We Are Nature: Reclaiming Our Place in the World

One mental switch that will spark your environmentalism

During the comment period for the Roadless Rule, someone confessed to me that she didn’t know if she had anything to say, because although she cared, she wasn’t an “outdoorsy” person. She appreciates nature profoundly, but still does not feel confident speaking to how the preservation of our wild spaces affects her personally.

I know that she is not alone, I don’t blame her, and, at the same time, I know that she is profoundly mistaken. Let me tell you a very quick synopsis of why this is so:

First, you’re not alone!

Many of us don’t interact with much of what we think of as nature on a daily basis. Depending on our location and experience, we might not touch grass, trees, soil, or flowers at all.

Other than admiration of pretty sunsets and singing songbirds, we may not feel like it affects us in significant ways.

Our language reinforces this.

For instance, when we say “nature” we actually mean everything in the natural world except for humans. But inherently, we are a part of nature. Born into the world and surviving just like any other living thing, we change the landscape just by living in it.

Nature is just as much inclusive of us as it is of oceans and mountains.

And when we say “environment”, most people in our culture mean the undeveloped outdoor areas with wildlife. In reality, our environment is everything around us. Indoors, outdoors, paved, unpaved, built up, and untouched.

It surrounds us, it surrounds plants and animals, it is all of our collective environment.

Side note: For me, this separation we homosapiens have given ourselves from the rest of the universe is fascinating, and I went down a deep rabbit hole with it when studying for my dissertation project. It’s origins have roots in capitalism, philosophy, and religion, and all center around the idea of men conquering the world and overcoming animalistic impulses in order to live in civilized society.

…but it would be crazy not to shift our thinking.

So, we are conditioned to think of ourselves as above it all. Kind of like all powerful beings who control our ecology like a puppet. Or at least the audience to the side watching it all happen.

Unfortunately, we now have all kinds of science and very visible evidence that we are quite connected and vulnerable to environmental degradation. It’s becoming ever clearer that we are, in fact, part of the ecosystem. So is our food, our drinking water, the bedrocks that we build on, and the air that we breathe.

Here are 3 very salient, very shortened examples of a connected ecosystem’s role in everyday life:

Food security:

Our food systems depend upon a healthy functioning of our environment. Everything is affected by the presence of connected habitats and landscapes—from the microbes and groundwater in the soil to pollinating insects and predators that eat harmful pests.

Without the right balance, producing healthy food becomes either really expensive or impossible.

Disaster mitigation:

Risk of extreme heat, flooding, and fire risk are all linked to the presence of healthy woodlands and in an area.

More native trees and natural growth in an area (which is upheld by a whole ecosystem of fungi, water, plants and animals) can protect from all of these things.

We need this kind of greenspace to be connected across the country. They work in a disaster when they are nearby, adapted to a specific location, and able to migrate for survival in response to climate changes.

Air quality:

I’ll keep this reminder short and sweet, because it is so well known and accepted now—trees increase air quality and mitigate the harm of air pollutants. The bigger and more widespread the canopy, the better.

(I really just wanted to include this fabulous DJT quote from the UN this week):

Everything is dependent on ALL of the natural world functioning well.

So, when it comes to protecting a species, a forest, or a body of water, we are all profoundly impacted by it, even if we don’t personally touch it or even know about it.

So, let’s revisit our feelings conservation

Sometimes, our conservation efforts fall into a kind of sentimental, let’s-stand-up-for-nature pit. In the process, many of us lose the connection that our wildland and wildlife have to our own lives.

In a conversation on The Wolf Connection podcast, Dr. John Vucetich discussed the health of our country’s ecosystems. He said that the typical researched plant and animal species has “lost about two thirds of its geographical range.”

He went on:

“Throughout the eastern United States, about half the mammal species that used to be there are gone. This process unfolds slowly, and that’s part of what makes it deceptive. Because we’re used to the place not having nearly as many species as it used to, because it’s all we’ve ever known. But it’s not normal, and it’s getting worse.”

One factor that exacerbates this? It’s the distorted mentality that led my friend to believe her connection to forest preservation isn’t profound. To not have adequate words to express how her personal environment is linked to wilderness areas.

Government leaders and private interests pounce on that perception of distance from nature. They use it to assert that it is okay if only part of a forest is destroyed. Or to say that as long as a species isn’t in danger of going extinct from the planet, that everything is fine.

But it isn’t.

It matters if species are doing well and thriving all across the country, where they have been needed in their ecosystems locally for centuries. We’re all part of the same unit here, and right now, we are all compromised.

Again, make that little mental switch: humans are a part of nature. And nature is everywhere.

Challenge the old way

It takes a lot of time and concerted effort to repair the multitude of problems created by our patterns of using, abusing, and relating to the outdoor environment at a distance. But you can make an immediate change in your own life, just by reframing your relationship to nature.

Challenge the false narrative that the environment is just a pretty thing to enjoy as a bystander. No matter what stance on preserving the Roadless Rule or the Endangered Species Act it is promoting.

Question arguments that center around environmental destruction as a way to better human life. Even ordinary ones, like rationale for factory farms, housing developments, or pesticides. There is always a conversation about balance to be had.

And, if you can, try looking at the plants and animals around you without resistance, as kind of partners in this life. It’s harder than you might think, but it’s liberating and rewarding, too.

And it brings us all one step closer to living in our environment a little better.

With love and hope for the future,

Stephanie

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Where do you notice yourself feeling separate from “nature” or “environment”? Where do you see that mentality in the world around you?

A few good reads:

Food security: why is biodiversity important? By T.C.H. Sunderland

The concept and concept of ecological networks. By Rob H.G. Jongman

One size fits none by Stephanie Anderson

Biodiversity, air quality, and human health By David Nowak et al.

Government agencies in the United States are obstructing native species restoration, creating regulatory pits for wildlife By John Vucetich

And a great listen: