By Citrá Tran Thúy Ngoc
“Watershed Worlds: Eight Indigenous Models for Planetary Survival and Resilience” by Matt Oppenheim, PhD is a non-fiction book about sustainable ecology. The author, inspired by ecological visionary P. R. Sarkar’s Neohumanist worldview, has illustrated how to return to sustainable ecologies by learning the lessons of watersheds from the past.
After introducing the reader to the idea of watershed worlds with its people and the global collapse of watersheds due to urbanization, the author presents eight watershed case studies: Japan’s Satoyama & Satoumi, Ahupuaa’a – Hawaiian Watersheds, The Maya Forest Garden & Ancient Tikal, Aztec Chinampas, The Qanat & Karez Systems, New Mexico Acequias, The Marsh Arabs of Mesopotamia, and Orang Seletar – People of the Mangroves.
Drawing lessons from these case studies, the author concludes by suggesting the foundations for our action and transformation. These include:
- The indigenous frontlines & sovereignty movements: Examples of indigenous activists everywhere are given to illustrate how truthful actions help return to balance and equilibrium in ecology. These activist movements are defending their communities’ sovereignty with legislation that protects against the rape of natural resources & ancient cultures. Weaving all the remarkable dispersed indigenous watersheds together will create a strong web of natural viability against climate change.
- A sovereign global watershed manifesto: This is a proposal based on the principles of a holistic, interdependent and sustainable watershed practice, including:
+ Consolidating tenets of resilience: These tenets focus on reviving & sustaining watershed cultures and include cosmic inheritance ideology, regenerating old growth forests & mangrove swamps, establishing watershed advisory boards, water harvesting, revitalizing deserts & drought affected regions, decentralizing watershed societies, integrated & interwoven industry, principles of economic democracy, and ethical practices.
+ Reversing tenets of collapse: These changes would stop further harm and collapse due to untenable urbanization & global capitalism. In the past, such tenets have resulted in mass immigration & refugees, war, conflict, genocide, exaggerated global trade, and loss of basic ethics.
- Looking from past lessons: These lessons of watershed destruction can help in building the present and working for the future. By shifting away from extreme urbanization and self-interest, humans can get back into sustainable ecologies that nurture our evolution.
The book is an interesting journey to help the reader understand the wisdom of ancient people. Unfortunately, humans throughout history have destroyed the web of interconnectedness out of greed and ignorance. The author encourages us to explore and revive these proven strategies to bring back resilience. Although the initiatives are easy to explore and join, they require immediate and long-term investments of our time, money, involvement, and aspirations.
Geographical lessons of my old school days were revived vividly through reading this book. I have come to recognize how important watersheds around me are: the Saigon River in Ho Chi Minh City where I live, the Buông River in Ananda Uma Master Unit Project, an integrated rural development project where I am working, and whatever rivers I happen to pass by during my travels. Before, such words as delta, tributary, basin etc. that I encountered in my past work with the geological exploration field of the oil industry were just words. Now they are becoming real entities. Water is not merely what comes out of the water tap at home. It has taken a long journey from watersheds far away to reach us. It’s our duty to honor and protect them.
Remembering Matt Oppenheim
Matt Oppenheim, 72, a dedicated social scientist and activist, passed away on June 8, 2025 from complications due to Type 1 Diabetes. Oppenheim earned a PhD in Transformative Learning and Change from the California Institute of Integral Studies. His PhD thesis was “Using the Progressive Utilization Theory (Prout) to Evaluate and Support a Community Samaja Movement: The Maya of Panimatzalam, Guatemala”. He taught anthropology for 23 years and became a Fellow with the Society of Applied Anthropology. He was also active in the field of service learning for many years.
He married Kanako from Japan and in 2018, they moved from Albuquerque to Asheville, North Carolina, where he became an advisor to the Prout Research Institute. He was a regular Guest Speaker at the Neohumanist College of Asheville. In 2024, he published the book Watershed Worlds: Eight Indigenous Models for Planetary Survival and Resilience. His dedication and service will be remembered.