E.O. Wilson, Biophilia and First Day Hikes!!

Family Hike on Max Patch, Mariah Grant

Photo: Frans Lanting/ Corbis
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Last week, on December 13, the world renowned biologist and naturalist E.O. Wilson, came to speak at the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. He was asked, "How is climate change affecting biodiversity and what can we do about it?" His response stands out in my memory for being a realistic solution in today's modernized world. Animals have experienced climate change throughout Earth's history and some were able to adapt while others went extinct. But the difference a million years ago was that habitat laid intact, allowing animals to migrate to more suitable ecosystems where they could survive. In today's world, we have preserved pockets of land thanks to our parks system and conservation organizations, but most of these areas are isolated. So, if we want to reduce the number of extinctions as some areas become drier and warmer while others are inundated with water, we need to create contiguous corridors connecting these isolated habitats. When conditions in an area change too rapidly for adaptation, corridors of undisturbed habitat will allow some organisms to migrate, thus ensuring their survival. And according to E.O. Wilson, this is very much in the realm of possibilities and he is hard at work securing one of the largest corridors in the U.S. across the southeast.

 

Banff Wildlife Corridor Overpass
http://thenewipo.com/2009/12/24/adapt-move-or-go-extinct/

What does all this have to do with First Day Hikes? Well, our friend E.O. Wilson is the one who coined the term "biophilia," an innate capacity to love nature and living organisms. In order to foster biophilia, it is important to provide your child with positive experiences in nature at a young age. This will help them build a relationship with nature and later in life, an appreciation for conserving natural lands. This is as easy as making a commitment to getting outdoors more in the New Year. A quote at the end of E.O. Wilson's talk, attributed to Benjamin Franklin and apparently found in a fortune cookie, summed this up nicely: "“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

 

A great way to share your commitment to get outdoors and lead a healthy, active lifestyle, while supporting preservation of natural lands is to go on a hike on January 1st! All 50 state park systems will be sponsoring guided First Day Hike Programs on New Year's Day. There are currently 638 hikes across the country and you can search for one near you on America's State Parks website.

 

Don't live near a State Park? Find other nature centers and parks where you can take your own hike on the Office of Environmental Education and Public Affairs' searchable database.