By Jackson Robinson
April 2025

A Desert, but Not Deserted World 

​

The world of Frank Herbert’s classic science fiction novel, Dune, is one that has become famous for its depiction of complex political, economic, and social struggles; however, underlying all of these struggles is a tale of ecological exploitation that is thoughtfully explored by Herbert via his depiction of a fictitious ecosystem on the desert planet of Arrakis, the eponymous “Dune”. More than just a setting, Arrakis is the story’s central character, an unforgiving landscape that tests the adaptability, intelligence, and foresight of all who attempt to subjugate it. Herbert’s ecological vision was shaped by personal experience and grounded in a degree of legitimate science. The result of his efforts is a work that not only anticipates modern ecological thinking but also serves as a vehicle for environmental reflection. In an age of accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss, Dune offers readers a narrative framework to engage with the complexities of living in, and with, fragile ecosystems. 

 

A Seed of Ecological Thinking 

​

Herbert’s ecological inspiration for Dune took shape in 1957 when he found himself researching a government-funded soil conservation project on the coast of Oregon in the US. The project involved planting European beach grass to halt the spread of destabilised, shifting sand dunes that were threatening infrastructure. Though the resulting article, “They Stopped the Moving Sands”, was never published, the experience cemented Herbert’s interest in environmental engineering and the unintended consequences of large-scale ecological interventions. This early exposure to land management efforts and the manipulation of natural processes led Herbert to consider the broader implications of ecological disturbance, leaving the author with a number of burning questions: What happens when human intervention disrupts natural feedback systems? Can we predict the cascading effects of seemingly small ecological changes? These questions would eventually coalesce in the form of Arrakis, a planet on which the environment is not merely altered without forethought, but understood, resisted, and ultimately shaped by those who live within it. 

​

Fremen Environmental Philosophy and the Power of Local Knowledge 

​

On Arrakis, the Fremen, a group of desert-dwelling nomads, are not passive victims of their environment but rather its custodians. Their culture, technology, and spiritual beliefs are all expressions of ecological adaptation. Every aspect of Fremen life, from clothing to water storage rituals, is a product of centuries of trial, error, and survival in one of the harshest climates imaginable. Their long-term goal to terraform the planet, to slowly alter its moisture cycles and vegetative cover, is approached, not with haste, but with reverence and discipline. The careful ecological practice of the Fremen echoes the principles behind real-world restoration projects like the Great Green Wall in Africa, where communities are replanting trees and restoring soil fertility in response to ever-increasing desertification. These communities, like the Fremen, rely on local ecological knowledge and community stewardship to carry out meaningful restoration. They understand that the health of an ecosystem cannot be restored through short-term fixes or rapid technological solutions alone. Such restoration requires social cohesion, cultural memory, and humility in the face of nature’s complexity. Herbert’s depiction of the Fremen thus challenges predominant narratives that nature should be bent to the will of humans. It presents an alternative paradigm in which humans do not seek to dominate nature, but rather, to live within its limits, working in alignment with its rhythms and constraints. 

​

Water Scarcity and Technological Adaptation 

​

One of the most innovative and memorable aspects of Dune is its treatment of water, not simply as a scarce resource, but as a sacred substance, embedded in every aspect of life and law. The Fremen’s stillsuits, which recycle sweat, urine, and breath into potable water, represent a radical model of sustainability. They are not just survival gear, but symbols of an ethic in which waste is unacceptable and every molecule of water has value. While stillsuits remain a fictional technology, Herbert’s ideas for such technology find resonance in real-world developments. In arid regions of the globe, water scarcity is already driving innovation. For example, drip irrigation, atmospheric water generators, and closed-loop greywater systems are being deployed in agriculture and urban planning to reduce water loss and improve efficiency. In some of the world’s most water-stressed regions, such as Jordan and parts of northern India, communities are reviving traditional water-harvesting techniques, building step wells, earthen dams, and subterranean canals to recharge aquifers. These practices reflect the same ecological lesson embedded in Dune: survival in times of environmental stress requires both technological ingenuity and a cultural shift toward conservation. It is not enough to develop new tools; we must also reshape how we think about natural resources, seeing them not as infinite commodities, but as vital, finite components of the larger ecosystems we exist within and depend upon. 

​

The Sandworm as a Keystone Species 

​

Perhaps the most powerful ecological metaphor in Dune is the sandworm, a colossal organism central to the survival of Arrakis’ ecosystem and its inhabitants. The sandworms are not solely exotic creatures or narrative devices; they are also, importantly, a keystone species. Their life cycle regulates the creation of the spice melange, a substance that fuels the galactic economy in Herbert’s world, extends human life, and shapes political power. In turn, the ecological conditions of the desert, its dryness, heat, and sand, are tied to the presence and behavior of these worms. In ecology, keystone species are those that have a disproportionate influence on ecosystem structure and function relative to their abundance, and their removal can lead to cascading failures across trophic levels. On Earth, examples of keystone species include wolves in Yellowstone, whose reintroduction restored balance to prey populations and riverbank vegetation; or sea otters in kelp forests, whose predation of sea urchins prevents the collapse of entire marine ecosystems. The novel also makes it abundantly clear that when we remove or exploit vital species, we risk destabilizing entire ecosystems that are dependent on the functions they serve. Herbert’s implementation of this concept into a fictional narrative and ecosystem, helps readers grasp the central importance of biodiversity and interdependence within real ecosystems.  

​

Ecological Feedback and the Limits of Control 

​

Throughout Dune, efforts to exploit Arrakis for its resources, namely the spice melange, are met with resistance from the very planet itself. The depiction of the ecosystems of Arrakis as dynamic and resistant to centralized efforts to dominate them reflects the environmental concept that ecosystems are not machines to be controlled and shaped with disregard, but rather, they are complex adaptive systems with many multifaceted interdependencies. This principle has immediate relevance in our world. Consider the continual deforestation of the Amazon, which is beginning to shift regional weather patterns and undermine the forest’s ability to regenerate and recover. Additionally, industrial agriculture, which, prioritizes short-term yields over ecological resilience, has led to soil depletion, aquifer exhaustion, and the collapse of insect pollinator populations. Like these real-world examples, the spice economy in Herbert’s novel is vulnerable precisely because it ignores the complexity of its source and focuses on inherently short-sided and profit-driven approaches. In this way, Dune becomes an allegory for the consequences of environmental exploitation and a warning about the hubris of believing that nature can be managed without an understanding of its importance and complexity. 

​

The Role of Story in Ecological Awareness 

​

While Dune presents ecological principles with a surprising degree of accuracy, its power lies not just within its scientific foundation, but also in its ability to engage readers emotionally and imaginatively. I believe that literature has a unique role to play in fostering ecological literacy. Through a well-constructed narrative, readers are able to experience the stakes of environmental collapse, the moral dimensions of resource use, and the beauty of ecological complexity. By telling a story where understanding the nature around you is essential for survival, Herbert encourages readers to reflect on their personal relationship with the natural world and how they could improve it. Scientific facts alone rarely change behavior, but when ecological realities are woven into stories, especially stories that emphasize long-term thinking and the costs of ignorance, they become more tangible. Readers of Dune are encouraged not just to understand the environment intellectually, but to value it, emotionally and ethically. 

​

Conclusions: Lessons from a Desert World 

​

From personal experience, I can confirm that, while it was not the sole reason for my interest in nature, Dune has played a definitive role in how I view the natural world. It has pushed me to consider my own impact on the world and how I might curb that impact to help preserve and restore my local ecosystems. I joined the Biodiversity Literacy VIP to become more familiar with the wildlife surrounding St Andrews because I believe it is important to understand one’s immediate surrounding ecosystem in order to protect it. Moreover, because I have not lived in Scotland all my life, I knew less about the local key components of Fife’s ecosystem. As I have discussed earlier, local knowledge of surrounding ecosystems is considered to be of the utmost importance time and time again in Herbert’s novel. The prominence of messages like this in Dune has made me peer beyond fiction to confront the real, foundational ecological concepts that informed Herbert’s work.  

​

The VIP has provided me with the perfect opportunity to make a difference in St Andrews. Through the program, I have gotten to know the wildlife of St Andrews better and to contribute to important initiatives like the university’s Biodiversity Strategy. The VIP emphasizes the importance of monitoring, preserving, and restoring ecosystems in response to human-induced pressures. Whether through documenting the birds of St Andrews or implementing non-invasive biodiversity monitoring techniques like camera traps, the VIP fosters a systems-thinking approach that mirrors Herbert’s vision of planetary ecology. Both the novel and the VIP project highlight the necessity of integrating ecological knowledge into cultural practice, underscoring the idea that long-term survival, on Arrakis or Earth, depends on living in respectful balance with nature. 

In a time when humanity is facing unprecedented environmental challenges, stories like Dune help us imagine not just what might happen if we fail to change, but what could also happen if we succeed. Furthermore, initiatives like the Biodiversity Literacy VIP provide us with the necessary knowledge and skills to make those changes in our world. If this reverence for the natural world were to spread to the populace at large via stories like Dune, we might learn to live not as masters of nature, but as part of it.