The Mannahatta Project is a Wildlife Conservation Society research project in historical ecology led by landscape ecologist Eric W. Sanderson that principally ran for 10 years, from 1999-2009, reconstructing the island at the point of

first contact First contact may refer to: *First contact (astronomy), the moment in astronomical transit when the apparent positions of the two bodies first touch *First contact (anthropology), the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another ...

between the Dutch ship '' Halve Maen'' and the

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

in 1609. The work culminated in the publication of ''Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City'' in 2009, and has subsequently developed as the Welikia Project and in influence on other environmental initiatives.

Project and book

The project has explored the great biodiversity and ecological complexity through a

historical geographic information system A historical geographic information system (also written as historical GIS or HGIS) is a geographic information system that may display, store and analyze data of past geographies and track changes in time. It can be regarded as a tool for histori ...

based on georeferencing of the British Headquarters Map of 1782 and the Randel Farm Maps made for the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, while also detailing the formative impact of Native American use of fire in ecosystems. It culminated in 2009 for the 400th anniversary with the publication of the book ''Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City'', which also includes a speculative look forward to the effect of climate change on New York City and hopeful human adaptations in the year 2409. An exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York was held the same year. Sanderson estimates that in 1609 the landmass of the land now called Manhattan contained 66 miles of rivers and streams, numerous fishable tidal inlets, 70 kinds of trees, "627 species of plants, 85 species of fish, 32 species of reptiles and amphibians, 233 species of birds and 24 species of mammals." Additionally, Sanderson describes the 1609 landscape as one tended to by the

peoples with geological evidence suggesting the indigenous peoples leveled forests and fields of grasslands, potentially engaged in small scale farming.

Later phase and influence

A follow-up project for 3 years was the Welikia Project ("my good home" in Lenape), examining the whole geography of New York City, which ran from 2010-2013. A planned sequel book is tentatively titled ''The Welikia Atlas: A Natural History of New York’s Five Boroughs''. The 2007 book ''

The World Without Us ''The World Without Us'' is a 2007 non-fiction book about what would happen to the natural and built environment if humans suddenly disappeared, written by American journalist Alan Weisman and published by St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books. It i ...

'' includes a chapter "The City Without Us", inspired by the Mannahatta Project, that imagines a future depopulated New York City. As a benchmark in environmental history, the Mannahatta Project has influenced

restoration ecology Restoration ecology is the scientific study supporting the practice of ecological restoration, which is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human interrupt ...

initiatives in the region. The Billion Oyster Project aims to restore the estuary to its state in 1609.

References

{{reflist 1600s in the environment 2009 non-fiction books Books about New York City Environment of New York City History of Manhattan Lenape Maps of New York City Wildlife Conservation Society Landscape ecology Natural history books Natural history of New York (state) Research projects Environmental history