Nature report links wildlife trends to human well-being
Northeastern scientists lead research chapter on the human connection to nature and its importance for the future of the planet.
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 webinar introducing 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.
“The Human Connections chapter is crucial because it reminds us that we are part of nature—not separate from it,” Levin said in an email to Northeastern Global News. He said human choices matter when it comes to restoring and sustaining “the systems we depend on.”
The idea that the environment is separate from humans “is just folly,” said Northeastern marine and environmental studies professor Brian Helmuth, who was a contributing writer to the chapter. “There’s no way you can harm the environment and expect [that] not to harm humans.”
Americans have come to appreciate their role in preserving the environment, thanks to groundbreaking works like Rachel Carson’s 1962 book “Silent Spring,” which laid bare the connection between the use of pesticides and the impact on songbirds and fish, Helmuth said.
“That led to legislation about protecting the environment. It then evolved into protecting people’s well-being with things like the Clean Water Act” of 1972, he said.
“There is a movement away from a utilitarian commodification of nature towards the idea that people are a part of nature and by damaging our environment, we’re damaging ourselves,” Coley said.
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But that movement is running up against other forces, mainly a countermovement that seeks to minimize regulations against — and therefore ramp up — the extraction and production of oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower and minerals in the name of prosperity and energy production.
The report’s original authors included a mix of federal employees as well as academics from independent universities. But an executive order was issued shelving the report and federal workers could no longer participate. Levin and other environmental scientists involved in the report were determined to publish it anyway.
Organizers obtained outside funding from sources including the Walton Family Foundation and Doris Duke Foundation.
Now the Nature Record, which is available in draft form and open for public comment until May 30, will be reviewed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Helmuth said.
The final form, which will incorporate any relevant public comments, will be published in the fall, and will be an important resource for state and local government policymakers, educators and the public, Coley said. He said it will serve as a touchstone for future generations as they measure and assess human impact on the environment.
“The health of the United States — the psychological health, the physical health, the economic health — is very much entwined with healthy, functioning natural systems,” Coley said.
