I ran across this article on The Nature Conservancy through digg earlier today.
Nature recreation worldwide — from camping, hunting and fishing to park visitation — has declined sharply since the 1980s, and the negative consequences for nature and conservation could soon be profound, says a new study sponsored by The Nature Conservancy.
I’m not surprised by the result. The article essentially points out that majority of Americans (and most likely many Canadians as well) are more inclined to stay indoors — watch television or surf the Internet, etc. Because of this shift in behaviour, people are less likely to care about the environment.
I’d tend to agree wholeheartedly with the article despite the fact that there isn’t really anything surprising about it. It’s all about awareness. Simultaneously people react or respond differently to the outdoors — for example: my sister who is 24 years of age literally freaks out at the sight of an insect. This is a result of the lack of exposure to the natural environment at a young age. Initially when I was younger, I had a similar response although to a lesser degree, but my interest in photography is what led me into the natural environment — into forests and provincial or state parks across North America.
Photograph by Ehren Cheung
The honest truth is that there are plenty of city folk who are keen on getting out to enjoy nature but there are also a large portion of the population that want to avoid nature. Despite their interest in supporting the environment, is that healthy? I would assume that the natural environment is part of us as much as we are a part of it regardless of how much we try and redefine our environment in the more urban areas.
So how do we encourage the already nature-phobic folks to enjoy the outdoors? I don’t know if we can 100% but we can definitely start with the new generations and teach them to accept and enjoy our natural environment. The choice will be theirs in the future to care about nature, but at least they’ll have a better understanding of it.
