Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
socially acceptable location. Continuing to push the problem of on the less
fortunate is a form of environmental injustice that may build resentment that
eventually costs more than it saves.
The smile on the young Costa Rican boy's face as he of ered a bit of food to
the variegated squirrels and rock pigeons that swarm Alajuela's Central Park
demonstrated the important ef ect our bond with nature has on our emotions.
Wonder and joy brought the kids, parents, and grandparents together to value
their urban animals. Similarly, in the summer of 2009, a grandfather and his
two grandchildren stopped my car so that a mother mallard and her brood of
waddling ducklings could safely cross our neighborhood street. Interacting
with the common creatures of subirdia allows the new generation to learn
about empathy from the older.
As we interact with a wider range of urban nature, we experience other
emotions that of er unique teaching opportunities to our loved ones. Dii cult
lessons gleaned from the extinction of species in degraded lands or loss of life
to a window, cat, or car can nurture an ethic of stewardship so future losses
are reduced. Encountering what may seem like unsavory behavior in our ur-
ban web can broaden our tolerance of and appreciation for dif erent lifestyles.
Our helping ducklings is as valid and important as understanding that the
hawk and fox that eat them are also essential components of nature's web. If
an ethic of appreciating predators could be nurtured in the city, it might be
transferred to wilder lands where today we seem unable to value most animals
that hunt in order to live.
Using our daily encounters with plants and animals in the urban ecosys-
tem as a place to cultivate a biophilic ethic and gain ecological literacy will
equip future generations to better utilize and steward their world. Interpret-
