Connection for Conservation
The importance of connecting with nature for conservation
This is the seventh post in my series exploring the species featured in my
2024 calendar, Wildlife of East Otago.
Obviously, I don’t get kekeno (New Zealand fur seals; Arctocephalus forsteri) in my garden!1 So today we’re taking a drive out to Matakaea/Shag Point, home to some of our precious wildlife. I’m also going to use the kekeno as a springboard for discussing connection with nature in terms of nature conservation.
Matakaea is a Recreation and Scientific Reserve that we always take visitors to, mostly because of the abundance of fur seals. Although it isn’t very well known it has rich Māori & European history, geological significance (it is a geosite in the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark), unique flora - and, of course, we can’t forget the wildlife!
It’s a beautiful drive out along Shag Point Road, at the start of Kātiki Beach, looking out towards the Pacific Ocean. There’s a generous picnicking spot, with tables and all, that tells you when you’re almost at the end. It marks the start of the tapu (sacred) area, which includes burial grounds and other sacred sites.2
From 1862 through to the 1970s, the area was mined for bituminous coal3 so there’s a narrow walkway that leads you out to a viewing platform, lest you fall down one of the many mining shafts! As long as the day isn’t too windy, we can spend ages just watching the kekeno as they feed, play, swim, and “haul out” on the rocks to bask.
We share the kekeno with our Australian neighbours, and they are the most common seals found in Aotearoa. While their populations are increasing, they’re a mere 10% of their pre-human population size of about two million and are a protected species.
One thing I love about their growing abundance is that it gives me the opportunity to enjoy their presence without getting too close and personal - and to share this experience with other people, too. Sustainability may be a bit of a buzz-word these days, but detrimental practices towards our natural environment equal detriment to us humans, too. So it’s important for us to have places we can go to develop this connection.
A 2023 systematic review from Biological Conservation found that a feeling of human-nature connectedness, and a sense of place attachment, helped drive “pro-environmental behaviours and intentions”. I often draw parallels between ‘our’ seals and pet dogs, being playful and curious - especially the pups! Connections like this help reinforce the fact that we are a part of nature. Being so close to home, there is also a growing sense of ‘ownership’ and attachment to the area.
I suppose that is why having a garden brings out the conservationist in me. It is hard not to recognise a human-nature connectedness when you start growing your own food! Not only is the land providing substrate and nutrients to grow our vegetables, but we are also affected by weather and climate conditions (like losing our plum harvest to a heavy spring snowfall last year).
I’m learning how I need to return nutrients to the land through mulch and compost, and that the biodiversity in my garden ecosystem means we can manage pest species without much intervention. An example I often use is the song thrush, who do such a good job of hunting snails that it is rare for me to find any in the garden.
I’ve seen spiders with wasps caught in their webs, and we’ve got a good dragonfly population to help keep mosquitoes and flies at bay. Lots of critters live in our soil, helping break it down and keep it healthy.
There is a real sense of place attachment, of course, as it is my own garden. But place attachment is also developed through positive experiences4 with said space - this is what allows me to grow attached to public areas like Matakaea. Observing the wildlife that inhabit and visit (or even just swoop overhead) my garden help me recognise that they are just like me - we are all using the garden space to live, grow, forage, and rest.
Unfortunately, as the New York Times so frankly puts it, ’Nature Deficit Disorder’ Is Really a Thing. So this week, while you are out enjoying your garden and favourite nature spots, reflect on how you can share those positive experiences with friends and family. Perhaps you could take them along with you, or share your experience through an email or letter.
Thanks so much for reading I hope you have a wonderful, nature-filled week!
Zenobia💚
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Having said this, there was a fur seal who turned up in a Wellington garden just this week! Read the story at Newstalk ZB.
https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/otago/places/moeraki-area/shag-point-matakaea/
https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/coal-mine-under-sea
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/402/1/012024/pdf
Just about everything resolves by spending time in nature, perhaps because it reminds us we're of nature.