Nature: it's right here

It’s frequently said that people can achieve mindfulness, access tranquility, restore emotional equilibrium, and enjoy a host of other benefits by being “in nature.” 

Nature writ large-photo NPS

This prescription always troubles me. I know what people mean: they like to visit the forest, the mountains, the seashore, or whatever wild landscape is their spiritual home when they’re feeling troubled or overwhelmed. That’s healthier than a lot of the choices that may beckon when you want to make yourself feel better.

    My problem is with the idea that you have to go someplace special to be “in nature.” Nature is everywhere. I admit that I usually envision nature as outdoors. It’s indoors too, and even inside our bodies, as demonstrated by recent revelations about the gut microbiome.

Microbes are part of nature too-image USDA

    You don’t have to fly to a natural park or drive to your local conservation area to find nature. When I’m traveling around a scruffy town near Boston for work, I’m cheered by evidence on every block of plants taking back territory from the barren landscapes constructed by humans. Seeds fall into cracks in the sidewalk. Roots push their way from the curb strip or front yard to the next patch of open soil. To my mind, those pioneers count as nature too.
 

Spontaneous and beautiful

    There’s a problem with defining nature as just what you find in seemingly pristine wilderness areas. It’s important to conserve the last areas of virgin forest, unspoiled seashore, and underwater habitat. But if we insist that nature exists only where there’s no human footprint, we’re leaving out most of the world’s ecosystems. We need to support biodiversity even in cities and suburban areas. 

    The movement to plant native plants and pollinator gardens is worthwhile because it’s possible for humans to live comfortably alongside plants that restore habitat for animals, especially native insects. A New England gardener including some bee balm (Monarda didyma), Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum) or aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) in her garden enables a small increase in biodiversity. 

Cosmos in the curb strip supports native insects

All the yards together can do a lot, even when native plants don’t predominate in every garden. If we think the suburbs aren’t part of nature, though, we won’t see that we have a part to play.

    As effects of global warming progress, we urgently need to bolster ecological services provided by plants, such as cooling, air purification, and carbon sequestration. Street trees, long-lived plants in our yards, or even a few shrubs or small trees in concrete planters in a city center all contribute toward combating the effects of climate change. 

A street tree doing its part

Each tree uses the same natural processes plus water, air and the sun’s energy to bind carbon in its tissues and the surrounding soil. It doesn’t have to be part of a forest for that to happen.

    We humans are part of nature, and so is our local habitat. That means we need to be good stewards of every part of the world. It also means we’re never marooned outside nature, which is a thought I find comforting.

I'm off to British Columbia. See you in two weeks.