What does the term ‘native’ conjure for you?
Where does the idea that there are embedded ‘natives’ and ‘out of place aliens’ come from?
Is it helpful to think of ‘native’ and ‘alien’ plants in the same way that we think of humans?
Researchers at the University of Bristol are interested in where these concepts come from, how they are used and transformed over time, as well as who decides on categories and what counts. This work ranges from the efforts to conserve large blue butterflies to pollination ecology to the categories of native and alien that shape immigration controls.
Examples of Bristol’s work:
Thinking about reintroductions of native species
‘From the Personal to Planetary’ (P2P), is an initiative (a 2 year project led by the University of Bristol’s Brigstow and Cabot) that brought together academics, artists and activists to hunt for the Large Blue Butterfly in Somerset. Lois Peach writes in Brigstow’s blog series about the activity and how focussing on the fragile balance in the natural world enabled them to think across scales in order to embrace interconnectedness.
Sophie Mellor, Simon Poulter and Jon Dovey produced a film from the same activity that asks the audience to think about what is beauty? What needs protecting? How do you incorporate diverse voices? Who decides how we protect or don’t protect our environment?
Natives as plants and humans?
Read Jane Memmott’s MMB blog post on Migration, mobilities and the ecological context. As Professor of Community Ecology in the School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Jane discusses the ways in which we species can be welcome or unwelcome depending on the context. Comparing mobility of humans and non-human species can be useful to help you reflect on the categories we ascribe to natural processes.
The importance of terminology in the creation of the nation
Migration Mobilities Bristol organised a public lecture in 2022 with Professor Nandita Sharma on racism, nationalist ideologies and the creation of controls over cross-border movement.