Learn to love nature

Falling in love with nature can be a result of an accidental encounter. It could be as simple as a child finding in injured Blue Jay on the sidewalk and taking the time to rescue it and appreciate its beauty. Or someone walking into a forest and being overwhelmed by how beautiful the trees are. Or hearing a Barred Owl calling at night and then being fortunate enough to see such a beautiful, wild bird.

For many of us, it is having someone taking an interest in our education. It can start with someone helping us to understand the complexities, beauty and sometimes fragility, that is all around us. It could be a parent, a camp counsellor, a teacher, or a local naturalist. And it can happen in a formal setting, such as a school, or out in the wild on a beach or in a forest. 

Most nature lovers have been influenced by one or more special people whose enthusiasm is contagious. That is not a tadpole, it is a TADPOLE!!! People whose excitement at seeing a Red Fox or a Black-capped Chickadee is not diminished by their commonness. I’m smiling as I type this, as I remember people who have made a huge impact on how I try to care for the natural world.

One thing that the Macphail Woods Ecological Forestry Project in Orwell has always tried to do is to share our love of nature. That’s why we’ve been running nature camps for almost thirty years. It is both rewarding and exciting to see some of our “graduates” with science degrees and working to protect the environment.

The nature camps, the schoolyard plantings, the class visits, and the walks and workshops all help us to raise the level of interest in the natural world. Over the past year, we’ve really tried to develop more material for teachers in Island schools, so that the footprint of our educational work is greatly expanded. In some way it is like planting rare plants that will seed into the surrounding forests.

Teachers already have a heavy workload and can be leery of taking on a subject that is outside what they have learned about in their university educational courses. But we’re working to change all that.

This summer, our long-time environmental educator Eric Edward and some our other staff created a two-day workshop for Island teachers. In the footsteps of the very popular “Field Guide to Nature Education” (by Eric and Sarah Campion), about 50 Island educators were tasked with reimagining how we teach about nature. This event featured Indigenous participation and contributions from other organizations that are involved in outdoor education. 

From the exit surveys, there seems to be a hunger for this type of training.  One participant wrote: “I would love if this could be an annual conference. It was so refreshing and exciting to be with a group of inspirational leaders in the field.”

Another said: ”This was a transformative two days. I wish all educators in our school system had the opportunity to hear from your speakers. I have spoken to so many about what I learned. I hope you offer this again!”

Early in November, Eric followed up with two well-attended workshops on nature education at the PEI Teachers Federation Annual Convention. 

Eric will also be offering nature education workshops for Island educators again during the summer.

If you are interested, please keep an eye on the macphailwoods.org website. And you can download a copy of the nature education publication by going to: macphailwoods.org/resources/nature-education