December 2015 - Parks & Recreation - 36

This clever Truck Farm, which features a robust garden towed on a flatbed trailer, visits
Genesee County Parks Summer Playground Program to teach participating children
about where their food comes from.

Nature Is Not a Place
By Jimmy O'Connor

P

ark and recreation agencies have fantastic nature centers. Often
a signature facility at a destination park, standard fare for these
nature centers includes critter displays, educational exhibits, interpretive trails and outdoors-oriented programming aimed at providing all who enter a truly memorable experience. Staffed by knowledgeable
naturalists and biology-minded employees, and occasionally by volunteers,
nature centers and the nature-based parks and preserves in which they are
located offer an oasis for adults and children alike. Most nature centers are
charged with educating the public about the wonders of nature - and most
do an exemplary job at this.

But, this isn't good enough. Nature does not exist exclusively at the
nature center. When we limit nature
learning to a special program or trip,
as we often do, we limit the opportunity to truly know nature. Nature
is neither a place nor a program. A
nature experience should not await
just those who make their way to the
nature center or who enroll in the local nature program.
34	 Parks & Recreation

Naturally Human
Recognizing the environmental challenges that lie ahead, from warming
to cooling and surge to scarcity, today's youngsters will have serious
responsibilities as adults. We have
an obligation to help our next generation of environmental stewards
understand the interconnectedness
and importance of the natural world.
Park and recreation agencies can play

| D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

a critical role in educating children
(and adults) about nature, which is
around us at every moment.
But first, it is important to redefine
nature, if not for the dictionary itself,
then certainly in casual use. A quick
online search displays the following
definition of nature:
The phenomena of the physical world
collectively, including plants, animals, the
landscape and other features and products
of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations.
I challenge that humans and human creations are not part of nature.
Humans are just as interconnected
to the ecosystem as anything else,
relying on just as many other species, natural resources and climate
patterns as any other animal on the
planet. More importantly, human
activity impacts more species, nat-



December 2015 - Parks & Recreation

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