Under the Farm There Is Wet Land: Restorative Commoning in the Dried Land of GlattalMichael Fingleton and Evangelia Kiosse

Seeing the wetness, the farmer called his contractor. Tomorrow he knew they would be there to repair the drainage and the field would look perfect again. Where there is wet, crop production can’t be maximised and if the wetness remains, wildlife activists might turn up and claim the land. The farmer fights for his land, to produce food and fodder. The activists fight for a new habitat, for the survival of our natural ecosystems. Both are fighting “for us”.

Space for the disorder of wet land in the landscape is no more. Agriculture and other human used land seeks control, seeks dryness. Wetlands, lands of natural water processes, are specific landscapes for non-human biodiversity and habitat protection. True wet-land-nature-human interaction is eliminated.

Our farmer’s call to arms, here spontaneous but ever occurring, possibly daily many times over throughout the canton. Our diving board: The search for wet land and a new multifaceted identity for wet lands.

All images are taken by Michael Fingleton & Evangelia Kiosse unless mentioned otherwise.