When my daughter was born I found myself going to baby groups here and there, and we always seemed to be singing songs about animals. My daughter also loves books and almost all the books we picked up in the library had animals at their heart. The children we met at the baby groups or in the library responded really well to puppets, stories and songs about our incredible wildlife but I always found myself with the same questions niggling me; do these parents and carers know their children may never see a hedgehog in the wild? Are they singing and talking about animals and then going home to play with toy versions of them or look at them in books, never actually experiencing the wild world for themselves? Do they appreciate its fragility and make conscious choices in light of this? It feels sometimes that the species we see on greetings cards, wrapping paper, calendars, artwork and clothes are just taken for granted, that they will always be there, that they are decoration, when actually some of these plants and animals are at great risk of disappearing forever. Maybe people are happy to settle for a remote relationship with nature, and maybe if these animals and plants quietly slip away, they will go unnoticed. I dont know, but I would like to think that for many people, these issues just aren't on their radar and the pressures of life are prventing them from having time to stop and reflect.

 

For me this is all about children. Surely the most important thing we can do for our children is look after the world they are going to inherit. We are not independent of nature - we are utterly dependent on it.

 

Nurturing love and respect for our wild world is so easy to do. Children make instant connections with animals and are fascinated by the sheer scale of the moon, an oak tree, a snow-capped mountain. Children need to feel awe and wonder when they look around them and when they do, they will never be bored, they will never take things for granted and they will find something to love in every one of their days on this earth.

 

 

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.

Walt Whitman

 

Cover illustration - Martin Dennison instagram.com/kdk12/