This is something I have tried to point out many times. As a disillusioned environmentalist some years back, I was so relieved to learn in Permaculture class that humans can be a beneficial influence on the environment. Not just a “less-bad” influence.
In prepper / doomer / collapse-aware circles, many people have fallen into thinking that the earth would be better off with humans not on it. You might hear people talking about how billions of people will need to die, etc.
But this is a limited and inaccurate view, based on our experience of Euro / capitalist / colonizer culture. (Or what Daniel Quinn, author of the Ismael books, called “taker” culture.)
Humans are originally living in partnership with nature.
This 15-min TED talk is refreshing & energizing without being “hopium.”
https://youtu.be/eH5zJxQETl4?si=5B7ZgDuf40lkXmbo
Title: “3,000-yr-old solutions to modern problems.” (It’s a worldview we get introduced to in Permaculture class, with a sort of “Survey 101” of examples from many different times and places. But this is direct from the source, indigenous peoples).
TED Talk by Lyla June Johnston, Ph. D., an Indigenous musician, author and community organizer of Diné, Tsétsêhéstâhese, and European lineages. She has many other talks as well.