Canada’s most influential thinkers reflect on COVID-19 and how it has changed Canada, Canada, and the world and forever altered the future.
Owen Bjorgan is one of the few people who spends more time outdoors during the COVID-19 epidemic.
“I’m out eight days a week,” Bjorgan, a Niagara-on-the-Lake resident since childhood, stated.
Throughout the pandemic, he’s led many people on adventures through Niagara-on-the-Lake’s green space, as part of his hiking tour company and as an outdoor educator for the District School Board of Niagara.
He said that more people are now getting outside and enjoying the diverse ecosystems within their backyards.
Bjorgan believes that the increased interest in nature offers an opportunity to encourage people to think about the environmental value they enjoy and why it should be protected.
“I think the correlation of getting out and experiencing the local trails and how much they appreciate nature is very strong,” he said.
As life came to a halt in March 2020, Kyra Simone, from Niagara-on-the-Lake, said she started immersing herself in nature more, a “welcome relief” from the pandemic’s stresses.
“It became almost a necessity,” she said.
As a Ph.D. student in ecosystem conservation and restoration at McMaster University, she’s always cared deeply about the issue of climate change.
Being outdoors more during the pandemic put in sharp focus the ways the environment was suffering in her neighbourhood, from plastic pollution to the decline of the town’s tree canopy.
She stated, “I was anxious about the current state of things and how society was so complacent.”
Simone joined the town’s environmental advisory committee in November 2020. She started taking trash bags along on her walks in Niagara Shores Park and picking up garbage on the beaches. She organized cleanups at Chautauqua Park and a group effort to clean up cigarette butts in town, calling it a “Butt Blitz.”
Ann Marie Simone, Ann Marie Simone’s mother, said that she has seen more people do what she does. She often joins her mother on her walks and cleanups. “We see people making sure they’re picking up their garbage.”
Martin Smith, a Niagara College professor in ecosystem restoration, sees a strong link between more time outdoors and education about environmental problems.
He said, “You can give people an area or a point where you can start asking questions.” “But you have to get them looking and seeing in the first place.”
Bjorgan is an outdoor educator who teaches children about the importance of protecting the environment and what they can to do to help it thrive.
He stated, “It is important to instill hope and courage in young children.” Courage propels you when it’s about standing up for the environment.
It’s not clear if outdoor activities will continue to be popular after provincial lockdowns are lifted and the pandemic (in whatever form) ends.
Smith said that he’s already seeing outdoor activity decline and noted that even his students who are outdoorsy have a reluctance for going outside. This is because they’ve been asked to stay at home for the past two years.
“For people to gain confidence and come back out, that’s going to take a bit of time,” he said.
Bjorgan stated that people have a deep appreciation for the natural world, regardless of whether they go on hikes during the pandemic or turn it into a hobby.
He said, “Nature’s always here for all of us,”
“When it’s all over, we will return to ground zero and realize the environment is irreplaceable and important, but it’s finite.”
STORY BEHIND the STORY The Niagara-on-the-Lake Advance reached to environmentalists and outdoor recreation professionals as part of Metroland’s Our Changed World Series to learn about people’s changing relationship with the natural world. Reporter Zahraah Hmood wanted more information about how the popularity of spending time outdoors can increase awareness and encourage action on issues affecting the environment.
