The "extinction crisis" and the importance of nature experiences in early childhood

As I checked the news this morning, headlines focused on the financial rescue plans in Europe and the US. Nationally, New Zealand has woken up to the news that budget deficits of billions of dollars are predicted for the next 10 years. However, there was more doom in the news, not making the big headlines as the tumultuous global events of the past five weeks but nevertheless just as, if not more, important. An “extinction crisis” is under way, with one in four mammals in danger of disappearing because of habitat loss, hunting and climate change. Read the New York Times article here. National Geographic writes “The elevated threat level has even sparked a Dow Jones-like index of endangered species, designed to spot troubled species before it's too late. But, despite the inevitable comparisons to the financial crisis, there appears to be no bailout plan in sight for threatened life-forms, experts say”. Here is the article.

These headlines confirm once more how important it is that our children experience and appreciate the natural world. They are the future stewards of the earth. In a world increasingly threatened by the effects of human behavior, we need a custodial generation of young people committed to finding solutions to ecological problems. This makes nature education critically important at all levels in school, but even more so in an early childhood programme. Nature, as part of environmental education, is a lifelong process that starts with the child’s first experiences in the natural world.Because many young children spend so much of their time in early childhood settings, the outdoor space at the setting becomes the place they first develop a relationship with the natural world. For us, as early childhood professionals, it is important we really think about the outdoor environments we create.