Children and Nature 2008: A Report on the Movement to Reconnect Children to the Natural World

DOWNLOAD THIS INFORMATIVE REPORT from the Children & Nature Network.

Highlights:

1. "To move forward, the children and nature movement is developing an evolving set of principles: • We must engage every sector of society, among them: parents, grandparents, and extended family members; developers, planners and architects; health care professionals; educators; farmers and ranchers; conservationists; government; businesses and more."

2. "As the movement progresses, it can encourage educators, as well as students, to: • Follow Norway’s lead, and establish farms and ranches as “the new schoolyards,” and thereby create a new source of income for farm culture, teach kids about the sources of their food, and give them hands-on, practical experience that will provide lasting benefit."

3. "Government has a unique opportunity in coming years. It cannot reverse the nature deficit alone—nor does it have to. But it can be a stronger partner with the public movement. Government, with its influence over parks, open space and how we shape cities, education and health care, has a crucial role to play.

• Expand or replicate successful state and national programs, from Texas’ “Life is Better Outside” campaign to Connecticut’s “No Child Left Inside” program to get families into underused state parks. In 2006, under the leadership of Governor Rell and Gina McCarthy, Connecticut’s Commissioner of Environmental Protection, that state launched a pioneering program to encourage families to use the underutilized state parks. Replicable in every state, McCarthy’s effort was the first formal program to call itself No Child Left Inside. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in Washington State successfully brings hundreds of school children to the Refuge and combines school lessons with tree plantings for habitat restoration. These efforts connect children to nature and give them a sense of hope and personal responsibility. In a similar move, the U.S. Forest Service has launched More Kids in the Woods, which funds local efforts to get children outdoors. The State of New Mexico is looking at how farms and ranches can become the new schoolyards.

• Legislators can introduce bills to establish nature education partnerships among parks and schools, educators and farmers. And they can support policies that strengthen land trust law, keep farming families on their land, and decrease property owners’ liability when they allow children to play on open land. Federal and state conservation agencies can loosen current restrictions of the use of government funds for outreach efforts. “Here we sit with the mandate of managing the resource for future generations,” one state official said recently. “The legislature wants us to manage habitat and wildlife but minimizes support for the other, critical half of the equation, managing the people surrounding and influencing that habitat.” "