Feeding the Imagination

Those who say they want to engage children with nature should think more deeply. Instead of trying to persuade youngsters that there's something wonderful about their lacklustre management they should ask themselves what really captures a child's imagination.

Some of the management I see is so awful and so boring that no amount of enthusiastic missionary work will inspire. And some of the activities planned for kids leave a lot to be desired. How many times do we see the same predictable den building against a tree for example? More often than not half-finished. And despite what we see in the promotional literature I suspect activities are seriously constrained by Health and Safety fears. But there's a more serious worry - that those who want to indoctrinate are specially keen to get the young. Most dictatorships have their youth wing. And no advertising campaigns are more intensely worked at than those that target children.

Young minds should never be the subject of targeting by those who wish to promote their own interests. Instead we should ensure that children get close to the best that nature can give us and  do all we can so that there's nothing standing in the way - and that's usually adult ideas. Those of us who spent much of our childhood outdoors remember that the best of the outdoor world was where no visible adult influence and agenda prevailed.

There's a lot of enchantment in land where human intervention is absent. You just need to know where and when to look.

This morning a huge dragon was hovering overhead half an hour before dawn, grey and threatening. A few minutes later its shape had changed and it was illuminated from below.

Meanwhile in the gloom two shadows slipped across out of the trees, startled as if the vision overhead was an imminent threat.

Then the sun itself appeared and the dragon had gone.

Further on  the new daylight revealed wild creatures in an astonishing festival of colouring.

Mystery and beauty are the keys to a lifetime fascination with the natural world. But do the conservation charities have altruistic reasons for wanting children to get to love nature and landscape or is something else behind their recently expessed concerns? Let's hope it's not just related to their own need for support but sadly I've come to believe that they do not see such a thing as a natural landscape that does not have a role for them.