INCREASINGLY, URBAN DWELLERS WHO SPEND THEIR TIME CAUGHT up in the frenzy of consumption and entertainment in cities have fewer opportunities to encounter the natural world. Even our parks have become places where it is possible to take all the urban amenities of television, refrigerators, and small vehicles with us while experiencing the wild.
So it’s not surprising that one of the most common questions I’m asked is “Who needs nature?” It is not meant to be argumentative or confrontational but is an innocent query. The idea is that urban life is sufficient. In a human-created environment where we are surrounded by others of our species, our inventions, a few domesticated plants and animals, and a number of pests, it is easy to assume that our intelligence has enabled us to escape the limits of nature. Nothing could be further from the truth or as dangerous a conceit.u