Advocating for Nature: 4 Alternative Ways to Fight When you are Depleted
Because we all need a break from the head-butting sometimes.
Advocating for nature is tough. If you’re currently involved in a conservation campaign, you may be fighting to protect a special place from impending destruction, or opposing polluting industrial activities. And boy, can that be draining!
Oftentimes, citizens who stand up for nature have to withstand a lot. Misinformation, utter contempt and unfair tactics are all too common.
So, you’ve sent letters, summoned the courage to call your political representatives, and maybe spoken up at council meetings or “public consultations.” And… chances are it was less than satisfactory at best, and infuriating at worst.
If that’s the case, you might understandably need a breather. But if you’re anything like me, it probably feels like environment-related anxieties will swallow you whole if you take even a short break from activism.
So here are four alternative, regenerative ways to advocate for nature when you are depleted.
1. Focus on Places That are, to all Appearances, Already Protected
Showcasing our love of nature is a powerful way to advocate for it.
And it’s easier than standing up to decision-makers, developers, and other corporations, which is kind of the point of taking a break. However, this kind of advocacy isn’t one bit less necessary for being nicer on the nerves.
The reason for this is simple: appearances can be deceiving, meaning the parks and other natural spaces you enjoy might not be officially protected, or not as well protected as they should be.
It happens a lot: people believe a stretch of land is as good as protected, either because signs and documents boast of its ecological value, or because people have been walking along its trails, or both. But in fact, it isn’t.
A striking example is what’s happening in Gatineau Park (Quebec), north of Ottawa. This highly frequented destination is praised and promoted by every tourism-related entity in the region. Yet, many parcels within this federal park are privately owned. As a result, residential development is eating away at it, little by little and unbeknownst to most.
I don’t mean to depress you. I just want to point out how easy it is to get the wrong idea about the status of parks (or any other natural spaces). And even if they are set aside for conservation, with the pressures on land intensifying, their status might end up being challenged.
Therefore, showcasing commitment to them can help lay down the groundwork for potential debates. It says: “destroying this is not an option.” So, if you can, do document and publicly celebrate the places where you love spending time.
Picking up trash, for example, can be very impactful. Political representatives might take neglect of a place to mean two things:
- No one cares about it and
- Junk lessens its ecological value.
Such was the case, for example, for the Nantes Woods in Ottawa (article in French).
Citizen science projects can also prove very useful to the cause (and fun!). The more we know about the richness of a given environment, the more delicate it becomes to destroy it. Participating in bio-blitzes organized by non-profits is a good way to get started.
And last but not least, investigating a place’s significance in terms of human history can be fruitful. Gatineau residents did so when fighting to save the Deschênes woods from destruction. According to some of them, bringing forward its history, as well as its potential for archeological discoveries, was instrumental in convincing the council not to sell the forest.
With the strain on land intensifying, there is a growing need to show politicians, businesses, non-profits and friends alike how precious and beloved our last natural spaces are.
Hopefully, by doing so, we can prevent as many as possible from ending up on the chopping block.
2. Seek out and Share Stories of Advocates who won Against all Odds
Nothing says pick-me-up like stories of citizens who kept going despite ominous signs, and won. Reading such accounts can do a lot for a person’s morale, so don’t hesitate to share success stories with anyone who might be inspired by them.
Here’s one for your reading pleasure: Consider the heartwarming case of l’Anse-à-l’Orme, a jewel on Montreal’s West Island.
This 365-hectare land is quite the sight for sore eyes, one it’s hard to believe exists in such an overdeveloped metropolis. Environmentalists have been aware of its value for a long time. In fact, work toward its protection started as far back as 30 years ago.
But the decisive chapter in that battle began in 2015, when developers submitted a project to build some 5,500 residential units, a boulevard, offices, schools and shops, all on a 185 hectare-surface (about half of the land in question). Local grassroots, such as Sauvons l’Anse-à-l’Orme and the Green Coalition, fought hard to save the nature park from such a fate. And they had quite a few challenges to overcome.
Of course, so much construction would have ruined this diverse ecosystem. But if the extent of the potential damage was clear, the value of said environment wasn’t obvious to everyone.
A portion of the land is made up of grasslands, which are necessary to the survival of many species. But as they don’t enjoy as much hype as, for example, old-growth forests, that fact remains little known, and grasslands, typically undervalued.
Then Montreal mayor Denis Coderre backed the proposal, despite l’Anse-à-l’Orme being one of the last remaining natural spaces on the island. To make matters worse, the land already belonged to developers. And since their plan included preserving the other 180 hectares, it was easy to paint those opposing the construction as unreasonable.
But 2017 marked a new beginning: city mayoral candidate Valérie Plante, who was open to the idea of protecting l’Anse-à-l’Orme, was elected. Just two years later, she announced her government’s intention to include the 365-hectare land (as well as 2,635 additional hectares of wilderness, parks and trails on Montreal’s West Island) as part of an urban park – the largest one in Canada.
As of yet, the project is in progress. But with strong support from the community, as well as Valérie Plante’s re-election, I think it’s safe to say that the Grand parc de l’Ouest is on its way.
I know the prospect of a single fight spanning decades can be daunting, but there’s no denying that it’s worth it in the end. Many grassroots are well repaid their efforts today, and celebrate victories as rewarding as this one.
In fact, here’s another success story about volunteers who, for 15+ years, persevered through thick and thin to save the La Blanche Forest. Today, thanks to their tenacity, it is the largest ecological reserve in southern Quebec.
3. Fight the Language Fight
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a word is surely worth ten thousand perceptions. Words carry immense power, but in a way that’s much more subtle than images. This is why we have to be mindful of how we discuss nature.
Terms like “vacant,” “unused,” and the ever striking “nothing” populate our descriptions of wild spaces. Robert Macfarlane, a British author fascinated with the ways languages depict nature, remarks on the danger of such speech habits in his book Landmarks.
As Fiona Macdonald of BBC puts it:
Early in the book, Macfarlane describes flying over the Scottish Outer Hebrides in a twin-prop plane. […] Across the aisle from him, two people looked out of the window. Macfarlane recounts: “One of them laughed. ‘We’re flying over nothing!’ she said.” Macfarlane then cautions us: “If we just see a landscape as some kind of waste space, it becomes more vulnerable to dismissal […] or improper use.”
I think most of us can agree with him on this.
But more than that, equating natural environments with “nothing” amounts to saying that they have no value in themselves, only when exploited or transformed.
Examples of words both betraying and reinforcing this worldview abound. Just look at how the owner of Lighthouse Links Development Co., who wanted to buy Owls Head Provincial Park (Nova Scotia) to build golf courses, spoke of the land he coveted: as an “unused” parcel.
As nature activists, we should make an effort to point out and reflect on these problematic connotations. We might be shocked when we read such descriptors, but there’s very little public discussion about them.
And… we should probably be examining our own use of language, as well. The thing is, such words and expressions are so common, even people who value nature use them, although they might frame them in a positive way.
I recently read a post from someone who gloried in the “nothingness” of their region, i.e., the serenity of its tree-filled landscapes and uncrowded beaches. The author was actually responding to tourism agencies’ lack of interest in that area, which they typically depict as a there’s-nothing-there kind of place.
To be honest, this is a pretty ingenious way to try to subvert the local industry’s message. But it’s reasonable to wonder if it still feeds into the notion that nature can be equated with emptiness or chaos. This idea allows decision-makers to see natural environments as nothing but blank slates, and to exclude them from speeches, plans, and maps.
So, take time to consider what your words communicate about nature and its inherent value. Resist this bizarre habit of erasing or lessening nature through language. And, if you feel up to it, kindly question the people who do.
4. Get Into (and Express Support for) Other Nature Advocates’ Work
When discouragement rears its ugly head, reading or listening to others give voice to their cause is a sure-fire way to recharge.
It’s easy to assume that spokespersons and other highly involved activists are unwaveringly strong, but depending on the challenges facing them, their strength might be hanging by a thread.
An expression of support can make a big difference in their day, as well as in yours. And I don’t mean support for their cause itself, but appreciation for who they are and what they bring to the table. I mean taking an interest in those who’ve been on your radar, but whose work you’ve never gotten around to engaging with.
Just letting them know why you think their contribution is invaluable might make a bigger impact than you realize. Not only does it feel good to connect with like-minded people through heartfelt compliments, but the whole process is also likely to help you understand what others are doing right. What’s more, it might inspire you to see things in new creative ways.
This happened to me recently. I came across a newsletter from the Sierra Club Atlantic Canada Chapter: Can we allow ourselves to be changed by what we know by Communications Coordinator Tynette Deveaux. It addressed the question of whether our sole knowledge of climate change is enough for us to act on it.
Writing my answer, I was able to put words to something I had come to feel in the past few months. That is, the idea that seeking knowledge is an act of courage. And putting words to that, in turn, reinforced the feeling.
We all know that knowledge is power. That being said, when fighting to protect a natural space, two things are sure to make reading, and keeping up to date with the case, a challenge: anger (including our own) and misinformation.
But by practicing a shift in perspective, we can move past from feeling daunted to feeling empowered. Courage is a muscle, and exercising it by reading near-maddening statements, or going through troubling articles, spurs me on to fight better.
So, to me, it’s not just about what I know, but also the process of gaining that knowledge. Looking at it this way makes me stronger, and I owe this in part to reading a newsletter by an engaging and talented writer.
The world is filled with inspiring people, many of whom don’t realize the full impact they make.
So… go ahead and tell them.
On a Hopeful Note
Advocating for nature is hard, messy, and often frustrating.
But we’re doing it anyway. In fact, more and more people are standing up for nature for the first time.
The protection of our last remaining natural spaces rests, in no small part, on “ordinary citizens.” It’s a heck of a responsibility, for sure, but everyday efforts and actions can yield impressive change.
And when someone learns how to cultivate their inner power in a healthy way, they become unstoppable.
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