Review
Landscapes of Retreat
REVIEW BY: HONGBING TANG
June 27, 2025
Rosetta S. Elkin’s Landscapes of Retreat vividly portrays the tangible effects of climate change and explores adaptation through the lens of retreat––not as surrender but as a deliberate and proactive response to environmental challenges. In the book, the term landscape refers to the earth animated by the aliveness of creatures and organisms, and the term retreat implies that human patterns are not fixed but can instead be rejuvenated. Elkin argues that retreat is evident in the land that remains, as settlement patterns shift through climate change. These landscapes of retreat can be viewed as more than abandoned land, through amendatory practices of seeing, appreciating, and inhabiting change. In this sense, retreat serves as a catalyst for restoring broken relationships between humans and nature.
Elkin’s project began in 2014 after Hurricane Sandy, and is the culmination of several multiyear, in-depth field studies. The book features five case studies from around the world highlighting the notion of retreat as an amendatory practice across different geographic regions. By walking, digging, drawing, mapping, and photographing, Elkin probes many epistemologies, adapted to the specific sites encompassed in this remarkable project.
Open source and freely accessible at https://landscapesofretreat.com, Landscapes of Retreat is an important resource for anyone interested in sustainability, climate adaptation, and environmental ethics.
The Nijinomatsubara Forest, a coastal black pine forest in Kyushu, Japan, is the first case study. Planted over 400 years ago during the Edo period, the forest was established in response to tsunamis that devastated settlements along the shoreline. Stretching five kilometers along the Karatsu Bay, it exemplifies an early landscape of retreat, prioritizing ecological preservation over human habitation in response to coastal risks. This landscape is a prime example of Japan’s coastal protection forests, reflecting a multigenerational commitment to ecological conservation and carrying deep cultural and historical significance for the local community. Because the monoculture of black pine forest is threatened by Pine Wilt Disease today, the case study suggests that multispecies environments foster ecological resilience and support forest regeneration. By triangulating historical records, interviews with local historians, and ecological field studies, Elkin unearthed previously unknown details and gained unexpected insights into the cultural and ecological interplay that has sustained the forest for generations.
The second case study brings the reader to the Maule River in Talca Province, Chile, where the 2010 earthquake and tsunami struck Constitución, a once-popular tourist town that has been reoriented toward industrial forestry. Elkin details the environmental losses that came from replacing native forests with monoculture plantations of pine and eucalyptus, the inadequacies of disaster response, and the displacement of Indigenous and local traditions. To narrate this story, she engaged community members, kayakers, activists, and foresters in field investigations to gain diverse perspectives and highlight community efforts in regenerating the tsunami-hit landscape through forest park initiatives. Elkin describes her approach as “creative research” that weaves together multigenerational and multispecies stories to honor the intangible heritage of vulnerable, injured landscapes. Elkin’s “creative research” methodology emphasizes storytelling and the inclusion of diverse community perspectives, in contrast to scholars like Anna Tsing, whose approach is rooted in ethnographic fieldwork and immersion in the lived experiences of local communities and ecosystems.
In the third case study, Elkin pivots to Niugtaq, Alaska, a small village on the Bering Sea coast that is losing land due to permafrost thaw and rising temperatures. Here the story of retreat is nonlinear: the Yup’ik community recognized the need to move to a safer location decades ago, but bureaucratic delays, legislative loopholes, and the high cost of relocation left the village in limbo, intensifying the struggles of a population compelled to leave their ancestral lands. The case study investigates the interplay between climate change, Indigenous customs, and policies that fail to address the displacement caused by retreating landscapes. It also highlights the Yup’ik people’s resilience, and the importance of integrating Indigenous knowledge to adapt to changing ecological realities.
The fourth case study explores Nepal’s Langtang Park in the Himalayas. Disaster, as a recurring theme in Elkin’s work, is poignantly illustrated in this case study. Here, a catastrophic 2015 earthquake and subsequent avalanche buried Langtang Village in a massive rockfall, transforming the landscape and posing significant challenges . Through vivid accounts of her trek to Langtang, Elkin immerses readers into the breathtaking Himalayan landscapes, both physically and emotionally. This chapter explores the deep connection between the local Tamang community and their land, highlighting the region’s distinct ecological and cultural significance. It is followed by a critique of international aid agencies for underprioritizing remote development work, neglecting local knowledge, and increasing inequities through rigid, capital-driven restoration This case study would benefit from including a variety of direct testimonies from the local Tamang community, providing more firsthand accounts that deepen the understanding of their experiences and resilience in the face of disaster.
The final case study examines the environmental challenges driven by climate change and sea-level rise in the Gaspésie Peninsula, Québec, Canada. As a landscape architect teaching in Rhode Island, I found this discussion of retreat particularly poignant. In the Gaspésie region, residents face the reality of diminishing landownership and environmental retreat due to coastal erosion and flooding, a natural but relentless process that reshapes the shoreline. This landscape of retreat was catalyzed by the devastating storm in December 2010, which damaged human settlement beyond repair. In Sainte-Flavie, residents worked with the local government to adopt measures such as managed retreat and renaturalizing abandoned lands through community advocacy for climate adaptation. Drawing on the work of conservationists Michael Soule and David Foreman, Elkin highlights the idea of rewilding—a conservation approach that allows natural processes to take precedence—as a way of harmonizing past and present land use to foster a more resilient and sustainable future. Her case study demonstrates the potential of this approach to create resilient landscapes in the face of climate change.
Landscapes of Retreat emerges at a critical, strained political moment, when landscape architects must meet skeptics with persuasive arguments to confront climate change with adaptation. This book uses an unconventional practice—retreat—to frame a deep dive into overlooked yet essential aspects of climate adaptation in an age of disaster. One of the book’s key takeaways is Elkin’s challenge of the widely held belief that human presence should dominate the land permanently. She urges readers to reconsider and redefine change as a pathway to our common climate future. Elkin’s optimistic view of retreat as a hopeful, collective, and restorative process counters the narrative that environmental crises are insurmountable. The stories shared suggest that communities are more likely to adapt to change when the landscape is appreciated, so that the act of retreat can be valued. Because landscapes of retreat are amendatory practices compared to conventional approaches, designers need more points of reference. Landscapes of Retreat just begins to chart a rich repository of practical examples and stakeholder perspectives. Just as importantly, the book encourages humility and respect for the shifting place of humans in the natural world.
Hongbing Tang, ASLA, PLA, PhD candidate, is an award-winning landscape architect and an assistant teaching professor in landscape architecture at the University of Rhode Island. Her work embraces art and science in environmental planning and sustainable landscape design. She brings a unique cross-cultural perspective to her practice, research, and teaching.