Unit 10 Blog - Ethics in Nature and Sustainable Harvesting
My biggest ethic, as both an interpreter and an individual, is to put conservation first. Since the most impactful way to go about wildlife conservation is to preserve wildlife habitat (Wildlife Habitat Canada, 2018), I try to support this whenever I can. I take pride in being a member of both Trout Unlimited Canada and Ducks Unlimited Canada, where my contributions help improve the quality of local waterways, and Canada wide wetland habitat. As someone who enjoys the outdoors and wants to see it intact for future generations, I feel it is my responsibility to pitch into conservation efforts.
Another personal belief I share is that one of the best ways to ensure the future of our natural resources is to get the next generation of kids involved in outdoor activities. I think Rodenburg (2019) did a good job explaining this by saying that the true hope resides in creating “nature-rich communities where kids feel a deep and abiding love for the living systems that we all are immersed in.” One great program that I was lucky enough to take part in is the Ducks Unlimited Canada Wetlands Centre of Excellence program. Here, we would take grade 4 students from surrounding schools and give them a tour of Luther Marsh, while teaching them all about the importance of wetlands.
“Critter Dipping” at the pond to show students what kinds of macroinvertebrates are present in wetland ecosystems. Photo from Ducks Unlimited Canada (2022).
Chapter three of Beck et al. (2019) discusses an assortment of benefits and values that nature provides. Of these, education, recreation, inspiration, individual growth and even health values are given to both individuals and society. However, what this chapter doesn’t mention are some of the more tangible benefits that nature provides in the form of natural resources. As someone who grew up in a more rural area, my experiences with agriculture, forestry, hunting, and fishing have all led me to appreciate nature’s ability to provide food and resources, and to develop a strong ethicacy for sustainable harvesting.
From an agricultural perspective, I always grew up around farming, but not actually on a farm. I have however worked in agronomy as a Crop Scout for FS, where I took soil samples and assessed crop growth and health. This gave me a solid foundation in agriculture practices, which I can use to better understand what sustainable agriculture looks like. As someone that does most of my hunting on farm properties, I understand the importance of having a healthy environment around the fields, and prioritising more than just yield. The thing I’m most passionate about in agriculture is applying fertiliser responsibly. If you apply the right amount at the right time, you can maximise yields without any nutrient loss to the environment. Following the “4R’s” of nutrient stewardship (right rate, right source, right time, right place) can allow you not only to save money on fertiliser by not wasting it, but can minimise the environmental effects of agriculture, and help farmers harvest their crops sustainably.
The “4R’s” of nutrient stewardship. Image from 4R Nutrient Stewardship (2017).
I can also look at the theme of harvesting sustainably from a forestry point of view. Forests obviously hold a special place in my heart as someone that tries to spend as much time in nature as I can, but also as someone that wants to live in a house, I realise the need for harvesting wood. This is not a new problem for interpreters, and controversial issues like whether or not to harvest certain forests have been going on for years. In chapter 16 of the textbook, Beck et al. (2019) suggest not challenging your clients viewpoints on such topics so as to not alienate anyone you’re interpreting for. My personal take on this is that there is a happy medium to be found, where harvest can occur, but on a sustainable level. This can be done by emulating natural disturbances (Spence and Volney, 1999). For example, in a Northern Ontario Jack Pine stand, wildfires are fairly regular occurrences, so clearcutting followed by replanting does a good job mimicking that effect while providing us with lumber. In a Southern Ontario hardwood stand however, a more appropriate method of harvest would be a selective cut, targeting a few of the declining or diseased hardwoods. In some cases, clear cutting patches in uniformly aged timber stands might even increase biodiversity through habitat heterogeneity and edge effects (Hamm and Drossel, 2017). By creating niche potential for species that benefit from both young and old growth stands, species evenness and diversity would be expected to increase. If anyone is interested in learning more about what factors might make a tree get cut or retained, I would recommend checking out the Ontario Tree Marking Guide at this link: https://dr6j45jk9xcmk.cloudfront.net/documents/2807/guide-treemarking.pdf.
On a more personal level, I think the role I play as a nature interpreter would be an ‘ambassador’ for the outdoors. As an ambassador, I believe it is my responsibility to introduce as many people to the outdoors as possible, and to bridge the gap between environmental education and scientific education as expressed by Wals et al. (2014). If the next generation of kids grows up loving the outdoors as much as I do and I imagine all of you do too, they will be more likely to go down a similar environmental science related path, and continue bridging the gap. In order to introduce new people to the outdoors, I think it’s great to take people out hiking, hunting, or fishing when they normally wouldn’t.
One example of this that I think is an odd but interesting concept is Delta Waterfowl’s University Hunt program. Here, students at participating universities can enrol in a wildlife management based course that covers topics on conservation and sustainable harvesting. Students of scientific backgrounds with little to no hunting experience are encouraged to enrol, so that the future of scientists and policy makers have a good idea of actual in the field practices and animal behaviour (Delta Waterfowl, 2020).
Students going on their first hunt, as part of Delta Waterfowl’s University Hunt program (Delta Waterfowl, 2020).
Anyways, I know I went over a lot of topics in this post and would love to hear your guys feedback so I can further talk about some of these points! What do you guys think is the best way to promote conservation? Is it getting the youth involved or something else? Are you guys for or against cash crop agriculture? Do you guys think encouraging university students to go on their first hunt is as good of an idea as Delta Waterfowl does? Any responses and viewpoints are welcome as I am passionate about this topic and am sure you all are too!
~Nathan
References:
Beck, L., Cable, T. T., and Knudson, D. M. (2019). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage. Van Haren Publishing.
Delta Waterfowl. (2020). Delta Waterfowl University Hunting Program. https://deltawaterfowl.org/deltas-university-hunting-program/
Ducks Unlimited Canada. (2022). Luther Marsh WCE. https://wce-education.ducks.ca/index.php/en/wce-3/item/45-wellington-heights
4R Nutrient Stewardship. (2017). What are the 4Rs? https://nutrientstewardship.org/4rs/
Government of Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. (2004). Ontario Tree Marking Guide. Queen’s Printer for Ontario Printed in Ontario, Canada. https://dr6j45jk9xcmk.cloudfront.net/documents/2807/guide-treemarking.pdf
Hamm, M., and Drossel, B. (2017). Habitat heterogeneity hypothesis and edge effects in model metacommunities. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 426:40-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.05.022
Rodenburg, J. (2019) Why Environmental Educators Shouldn’t Give up Hope. Clearing Magazine.org, https://clearingmagazine.org/archives/14300
Spence, J.R., and Volney, W.J.A. (1999). EMEND - Ecosystem Management Emulating Natural Disturbance. Sustainable Forest Management Network, G208 Biological Sciences Building, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. ISBN 1-55261-028-4
Wals, A.E.J., Brody, M., Dillon, J., Stevenson, R.B. (2014). Convergence Between Science and Environmental Education. Science, 344(6184):583-584. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1250515
Wildlife Habitat Canada. (2018). What we do. https://whc.org/what-we-do/
Hi Nathan!
I first just want to say how much I enjoyed your final post. Not only was it very well thought out and introspective, but it was still super educational (which seems like that is something you are really passionate about)! What resonated with me the most was your mention of sustainability in agriculture, forestry, and hunting. I feel like when people are just starting out on their “eco/sustainability” journey they are often filled with so much passion but not as much education. This leads a lot of people to immediately demonize “controversial” topics, especially hunting. I speak from experience, as this used to be me too! Before I had the chance to get a good grasp on ecology, I was so against hunting. The whole concept just gave me the creeps. But I quickly learned how hunting, along with agriculture and tree harvesting can be done in ways that actually help the environment (alongside all the deep rooted history and indigenous traditions surrounding such activities).
I share this past experience because I feel like it's a great example of what the majority of our audience as interpreters would be. As STEM students, we are currently existing in quite a sheltered bubble when it comes to the people that surround us. We expect others to already be educated on such subjects, and therefore don't need to worry about “challenging” people’s viewpoints like Beck et al. mentioned. Not everyone has first hand experience or knowledge about more “rural” subjects like farming and hunting, and so they take news headlines or passing comments as face value which can end up with them forgoing any of their benefits. With that said, I think it's extremely important for everyone to get the chance to experience these things, whether it be young school children, STEM students that have never stepped foot out of the lab, or elderly people that were never exposed to sustainable methods for these activities. This is why I think that the Delta Waterfowl program is absolutely amazing, because as you said, these people can be future scientists and policy makers; and the most important skill to have in these positions is diversity in your mindset and experiences!
Thanks again for your wonderful post! I am also very passionate about sustainability, because at the end of the day, we can't realistically end all human practices such as agricultural and logging, we just simply have to find a way to co-exist with nature!




















