Contact with urban forests greatly enhances children’s knowledge of faunal diversity

Sampaio, Marilian Boachá; Fuente, María Fernanda De la; Albuquerque, Ulysses Paulino; Souto, Antonio; Schiel, Nicola

doi:10.1016/j.ufug.2018.01.006

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Interestingly, images of nature and/or spending time in natural environments can increase concern for future consequences, promote optimism, reduce impulsivity [149][150][151] and promote cooperative, altruistic and sustainable behaviour [152][153][154]. Studies suggest that childhood nature experience increases awareness of biodiversity, desire to conserve nature, and to coexist with biodiversity [155][156][157]; indeed, childhood connections to nature may be the wellspring of adult commitment to nature conservation because this early experience magnifies a sense of meaning and purpose [158]. Moreover, childhood nature experience has been linked with mental health in adulthood [159].…”

Section: Moving Upstream-the Psyche Of Planetary Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larger Than Life: Injecting Hope into the Planetary Health Paradigm

Prescott

Logan

2018

Challenges

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Abstract:The term planetary health, popularized in the 1980s and 1990s, was born out of necessity; although the term was used by many diverse groups, it was consistently used to underscore that human health is coupled to the health of natural systems within the Earth's biosphere. The interrelated challenges of climate change, massive biodiversity losses, environmental degradation, grotesque socioeconomic inequalities, conflicts, and a crisis of non-communicable diseases are, mildly stated, daunting. Despite 'doomsday' scenarios, there is plenty of room for hope and optimism in planetary health. All over planet Earth, humans are making efforts at the macro, meso and micro scales to promote the health of civilization with the ingredients of hope-agency and pathway thinking; we propose that planetary health requires a greater commitment to understanding hope at the personal and collective levels. Prioritizing hope as an asset in planetary health necessitates deeper knowledge and discourse concerning the barriers to hope and the ways in which hope and the utopian impulse are corrupted; in particular, it requires examining the ways in which hope is leveraged by advantaged groups and political actors to maintain the status quo, or even promote retrograde visions completely at odds with planetary health. Viewing the Earth as a superorganism, with humans as the collective 'nervous system', may help with an understanding of the ways in which experience and emotions lead to behavioral responses that may, or may not be, in the best interest of planetary health. We argue that the success of planetary health solutions is predicated on a more sophisticated understanding of the psychology of prevention and intervention at all scales.

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Section: Moving Upstream-the Psyche Of Planetary Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Larger Than Life: Injecting Hope into the Planetary Health Paradigm

Prescott

Logan

2018

Challenges

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“…This phenomenon is a significant cause for concern. It leads to a decreased appreciation of the natural world (Soga, Gaston, Koyanagi, Kurisu, & Hanaki, ), a reduced knowledge and increased apathy toward wildlife (Imai, Nakashizuka, & Kohsaka, ; Sampaio, De La Fuentea, Albuquerque, da Silva Souto, & Schiel, ; Soga, Gaston, Yamaura, Kurisu, & Hanaki, ) and a decreased motivation to protect biodiversity (Soga, Gaston, Yamaura, et al, ; Zhang, Goodale, & Chen, ). It can also reduce opportunities to receive health and well‐being benefits derived from nature, such as those associated with nature‐based activities (Bell, Westley, Lovell, & Wheeler, ; Clark et al, ; Sandifer, Sutton‐Grier, & Ward, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The inequalities of the extinction of experience: The role of personal characteristics and species traits in the distribution of people–plant interactions in Japan

Soga

Tsuchiya

Evans

et al. 2019

Ecological Research

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There is concern about the increasing loss of people's direct interactions with fauna and flora. This extinction of experience has many potential far‐reaching implications for both biodiversity and humans, including the decrease of public support for conservation issues and a reduction in the health benefits that humans experience when interacting with nature. However, knowledge of how experiences with biodiversity are distributed among different sectors of society and the key drivers of this distribution remains poor. Here, we report on the results of a nation‐wide online survey in Japan in which we explored the extent, distribution, and drivers of participant's direct experiences with wild flowering plants. Participants were asked to provide information on their sociodemographics, orientation toward nature, childhood residential environment, and whether they had experienced each of 21 wild flowering plant species. The reported number of wild flowering plant species that participants had experienced varied greatly. Older and female participants and those with childhoods in rural areas and with a greater orientation toward nature experienced a significantly higher number of interactions with flowering plant species. Plant species that prefer roadside environments (compared to grassland/farmland and forest‐dependent species) and are not on the Red List were likely to be experienced by participants. This novel study provides unique information about the interactions of people and the wildlife around them. Such information is crucial for the development of policies and strategies targeted to reduce the ongoing extinction of experience and its negative consequences.

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“…Areas of (public) green spaces are often very rare in the cities of developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, estimated as occupying less than 11% of the total urbanised areas in several cities (Fanan et al, 2011;Mensah, 2014), though exceptions could be mentioned for some South African cities where more than half of the urban areas would be considered as green if all green spaces were included (not just public) (Shakleton et al, 2018). The increasing replacement of green spaces by anthropogenic structures in cities not only leads to biodiversity loss, but also hinders contact with nature (Mensah, 2014;Sampaio et al, 2018;Song et al, 2017). Green spaces, comprising plants in parks/squares, gardens, nurseries, green buffer zones, roadside green spaces, attached green spaces, informal green spaces, playgrounds, wetlands, pastures, cemeteries and fields, have important ecological and socioeconomical functions (Kong and Nakagoshi, 2005;LaRosa and Privitera, 2013;Useni et al, 2018a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree diversity and structure on green space of urban and peri-urban zones: The case of Lubumbashi City in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Sikuzani

Malaisse

Kaleba

et al. 2019

Urban Forestry & Urban Greening

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Urbanisation generally causes a number of ecological problems, mostly associated with loss or degradation of green spaces. In the city of Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo), not only the health of the local vegetation has been profoundly affected due to an accelerated and uncontrolled spatial dynamics, but decisionmakers and planners are also short of data likely to maximise the environmental benefits provided by woody green spaces. Hence, this study was designed to characterize the plant diversity and structure of woody green spaces in Lubumbashi. The study area was divided into urban and peri-urban zones, with respect to the urbanisation level, and data were collected utilising a circular plots-based inventory. Sixty species of trees and shrubs, belonging to 22 families, were recorded. The considered woody green spaces are dominated by miombo woodland species, but Acacia auriculiformis remained the most common species. This study suggest the existence of tree and shrub species that are typical of the urban zone and the peri-urban zone. Comparatively however, the average diameter and the basal area of trees were significantly higher in the urban woody green spaces, which seems to suggest more old trees in urban zone. Both urban and peri-urban zones had a reverse-J-shaped size class profile, with a slight jump in the largest size class. The peri-urban woody green space had more small stems, but not markedly so, and recruitment was observed in both zones. Current results are important as they may in formulating guidelines and technical tools in assessing and monitoring the degradation of woody green spaces in the city of Lubumbashi. urban populations rely on vegetation to provide ecosystem services (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005), contributing not only to ecological functioning, but also to the quality of the life and health of the urban residents (Bolund and Hunhammar, 1999; Tzoulas et al., 2007). Indeed, in urbanised areas, green spaces can moderate the urban heat island effect (Kong et al., 2014), ensure energy flow (McPherson and Rowntree, 1993), clean the air and water (Nowak and Heisler, 2010; Gromke and Blocken, 2015), offer recreational opportunities to the urban dwellers, economic benefits (Song et al., 2017), physical and psychological well-being (Maas et al., 2006).

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Contact with urban forests greatly enhances children’s knowledge of faunal diversity

Cited by 19 publications

References 36 publications

Larger Than Life: Injecting Hope into the Planetary Health Paradigm

Larger Than Life: Injecting Hope into the Planetary Health Paradigm

The inequalities of the extinction of experience: The role of personal characteristics and species traits in the distribution of people–plant interactions in Japan

Tree diversity and structure on green space of urban and peri-urban zones: The case of Lubumbashi City in the Democratic Republic of Congo

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