ONLY original piece of this book is the idea to call your yard or property an ark. Sure, calling it an “ark” is cute, but it’s not enough by itself. I expected more. There are other books of the same length and topic - giving your outdoor space back to nature - that discuss stewardship much more deeply and with more attention to the whys and how’s. Also, Mary talks down to the reader throughout the entire piece and assumes everyone who doesn’t have a native-species-first garden is shallow and blind to the real world and obsessed with what their neighbors think of their yard, which is grating and untrue. Author pessimism and judgement aside, Mary unfortunately centers herself and the “ark” term, rather than the important concepts - distractingly so. I agree that community is important but put all that social media and hashtag stuff at the beginning and/or end. Half way through, Mary Reynolds jarringly promises to repost as many posts as possible that use her ark hashtag, like it will somehow help convince people to adopt her ark verbiage. I found it trite and disappointing. Especially when she unnecessarily and distractedly self-promotes throughout the book. Just add a chapter about marketing and spreading the word and leave it at that. And if you really are building community and not trying to center yourself as a wannabe savior, then encourage people to post each other’s posts about their gardens and ark progress. You dont have to make it all about you. This book is nothing but a promotional tool for Mary and her effort to rebrand the “ark” for environmental-first gardening and landscaping. This has already been a huge topic, long before Mary Reynolds came along. If you wanna call it an ark and read this book, that’s fine. It’s got it’s own momentum alongside other, better communities and efforts. Choose what resonates for you. But please start with the many other books that are more educational, better informed, less propagandized, and wont talk down to the reader.