The Fragility of Abundance: Remembering Why We Celebrate the Cyclicity of Seasons

By Dr Mwenda Mbaka & Dr Katherine Baxter - April 2026

As the budding daffodils and red winged blackbirds invite those of us in North America to appreciate the sweet sensations of Spring, the Alliance for Human Animal Coexistence pauses to reflect on the deeper ecological conditions that shape our collective future. Behind the excitement of buzzing bees and the promise of abundance contained within each blossoming tree lies a fundamental question: are we coexisting in harmony with the living systems that sustain us? How many more Springs will provide the abundance that is the reason to celebrate the consistency and cyclicity of seasons?

For most of human history, people evolved within ecosystems of abundance - complex, resilient, and governed by balance. Humans, animals, plants, soil, water, and microorganisms formed interdependent systems in which survival depended on reciprocity rather than domination. Human intelligence, cooperation, and ethical awareness were shaped within these relationships, not outside them.

Yet abundance carries a hidden risk. In microbiology, a pristine growth medium (broth or agar) provides ideal conditions for life. When inoculated, organisms multiply rapidly. Often, one strain becomes dominant, expanding aggressively, consuming nutrients efficiently, and suppressing others. For a time, this appears to be success.

Then the system destabilizes. Unchecked growth exhausts nutrients, waste accumulates, diversity collapses, and the very conditions that supported life deteriorate. Eventually, even the dominant organism can no longer survive. The collapse is not caused by scarcity, but by the failure to respect limits. Humanity’s current relationship with the natural world increasingly mirrors this pattern. And humanity appears to be at the log phase of the exponential curve.

Across landscapes, humans have become the dominant force: transforming forests, simplifying ecosystems, commodifying animals, and fragmenting plant communities. These changes are often framed as development and progress, yet they come at the cost of ecological resilience and social stability. The erosion of biodiversity for agriculture and consumption, the decimation of soil and aquatic organisms by agriculture and extraction, the rise of human-wildlife conflict, the fragility of food systems, the spread of environmental degradation, and the systematic injustice and exclusion of the most vulnerable in society are not isolated crises; they are interconnected symptoms of imbalance.

Crucially, this is not a failure of knowledge. We are human beings, and we have acquired the requisite knowledge to live in harmony with the living systems that sustain us. We understand ecosystems, thresholds, and feedback loops. We understand that life persists through interdependence, diversity, and restraint. What remains elusive is the collective will, the conditions of mind, and the institutional alignment to act in accordance with these understandings.

Modern systems have buffered humanity from immediate ecological feedback. Consequences are delayed, displaced, or borne by others: by marginalized communities, by animals without voice, by degraded landscapes, and by future generations. Paleontological history and anthropological history alert us that the doomsday of ecological incidents are catastrophic and real, but this does not deter humanity from being the facilitator - or complacent driver - of the race to doomsday. We harbor ourselves in the illusion that human systems can operate independently of ecological reality.

We cannot.

Human–animal–plant coexistence is not an ethical add-on; it is a structural necessity for sustainability. Animals regulate ecosystems and support livelihoods. Plants anchor climate, nutrition, and water systems. Healthy soils and microbial communities underpin all productivity. And human wellbeing – whether economic, social, and psychological – fundamentally depends on the integrity of these relationships.

This understanding of interdependence sits at the heart of AHAC’s work.

Coexistence does not mean halting development. It means redefining development so that it operates within ecological limits and ethical responsibility. It means shifting from dominance to stewardship, from extraction to reciprocity, and from short-term gains to long-term resilience.

As we reflect on the Winter behind us and move into Spring, the metaphor of the thinning broth offers both warning and guidance. Systems collapse not when life is present, but when balance is lost. Survival belongs not to the fastest-growing strain, but to systems that sustain diversity, adaptability, cyclicity, and mutual support.

The path forward requires humility; the recognition that intelligence and progress without restraint accelerates collapse. It requires institutional courage to realign policies, investments, and practices with the inconvenient realities of interdependence. And it requires collective commitment to safeguarding the conditions of balance that allow people, animals, plants, and ecosystems to thrive together.

The signals around us are clear.
The choices remain ours.

As AHAC enters this new season of abundance, we reaffirm our commitment to advancing human–animal coexistence as the only viable foundation for a just, resilient, and shared future - one in which life is sustained not by domination and accumulation, but by reciprocity and belonging.