Image sourced from Pixabay.
By Masashi Soga and Yutaro Aota.
This Plain Language summary is published in advance of the paper discussed; check back soon for a link to the full paper.
Earth’s biodiversity is rapidly disappearing. Because the current biodiversity decline is mainly due to human activities, reversing this trend will require widespread changes to this behaviour. It is often proposed that enhancing people’s experiences with nature can promote actions that benefit biodiversity (hereafter pro-biodiversity behaviours), leading to positive outcomes for biodiversity conservation. However, how different aspects of nature experiences contribute to these behaviours remains unclear.
Using survey data from a large sample of the adult population of Japan, we show that both frequency and diversity of childhood nature experiences are key predictors of the likelihood of adopting various types of pro-biodiversity behaviours in adulthood. These associations held true across a range of behaviours, including the purchase of eco-friendly products, reduced use of pesticides in domestic gardens, and contributions to conservation organisations. Notably, the link between pro-biodiversity behaviors and the diversity of childhood nature experiences is comparable to that of frequency.
While our study is preliminary, the results suggest that enhancing both the frequency and diversity of childhood nature experiences can effectively drive the necessary behavioural changes to combat biodiversity loss. Current discussions on nature experiences and pro-biodiversity behaviours primarily emphasise the quantity of these experiences. However, our data indicate that diversity is equally crucial. Consequently, future conservation policies would significantly benefit from expanding efforts to preserve a wide range of nature-based activities integrated into individuals’ daily lives.
Relational Thinking 