The Power of a Small Green Place is an ethnographic case study among the volunteers and urban wilds of Ottawa’s Fletcher Wildlife Garden (FWG). Through the conceptual lens of the geographical concept of place – with its wide range of physical, relational and deeper meaningful considerations – this urban wildlife habitat project emerged as a place of profound significance. Volunteers working to create and maintain the FWG’s diverse habitats benefit from opportunities to engage in physical outdoor activity, establish social connections, make contact with the natural world, find deep personal satisfaction and meaning, and experience healthier and mutually beneficial relations with nature. This case study fills a knowledge gap in geography regarding the significant relationships that can emerge between people and the land they work with, thereby contributing to geography’s “latest turn earthward” examining practices and relationships of cultivation with the land. The case study also contributes to a growing interdisciplinary dialogue on human-nature relations and their implications in the context of future environmental and societal uncertainties.

Over the last 25 years geographers, amongst other social scientists, have become increasingly interested in the lived experience of childhood (Cloke and Jones, 2005). One area of interest has been children’s environmental access, with a focus on independent access, mobility and play (Thomson and Philo, 2004). The dominant narrative of this work has been focused on the decreasing quantity and quality of children’s natural environment experiences (Valentine and McKendrick, 1997), positioned primarily as a result of changing approaches to risk perception and management, in both families and schools (Malone, 2007). This thesis explores children’s own perspectives, specifically looking at the lived experiences of learning disabled children, a group largely absent from geographical research (bar Goodfellow, 2012; and Holt, 2010). A mixed qualitative methods approach is used, borrowing from participatory geography techniques and using a range of media including video diaries. The thesis finds that learning disabled young people experience stigma in their interactions with outdoor spaces that are characterised by being highly structured and supervised. As a result learning disabled young people struggle to develop skills and interests in accessing outdoor spaces, and do not utilise outdoor green spaces as sites of peaceful solitude or landscapes of socialising. This research contributes to children’s geographies through the interpretation of new empirical data and the development of methodological approaches for including learning disabled young people in research.

This thesis represents live and on-going research into the recent literary movement that has been termed ‘the new nature writing’. A focus within this movement has arisen which employs particular alertness to aural soundscapes in wild nature. This focus, which for the purposes of the thesis I am limiting to the British Isles, appears to be an increasing attempt to harness the human ear and employ it as a tool for ‘seismic’ effect. The method used, which I have termed ecoseismology, works at the intersection of the sensory and the literary; by using deep listening to external soundscapes it aims to achieve an integrative, internal effect through rendering of experience. Ecoseismology is a response to an intense period of ecological and environmental uncertainty. It is guided by immersive observation, often forensic in its closely-heard detail, where ecological particularities and sonorous dimensions of the natural world are sensed and rendered. Ecoseismology sensitises the listener and the reader in order to achieve shifts in scale where awareness moves from the particular, close-up, ‘heard’ and ‘felt’ experience towards thinking about more ecosensitive ways of living on the planet. To locate the spectrum of experience and output encompassed by ecoseismology the thesis exposes its three stages. By applying these stages to nature writings of the last ten years, texts that use or fit the ecoseismic method are identified. At the heart of these stages is the ecoseismic moment: a re-imagining of crisis provoking thought about the wider ecosystem which is intended to be a catalyst for change. The two ‘classic’ otter books which inspired the creative part of the submission, Otter Country, In Search of the Wild Otter, (shortened to Otter Country from here), are measured against ecoseismology. Then Otter Country’s own ecoseismic structure, which entails a quest for increased understanding of an elusive wild mammal, is measured. Alongside the sensory aspects of close encounter in this new otter narrative, issues of wider ecology are triggered, but didactic solutions are not directly sought. Thoughts provoked by this last aspect of Otter Country provide directions for further research: is it more effective to make readers feel, or to urge them to act? How is this movement within the new nature writing spreading to other genres and media, and what forms will it take, what effects will it have?

Being in nature has been associated with many positive outcomes, including well-being and, more recently, with sophisticated outcomes such as goal orientation. We proposed that the dialectic between the organismic valuing process (OVP) and sociocognitive valuing process (SVP) accounts for why immersion in natural environments may lead to a preference for pursuing intrinsic goals (e.g., affiliation, personal growth) over extrinsic goals (e.g., popularity, financial success). We randomly assigned participants (N = 75) to go on a series of up to five walks in four different kinds of environments, representing a continuum of natural environments. We hypothesized that participants who were immersed in more natural environments would report a higher relative intrinsic goal orientation than participants in less natural environments, and that this effect would be mediated by both activation of the OVP and non-activation of the SVP. We found no significant main effect of nature immersion on relative intrinsic goal valuing (b = 0.10, p = 0.34), but we did find a significant positive effect of nature immersion on activation of the OVP (b = 0.37, p < 0.01) and a significant negative effect of wild nature immersion on activation of SVP (b = -0.28, p < 0.01). However, post-hoc tests revealed that participants in the most natural environment (i.e., the Forest condition) were the most likely to experience effects of both OVP activation and SVP non-activation. Interpretations of these results are discussed, and limitations of the study are addressed. / Graduate / 2020-11-18

The Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve occupies the southern end of the Cape Peninsula and thus of the Southern Peninsula Subregion referred to in the general study (photographs 2 and 29). The Reserve has an area of nearly 29 1/2 square miles; its coastline is some 24 miles in length. It is used both as a Nature Reserve and as a recreation area, the latter function being concentrated, in the main, within restricted coastal sites; apart from these, Cape Point is a considerable tourist attraction as is the drive through the Reserve. Existing access routes and travelling times to the Reserve are shown on Map No. 5.1, together with current proposals.

Includes bibliographies. / West Coast Renosterveld, once prevalent on the south-western Cape lowlands of the floristically rich Cape Floral Kingdom, is now South Africa's scarcest vegetation type. Delimitation and measurement of the 55 "island-remnants", scattered amongst agricultural lands indicated that only 3% of the original vegetation remains. Measured soil quality, gradient and rainfall (critical agricultural criteria) were used to derive agricultural 'threat' indices (probability of agricultural clearance) for each remnant. The indices agreed well with observed trends in the recent clearance of remnants not deliberately conserved by landowners. This new approach has potential for determining which remaining natural sites most urgently need preservation. It was demonstrated that agro-technical innovation poses a long-term threat to even the low agricultural 'threat' rated renosterveld. Pasturage, invariably practised in renosterveld, was assessed by comparing "grazed" with "ungrazed" plant species covers. Within the test site, heavy grazing increased Asteraceae and Iridaceae, decreased Poaceae and Rutaceae, and eradicated Proteaceae. These changes may reflect local trends associated with modern grazing regimes. Total plant diversity and cover were not found to be affected. Therefore, controlled pasturage reflects a relatively minor threat to the extinction of floristic elements. Private landowners are found to control the destiny of 80% of West Coast Renosterveld. The conservation attitudes and behaviour of a random sample of these critical decision-makers were analysed. A new approach was devised to assess 32 subjective, bias-prone "intangible" variables. This required additional assessors to provide independent, non-parametric ratings of the author's tape-recorded interviews with the landowners. Results were pooled and "inter-assessor" measurement error was estimated. Altogether 52 variables, including a further 20 "tangible" variables, were rated under categories: 'Demographic', 'Psycho-Social, 'Land Use' and 'Conservation Strategy'. A correlation matrix portrays inter-relationships between variables and their correlations with landowner "Conservation Behaviour". Landowners' knowledge of biota, rapport with interviewer, education, affluence, bilingualism, and parents' education all correlated positively with conservation. Linear equation models were derived (using Best Subsets Statistical Programme) to predict 'Conservation Behaviour'. Although most conservation related variables are "fixed" (e.g. it is not possible to change parents' education), the understanding of these background factors (not previously applied to conservation of natural ecosystems) enables choice of the most appropriate strategy to persuade landowners to conserve. Different groupings of landowners having similar ratings of key variables have similar needs and constraints to be considered vis a vis improving their "Conservation Behaviour".

Magister Artium - MA / One can think of an aesthetic as one’s artistic mode and purpose. The aesthetic is differently foregrounded in each of Ghosh’s three selected novels: in the first novel studied, aesthetic concerns are linked with beauty. Female beauty in particular, is the primary aesthetic focus in The Glass Palace since it is beauty that inspires love and appreciation. In the second novel, The Hungry Tide, the aesthetic explores techniques of writing that encompass environmental questions. This novel shows nature as its primary aesthetic since it is through the encounter with nature that its aesthetic is realised and an appreciation for all life forms are established.

In light of the social construction of nature, "new" ecology, and the fact that neither nature nor science (as the systematic study of it) can tell us what the Earth should look like, it becomes evident that numerous (if not infinite) past, present and future natures exist from which society must select the nature or natures that become the goals of local environmental management. The challenge is to find themes or patterns that might help organize and discuss these many natures. It is not enough to say or to demonstrate that many natures exist. Society needs conceptual tools that help focus the discussion of "Which Nature?" on those that are possible and socially acceptable. This paper is an effort to identify and articulate some of these themes to see if they have power in helping structure public understandings of natural landscapes. Specifically, we are looking for natures that are evident in a larger national dialogue, reflect issues that are significant to the region where the nature being managed exists, and themes that have historic and place-specific qualities that can be found in local discourse about the place. Four different but closely related points of view fit this need: romanticism, ecotourism, pastoralism, and ecologism. These four "views of nature" are distinct and coherent "ways of seeing" evident in national, regional, and local discussions about nature and natural landscapes. Each promotes a unique range of "natural" conditions that will be more-or-less possible and acceptable in any particular place. In the following sections, I will first provide a general overview of the "natural" landscape of Whitetop Mountain and then describe how it is can be seen from each of the four alternative "views of nature." / Master of Landscape Architecture

No description available.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Science, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Science. 14 April 2016. / South Africa has seen a significant loss and degradation of its urban wetlands, all in the name of development. The natural and strategic location of Wetlands, subject these natural systems to a host of extraction processes, leading to the ultimate destruction and demise of these Wetlands. The biggest threats to wetlands are people and their innate exploitative and destructive nature. Anthropogenic activities that lead to degradation and total loss of wetlands in South Africa are: drainage, mining activities, clearing of large tracts of land for infrastructural and agricultural practices and over- harvesting of wetland resources. The drastic alteration of a wetland system has severe and far reaching environmental, economic and social consequences. The value of a single wetland system is so unique and is yet, not stressed enough in legislation governing the protection and conservation of natural ecosystems. A typical example of an undervalued wetland is the case of the Kwa-Thema Ext 3 Wetland, which has been subjected to partial degradation as a result anthropogenic activities. The study concluded that activities such as over-grazing, extraction of natural vegetation, clearing large tracts of land for housing development and extensive farming practices (to name a few) have all contributed to the degradation and devaluing of the Kwa-Thema Ext 3 wetland. Interesting aspects of this study revealed that, whilst some individuals were aware of their prolonged and unsustainable use of the wetland’s resources, little room for choice was left but to utilize the wetland, on account of poverty- stricken living conditions. It seems that perhaps, through understanding why people are using the wetland in such extreme ways, methods of wetland rehabilitation and improvement in the socio-economic dynamic of the community can be attained in the near future. As a result of this study, a number of recommendations are made: (i) Integrate wetland value educational programmes into the lives of all South Africans; (ii) Consolidate and realign policy and legislation that specifically focus on wetland protection and conservation; (iii) Improve communication between governmental and respective local authorities; and (iv) Strengthen the national wetland inventory. / GR 2016