# Urban Conservation

- Link: https://greenlivingguy.com/2013/09/urban-conservation/
- Published: 2013-09-22T22:33:35-04:00
- Author: greenguruguides

By: Peter Kareiva

25 percent of the U.S. population lived in cities, and 75 percent lived in the country
or in small towns. Now it is about the reverse—80 percent urban, 20 percent rural.
Those statistics should not surprise most people; it’s old news that the world is
racing toward urbanization. But it’s worth paying attention to the profound social
and ecological implications of that shift.

Think, for instance, about our relationship to nature. What connection can urbanites
feel to nature when the only walks they take are on sidewalks?

With the exception of fund raising, most conservationists have ignored cities, and
in this regard The Nature Conservancy is typical. It is in our DNA to avoid urban
areas; we are staffed with people who love wild and remote places, people who escape
cities to hike and [camp](https://greenlivingguy.com/2021/04/eating-better-food-for-a-healthier-planet/)
out. We rely on scientific assessments of habitat to decide where to work and then
find that urban sites are too degraded to rise to the top of our priority lists.
Our aversion to cities also has deep historical roots: Conservation icons such as
John Muir had disdain for the dirty places that cities represented to him. How many
nature essays have you read heralding the wonder to be found in a city block?

I say that now is the time for conservationists to evolve and re-examine our neglect
of urban areas. Here’s why: Conservation is [facing a crisis](https://greenlivingguy.com/2025/09/ganga-river-faces-crisis-and-dry-spells/)
of irrelevance—it is an enterprise that is not urgent to most people. If conservation
is to build the support it needs, it must energize young urban dwellers, who now
make up most of the world. The best way to get city people to care about conservation
is to do conservation where they live so that nature is seen as relevant and connected
to modern life.
 **Source: [The Nature Conservancy Magazine](https://web.archive.org/web/20180529142329/https://www.nature.org/magazine/archives/index.htm)**

[⌊urban conversation⌉⌊urban conversation⌉[

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 greenguruguides

 The Green Living Guy, Seth Leitman, is recognized as a green living guru and electric
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