Why Nature Bloggers Matter More Than Ever Today + Becoming Part of a Radiant Wildlife Blogger Crowd

When you deeply love, and, constantly write, read, talk, watch & breathe nature (well, this breathe nature, we all do, it’s just that not all remember,) it’s easy to take for granted that every single human being on this planet would be interested in connecting with nature. 

Recently when a friend suggested to me to enlist my blog on some popular blog directories for a better reach to the right audience, out of curiosity, I looked up and found some decent ones to check out how they worked. 

One important item on their forms, is, of course, choosing a blog category from a drop-down list – Fashion, Health, Finance, Beauty, Movies, News, Sports, Religion, Politics etc. However, in four out of the five directories I had found, I couldn’t find a category where “Nature” could even fit. A distant best match was Travel, but that’s not precise. And there I was, expecting to see on all such directories, Nature with a capital N, well, quite obviously, as a standalone category! 

I must have scrolled each of those menus up and down at least twice or thrice due to my utter disbelief at the bizarre reality I was looking at – that NATURE, was not a popular category for blogging, or reading for that matter! I was shocked to realize that we, the people sharing this rare planet, who ourselves are part of Nature, don’t think of nature as a part of our popular conversations and culture as a whole, even today. Not at least the “general population”. 

In the context of one’s interest in the natural world, the definition of this “general population” is highly subjective though. I have heard an uneducated housemaid talk in the most discerning words about the backyard birds and a highly qualified executive being totally indifferent, even insensitive towards the same.

Baffled by people’s unresponsiveness towards the flora and fauna around them, I often go back to these words – that at once explain and warn against this prevalent lack of the sense of wonder for nature – written by Canadian musician, songwriter, and poet, Leonard Cohen (September 21, 1934-November 7, 2016):

 

It is fabled that we slowly lose the gift of speech with animals, that birds no longer visit our windowsills to converse.

As our eyes grow accustomed to sight, they armor themselves against wonder.

Unfortunately, in about five hundred generations that we have spent after learning to farm and gradually leaving the wilderness to build villages and then cities, very quickly, we have become almost completely detached from the natural world that once we were so close to, as hunter-gatherers.

So detached, that talking about the so-called non-pragmatic, romantic aspects of one’s experience in nature, such as awe and joy, is considered not fun, unfashionable, and out of step with the times of memes and ultra-short videos crafted for an instant gratification, catering to an 8 seconds attention span of today.

And yet, there is a profound reason why sometimes from the most materialistic-minded people we hear, that a certain trip to nature had moved them. Even if an emotional connection to nature may feel like a faded memory within our hyperactive and cluttered collective consciousness, the kinship we developed with the natural world during the long span of just under 2 million years, before we became “civilized”, still prevails deep down in our DNAs and therefore, at the deepest cognitive level, nature remains our home.

However, with the kind of loss of biodiversity we are facing every day, with  68% of the wildlife population declined in just last 50 years, and 40% of the plant species at risk of extinction, we urgently need to be reminded of that forgotten home. That we have left it behind, lost it, or, destroyed most of it with our own hands. That it still awaits our love and attention, and, that there is no other quite like it.

To make a generation buried in their gadgets to sit up and take notice of the world around them is a tough goal. Routes to reach that goal pass through both hearts and brains. For someone, a poem will do that. For others, a mind-blowing scientific fact, and then for some, still, a bottom-line figure on their balance sheet. This is where nature bloggers come into the picture – to bring all these pointers to the awareness of internet dwellers, or, in other words, everyone.

One such blogger shining bright in the field of conservation is Kate Stephenson, a determined and passionate wildlife conservationist and campaigner from the UK.

Kate on Conservation is her wildlife blog where Kate constantly strives to untangle the complicated world of wildlife conservation and give a voice to the voiceless by highlighting important issues, individuals and organizations in the fight to protect our planet’s wildlife.

Her blog offers research, discussion and informed opinion on some of the top global issues effecting animals and wildlife conservation in the world today — as well as spotlighting campaigns and animal cruelty issues that so often fly under the radar of mainstream media outlets.

With more than 15 years of journalism experience, she has worked for National Geographic Kids, Discovery Communications, BBC Blast and interviewed a number of celebrities and conservationists, including the patron saints of conservation like Sir David Attenborough and Jane Goodall.

Her Wildlife Blogger Crowd is a community of hundreds of incredible nature and wildlife storytellers, researchers, naturalists, and conservationists from all around the world. These truly inspiring members range from a reputed veteran in the environmental field with a lifetime of experience to a budding naturalist and activist who is still a teenager!

I thank Kate and am extremely pleased to be featured in this crowd. Perhaps the only type of crowd I have ever preferred to be amidst.

Article ©2022 Gyaneshwari Dave