AFON
Simple Human Nature – by Thea Powell
Welcome to our series of blog posts in the run up to the general election (7th May 2015). Over this month AFON members will share their own Visions for Nature: what they want the natural world to look like by 2050 and how they want to get there. We have created a hashtag on Twitter so why not join the conversation? What’s your #VisionforNature?
Several people on these AFON Vision-for-Nature posts have used a starting point of their own experiences to lead them to their Vision. Seeing as AFON is composed of those who are already ‘nature people’, and seeing that we (AFON and many likeminded groups) are trying to increase the number and quality of ‘nature people’ so that various, Visions (to change our nation) will be realised, I agree that our own nature experiences are a good place to start.
I am lucky in some ways. One way in which I am lucky is that for six weeks and three days I have lived a 10 minute walk away from an SSSI woodland. It’s not huge, it’s not as good as it could be, but it’s there. I am also lucky because it looks like I get to live here for at least three years, and such a green space as this woodland is invaluable to me. I am also clever as I just bought ice lollies and it’s a hot day – I little bit of for planning can go a long way.
It is my experience that people like green spaces and natural habitat near where they live (e.g. within a 30 minute walk). I have some years of experience of talking to every type of person about the outdoors, nature, ecology and the future conservation and protection UK habitats need. This is experience has come about in the same way for me as for many others whom like the outdoors and fight for biodiversity and sustainability; by the fact that we support and outreach ‘for nature’ – and that a large amount of this outreach is needed for ‘nature to be heard’. In many of the conservation sites within the UK, NGOs, companies and volunteers spend their time and money promoting and caring for locations – which includes talking to lots of people about these sites. Fingers crossed all these such sites continue their outreach and education without a hitch.
People who can access nature, especially from a young age, will acknowledge and enjoy nature throughout their lives, as well as often contributing in later life (working towards environmental protection, upkeep or scientific investigation). People with green spaces nearby (ideally with a few species of tree, bush, a pond and few different grassland/meadow habitats) tend to feel happy, using the space and having this resource. It’s natural to feel so.
The SSSI woodland near me is used by families, walkers, runners, horse riders, dog walkers, cyclists and individuals, spending time in a beautiful place. The key to such spaces that do bring a smile is that they exist (and to that end, there is of course some upfront cost in their construction/protection). If a green space exists and is used (most likely it will be), the space can be a simple, small, accessible – and will become a gateway to environmental thinking, which the world needs more of now than ever before. I don’t think the principles have to get much more complicated than this.
There is a reason that hundreds of thousands of people marched in more than 2500 protests worldwide in the Climate March on September 21st, 2014. All these people that enjoy the outdoors and a non-littered park, and they work in every occupation, including politicians. Our MPs, being normal, local, logical people, whilst clipping their toe-nails and shopping for bread, I am sure they look forward to their next time in the English spring sunshine in their local woodland. Who wouldn’t?
So my Vision for Nature is a simple one – giving local communities and towns the enrichment (and ensuring the planning permissions has the needed restrictions) of regular, non-ambitious, local green spaces. Some people, no doubt, will want a sense of contribution and ownership of the space (scientifically proven to encourage action and increase the level of reward that is felt), so perhaps these community members can help build the pond, make a vegetable patch, encourage BBQs at designated benches and hold the local croquet tournament. The local council could allow school trips for pond dipping and students could conduct small scale invertebrate studies in any appropriate hedgerows. Any such space would hopefully designed for recreational use, with some flower boarders, a pond (ponds are very good for the environment), a bird feeder (everyone likes birds) and out of sight of a high street or dual carriageway. An oasis of calm within (hopefully bigger than) 1-2 km square for everyone that may use it.
It can be kept simple. In an urban area, keep it small and add a stream along some wasteland. In areas currently under development, make laws so a certain level of population need a certain amount of green space (and not just grass with one tree). Some hard work (more hours litter picking), some patience (trees don’t grow in a day) and some funding (new information boards and keeping out new construction) will be needed. But the effort will be worth it. If the people who enjoy these spaces learn even one thing about the state of our environment (see the State of Nature report, freely downloadable here) due to having visited these sites, we’ll be on a sure path to wider communities voting for habitat protection and prioritising the best decisions for our environments and our climate.
For the many I have talked to, there is one key reason why people do not care about their local outside environments; they don’t understand why it is important and don’t know how easy so(!) many outdoor options are, which are already available to them. With more green spaces (and information boards and the undoubtable local ‘chat’), these gaps in knowledge and understanding will decrease. The importance to each individual (in using the space) will be felt, and the scientific/environmental reasons about intrinsic/functional importance can be learned by anyone who asks.
Sites that are cared about will be protected, and UK species will further thrive from a more extensive and connected network. My Vision is therefore to give people more local opportunity to enjoy the environment, giving protection and planning for green areas – giving them the KISS of life (‘Keeping it simple, stupid!’). If the spaces are made and minimally maintained, people will use them. So I send a plea, to ALL those who can help this vision – please KISS in more green spaces, and create new ones to KISS in too!
An understanding of how natural habitats will function in the next 50 years when they have been cared for and conserved, vs if they had been neglected, can easily be communicated to those who wish to listen/read (for only a few minutes!). The audience need personal experience to give them a reason to listen. The public need a piece of their own natural environment to vote for. It’s simple human nature.