Janine Benyus | Biomimicry

“We are not the only species to have prospered through imitation; biomimicry has a long and colorful tradition in the living world. There are behavioral mimics like the cowbird chick, coloration mimics like the viceroy butterfly that resembles the poisonous monarch, and shape and texture mimics like the walkingstick, an insect that looks like a twig. Biomimicry helps animals and plants blend into their surroundings, or, in the case of the viceroy and monarch, to take on the traits of a species that is better adapted to its environment. By mimicking nature’s best and brightest, we, too, have a chance to blend in and become more like what we admire.

In pursuing this path, we do more than ensure our own survival. In a world as interconnected as ours, protection of self and protection of the planet are indistinguishable, which is why the deep ecologists say, ‘The world is my body.’ If we act on our ability to mimic life’s genius, we have a chance to protect both world and body. If we succeed, evolution will not have produced this giant brain in vain.” Janine Benyus