Can urban areas have ecological integrity ?

INTRODUCTION The question of whether urban areas can offer a semblance of the natural world – a vestige (at least) of ecological integrity – is an important one to many people who live in these areas. As more and more of the world becomes urbanized, this question becomes highly relevant to the broader mission of maintaining the Earth’s biological diversity. Most people, especially when young, are attracted to the natural world and living things, Ed Wilson called this attraction “biophilia.” And entire books have been written about it – one, for example, by Steve Kellert, who also appears in this morning’s program. Personally, I share Wilson’s speculation that biophilia has a genetic basis. Some people are biophilic than others. This tendency is very likely heritable, although it certainly is influenced by the environment, particularly by early experiences. My own experience, which includes working many years as a camp counselor and environmental educator early in my career, and having 3 children of my own, suggests that most children are biophilic. They are fascinated by non-human life forms. Kids that have abundant exposure to nature tend to be more biophilic. As they get older, however, most kids seem to lose touch with nature. They are socially conditioned to value television, computers, and video games above bugs and salamanders. Their teachers and parents reinforce whatever fears they have about the outdoors (e.g. about snakes, spiders, and poison oak) and their peers tell them that nature isn’t “cool. Only nerds are interested in that stuff.” With few or no natural areas near their homes to offer alternative experiences, many young people let their biophilia dwindle away to nothing as they grow older. It is no wonder we have a populace distanced from nature and unwilling to support meaningful conservation programs. I have just outlined what I believe is the major challenge of urban wildlife conservation. What, then, do we do about it? Basically, what we do is maintain and, where possible, restore a lot more natural habitat and wildlife within and around urban areas, where most people live. But, if we embark on this venture, how do we know if we are succeeding? There are both social and biological measures of success. The social measures include increased awareness of and appreciation for native wildlife and healthy ecosystems. The biological measures are the subject of my talk this morning; I will focus on adaptation of the ecological integrity concept to urban and suburban areas and the role of connectivity (i.e. wildlife corridors) in promoting ecological integrity.