Clayoquot Sound is an area rich in biodiversity along the West Coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. I have known of Clayoquot Sound since 2008, when I backpacked through Ahousaht with a group of students in my Outdoor Education class. Since that time, I had not given the existence of the trails that I had walked a second thought- a UNESCO biosphere reserve would not be at risk for development and environmental degradation, right?
A few years later, I went to the Calgary Zoo to hear an environmental group talk about proposals for recent development that posed serious risks to Clayoquot Sound. I was caught horribly off guard as a new reality threatened my memories of a place that I had come to cherish. The area has since undergone development, and more recently, has become threatened by proposals for mining, fish farms, and logging.
Normally quiet and reserved in my opinions, I was soon ranting in desperation to anyone within a 1-foot radius about my concerns with Clayoquot Sound. Perhaps unsurprisingly, people didn’t know about the issue. Much more frustratingly, most of them didn’t really care. In confusion, I thought about this: why did it seem as though no one felt a sense of responsibility to this issue?
Ignorance, devoid of caring, breed’s a sense of departure from reality and issues that trigger emotional connections related to our values and beliefs. Thus, ignorance leads to a lack of responsibility. This is not to say that people who don’t become involved in environmental issues are bad people. It is not expected that everyone must be feel a responsibility to all of the same issues. Rather, it means that citizens of our modern society may be missing a connection with the environment. I think that we would all benefit from taking some time to appreciate the outdoors and allow it to instill in us the feeling that we are all invested in its existence.
Photo taken from: http://www.canadianprincess.com/adventures/explore-the-pacific-rim/