The steady drumbeat of bad news about coral reefs around the world provides an ironic context for this quote from one of the pioneers of ecological planning. Nevertheless, I believe it still correctly sets the high bar for ecosystem designers:
The most beautiful gardens I have ever seen are pristine coral reefs in the South Pacific. They are artifices, created by coral, transforming oceanic deserts into the richest biotic environments in the world. They are also benign, bountiful, and orderly. They are dynamic and they are natural. Perhaps coral should be exemplar to men who make gardens. –Ian McHarg, 1990
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