Wildlife gardening initiates a feedback loop to reverse the "extinction of experience"
Residential gardens help reverse the “extinction of experience” by giving people daily, accessible ways to engage with nature and improve well-being. They enable “equal interactions,” where observing wildlife and making eco-friendly choices occur together. Small garden changes can collectively boost biodiversity and foster sustainable mindsets.
Subject Tags
- Community-based conservation
- Social Sciences
- Health
Abstract
This study highlights the importance of residential yards and gardens for reversing the extinction of experience. Gardens are potentially unique settings that offer the average person an easy opportunity to alter their experiences with nature and improve their own well-being (Hamlin and Richardson, 2022). Gardens also provide what Klaniecki et al. (2018) describe as an “equal interaction” opportunity, where human-nature connections (e.g., observations of wildlife) occur in the same space as the pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., garden management decisions). These fine grain, small extent connections may be the easiest human-nature connections to foster and may lead to the adoption of convenient pro-environmental behaviors, although Klaniecki et al. (2018) argue that these types of connections may not lead to deep transformational change. However, we are more optimistic. Small changes to gardens, in the aggregate, can lead to increases to urban biodiversity, an increase in urban residents “noticing nature” and, perhaps, to a more widespread and self-reinforcing sustainable mindset.
Citation
Garfinkel, M., Belaire, A., Whelan, C. and Minor, E., 2024. Wildlife gardening initiates a feedback loop to reverse the" extinction of experience". Biological Conservation, 289, p.110400. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2023.110400
TNC Authors
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Amy Belaire
The Nature Conservancy