Billed as the first comprehensive report on the state of U.S. lands, water and wildlife, the Nature Record National Assessment includes the decline of butterfly populations and other species to the remarkable comeback of the bald eagle.
It’s not limited to non-human species, however, as the assessment also includes a chapter on how we humans — the species responsible for many environmental changes — feel connected to nature.
“Originally the report was very focused on ecology and biology and didn’t really think about the kinds of human interaction with nature and how that connection is really important,” said John Coley, professor of psychology and marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern University.
He and his colleague Meena Balgopal of Colorado State University, pitched the idea of including the human bond with nature to report organizers and ended up leading a section, or chapter, that looks at cultural and historic perspectives of nature, from the way Indigenous populations felt inseparable from the natural world to how early European settlers saw the same world as an unending source of bounty and materials to exploit.
Nature Record Director Phillip Levin, a conservation scientist, said the chapter is an example of “another flavor” in the report, which also includes sections on marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems. In a webinarintroducing the project, he stated that the human connection chapter addresses how people interact with nature through work and recreation, and how these relationships influence decisions and stewardship.
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