There has been a dramatic shift in our society in just one generation. Unlike their parents, who spent much of their time outside exploring, children today spend their time indoors focused on television and a variety of electronic gadgets or participating in very structured activities. The days of children spending endless hours climbing trees or catching bugs and exploring even a small patch of natural area in the city where they are free to let their imaginations run wild are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Children today lack a connection to nature, a place to discover who they are, to realize their significance as well as their insignificance.
We can think of no time when there was a greater need for our children to feel this connection to nature. We are pushing and stressing our environment to its limits and without an understanding and appreciation of our natural world, how can we hope our children will work to protect it?
Although wildlife remains an important element of the Canadian psyche, changing demographics and landscapes present significant challenges. Extensive development, not only in the urban core but in rapidly-expanding suburban communities and abutting agricultural lands, means there is not only a significant direct loss of wildlife habitat but that wildlife that adapt to share the remaining space are often in conflict with humans.
The Ottawa-Carleton Wildlife Centre is committed to educating people about wildlife and helping to foster an appreciation for the natural world and the importance of protecting biodiversity as well as give people the basic tools to solve human/wildlife conflicts in a humane and cost-effective way, allowing them to live in greater harmony with nature.
Through our Wildlife Education School Program we are helping children take the first crucial steps in conservation, coexisting and appreciating wildlife in their own backyard. It is a prime example of thinking globally while acting locally.
If we are to succeed in responding to the significant environmental challenges we are facing as a society, humans have to recognize we are part of nature not simply an outside observer of it. Each of us has the chance to help conserve nature, starting in our own backyard.
