biodiversity is the heart of our planet, sustaining ecosystems that make life possible. yet the fate of that biodiversity depends not only on ecological processes, but on how human-wildlife interactions are understood and described.

too often, conflict dominates these narratives — crop raiding, predation, and competition for space — when in reality these challenges represent only one piece of a much larger story. it is time to shift the narrative from conflict to coexistence, not through control or exclusion, but through care.

coexistence is nurtured through attention to land and everyday decisions that shape how humans and other species live alongside one another. one of the most accessible and transformative acts begins at the ground level: planting native species. ecological restoration through native planting does more than repair degraded land. it rebuilds relationships between soil and water, plants and wildlife, and people and the landscapes they inhabit.

spending over three months living and conducting research in bhutan restructured how i think about conservation. there, ecological restoration is not treated as a quick fix, but as an ongoing practice of responsibility and reciprocity. through everyday acts of care, restoration is more than a conservation strategy; it is a way of existing harmoniously within shared landscapes.

bhutan’s living landscape

bhutan’s approach to conservation is often described as a “living landscape,” a model in which nature is preserved and actively cared for to support ecological function and collective wellness. this philosophy is embedded in national policy and cultural values. bhutan’s constitution mandates that at least 60 percent of the country remain under forest cover, a commitment consistently upheld and central to bhutan’s status as one of the world’s few carbon-negative countries.

located in the biodiversity-rich eastern himalayas, bhutan supports an extraordinary range of species, including tigers, snow leopards, elephants, and takins. environmental conservation is also a core pillar of gross national happiness (gnh), bhutan’s guiding development philosophy, which places ecological health alongside social and economic well-being. more than half of bhutan’s land area is protected, with national parks and reserves linked by biological corridors that allow wildlife to move across the landscape while people continue to live and work within it.

through this ethic of care, ecological restoration plays a central role in sustaining coexistence.

 restoration in practice

at the happiness farm, a contributor to bhutan’s living landscape, restoration unfolds through hands-on work. the farm’s owner, dorji dorji, explains that planting native trees on degraded land helps stabilize soil, reduce erosion, and prevent landslides. according to dorji dorji, these restorations also strengthen wildlife corridors, creating safer pathways for animals moving between protected areas.

this local work is supported by bhutan’s million trees initiative, a nationwide effort aimed at restoring degraded land, strengthening habitat connectivity, and supporting rural livelihoods. by linking conservation with employment and community-based stewardship, the initiative frames restoration as a shared investment in long-term resilience .

the species planted — including blue pine (pinus wallichiana), oak (quercus spp.), and cypress (cupressus spp.) — are deeply rooted in bhutan’s ecosystems. because these trees evolved alongside local wildlife, they provide food, shelter, and nesting opportunities that non-native species often cannot. research shows that intact and restored habitats can reduce human-wildlife tensions by improving habitat quality and dispersing wildlife movement across broader landscapes.

coexistethnography and everyday care

the perspective guiding this article is grounded in coexistethnography, a framework i developed to understand how coexistence unfolds in multispecies landscapes. rather than focusing only on moments of conflict, coexistethnography centers everyday practices of care. it asks how actions such as planting native trees, stewarding land, and maintaining habitats create the conditions for humans and other species to thrive together.

this approach draws from multispecies anthropology, particularly the work of eben kirksey and stefan helmreich. in the emergence of multispecies ethnography, they argue that ethnography must attend not only to human lives, but to relationships between people, animals, plants, and microbes that shape shared worlds. seen through this lens, restoration becomes relational work that sustains shared futures.

why native plants matter — everywhere

the lessons from bhutan extend beyond borders and large-scale conservation projects. in many places, wildlife decline is driven not only by deforestation but by loss of native plants from the spaces people inhabit most. lawns, ornamental gardens, and urban green spaces may appear healthy, yet often provide little usable habitat.

ecologist douglas tallamy has shown that native plants are essential for supporting food webs, particularly insects that form the foundation of ecosystems. when native vegetation disappears, insect populations decline, followed by birds and other wildlife. in nature’s best hope, tallamy argues that homeowners can play a meaningful role in conservation by transforming yards into small but connected habitat patches that function as informal wildlife corridors.

growing a shared future

most people have some relationship to land, whether through a backyard, community garden, or shared green space. even small actions — planting a native tree, replacing part of a lawn with native flowers, or restoring degraded soil — can increase habitat availability and improve ecological connectivity.

the key lesson from bhutan is not one of scale, but of intention. restoration should be guided by patience and long-term responsibility, grounded in the understanding that ecological benefits unfold over time. while native planting can offer immediate gains, such as improved soil health and pollinator support, it also contributes to long-term planetary health by strengthening ecosystems and building climate resilience, demonstrating that patience pays off and that coexistence is a stable solution rather than a temporary bandage.

human-wildlife coexistence is often framed as a problem to be managed or controlled. native planting offers a different framing: coexistence as something that can be grown. through everyday acts of care, planting native species becomes an ethical choice—one that shares space, invests in relationships, and imagines futures shaped not by conflict, but by coexistence.

corinne lepage is an undergraduate researcher at brown university studying environmental science and critical native american & indigenous studies. her work explores human–wildlife coexistence, multispecies relationships, and local ecological knowledge. she is developing the concepts of coexistethnography and anthrocoexistence to challenge conflict-centered conservation narratives.