Title: Contentious perspectives on weeds: nettle, dock, dandelion and wild fennel - environmental weeds or environmental belonging?
Abstract: In an essay on the practice of exotic mushroom foraging by the Polish community, Max Kwiatkowski argues for a deeper understanding of what he terms 'ethnoscape', the ethnic-specific interaction with landscape, its values and cultural returns. The act of foraging has been exercised by indigenous and nonindigenous people alike, the latter usually focusing on non-indigenous flora. With this paper I will present the need to acknowledge the social imperative of environmental belonging, a necessary aspect to consider when fostering care and kinship in these times of disconnection and alienation. I argue that the process of simplistic labelling of spontaneous exotic species - as good or bad - needs to address the reality of the Australian social and ecological make-up. Tim Low in his book Feral Future presents the Australian landscape, as defined in the media and politics, as a cultural construct, a subjective interpretation, and used in a too-generic sense to outline a unified national identity. As I speak, people from various cultures gather for road trips to the edges of cities to pursue a practice of environmental belonging: foraging for weeds. [Bonetto, Diego (2011). Contentious perspectives on weeds: Nettle, dock, dandelion and wild fennel - environmental weeds or environmental belonging? Plant Protection Quarterly. (26)3.