Sample Nature Positive Practice
How Tonkean Macaques Vote by Cultivating Cooperative Relationships
Tonkean macaques are fruit-eating, social primates which live in groups of 10-30 individuals on the Sulawesi and Togian islands of Indonesia. When individuals in the group decide it is time to move on to a different location to forage, they vote with their feet. Any individual, regardless of social status, can nudge the group to a new location. By walking in the direction they'd like the group to move, and stopping and looking over their shoulder, they invite others to cast their votes. Other Tonkean macaques may offer different suggestions, heading in alternative directions. Group members then vote by joining initiators and moving in the direction they prefer. When a majority has determined a consensus about where to go, the whole group moves together in the democratically chosen direction, with undecided voters and those choosing a different option rejoining the majority.
Nature Positive Practice: Cultivate Cooperative Relationships
The lesson from the Tonkean macaques is simple and profound: A democracy thrives when its citizens form cooperative relationships and actively participate in the decisions that shape their society. A community becomes more resilient when its members value and integrate one another's perspectives. There are many opportunities for civic engagement. Register to vote. Attend City Council meetings. Write to your representatives.
Go Outside
Today, take a short walk around your neighborhood. Reflect on the issues that matter most to you. Consider what direction you want your society to head toward - and consider how you can help bring that about through your active engagement with your fellow citizens.
Interested to learn more Nature Positive Practices?
Nature Positive Practices are inspired by Life’s Principles, a body of work translating operating guidelines from nature, created by Dayna Baumeister and her team at Biomimicry 3.8. At the center lies the inspiration from Janine Benyus that “Life creates conditions conducive to life.” By learning and leading from the long-evolved systems within the natural world, we too can create conditions conducive to life, and to a thriving, regenerative future. Quoting Nicole Miller, director of B3.8’s Project Positive initiative, “It’s time we learn from nature, for nature.”
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