We have to acknowledge a harsh reality: we are operating in a world where deep ecological knowledge is virtually nonexistent. We aren't just teaching conservation; we are building ecological literacy from the ground up.
But how do we actually do that?
In the conservation world, the standard refrains are: "Inspire a love of nature," or "You only protect what you love."
I completely disagree.
It’s time to take that emotional pressure off our shoulders—and off the shoulders of the public. Loving something is hard, and loving it "right" is even harder. Furthermore, the idea that love is a prerequisite for protection is a fallacy.
Look at history: Do we really believe that every hero who hid Jewish families from the Nazis deeply loved the individuals they were sheltering? Of course not. They didn't risk their lives out of personal affection; they did it out of a fundamental sense of human decency, duty, and respect for human life.
Environmentalism is no different. Protection isn't born from sentimentality; it is born from understanding and respect.
If, during the process of understanding and respecting nature, a person happens to fall in love with it—that's wonderful. But we must ensure it never becomes a suffocating, selfish kind of love.
We must appreciate nature for what it actually is, never for what we want it to be.
