Exploring Wild Law

While selling off parks to private developers who charge for access, or failing to control anti-social use of the space, may be understandable in the face of severe cuts in government funding it is a short-term solution which illustrates the failure of the law to safeguard access and recognise the importance of connection. While there is recognition of our obligations to the environment, the primary focus is still on what humans can obtain from nature and there is a failure to reflect fully the relational elements of connection with nature. Thus, although this is a step in the right direction, the task remains to find effective ways to foster the connection with nature which will help motivate and inform the initial stages of transition to a Wild Law of property.

The language of the universe is primarily experiential. It speaks to us in the language of hot and cold, beauty and fear, patterns of events, symbols and associations. In light of the importance of connection with nature for the emergence of a Wild Law of property and the apparent lack of experiences in nature which might forge that connection, we need to explore alternative approaches to nurturing connection with nature in children and young people.

Thus the focus of this final part is on how to do this in industrialised societies. Environmental education is central to enabling and empowering young people to engage with environmental injustice. These categories lie on a scale which expresses the extent to which the ideology and pedagogy pursued by different forms of environmental education are likely to engender legal and social reform.

These include combined practical and intellectual knowledge, such as permaculture, principles of ecology and green technologies, alongside strategies for critical evaluation of existing values, institutions and discourses. It is less likely to alter the status quo, in part because the central principle of sustainable development is capable of accommodating the existing emphasis on economic growth, but also because it tends to be taught within traditional disciplinary pockets and be concerned more with personal development of the individual than with wider social or legal change.

From the perspective of connection with nature, environmental education which is classroom-bound, subject-focused and concerned with global environmental problems has obvious limitations. While short-term immersive experiences, such as trips for a day or a week to a nature reserve or activity centre, may enhance knowledge of the environment and create an experience of enjoyment of being outside, its short-term nature is not necessarily the most appropriate for nurturing a deep sense of connectedness.

However, there is no requirement that schools provide experiences of learning in natural environments. Where provided by a school, significant resources are required to support the level of knowledge, confidence and access to appropriate land needed because Forest School is very different from standard educational provision and must be facilitated by a qualified leader.

While fostering a connection with nature is one of the aims of Forest School, little evaluation has so far been undertaken as to its success, although evidence of positive links is emerging. The time in the woods and activities, such as wood-gathering, insect identification and green wood-working, enable learning about the interplay of natural systems, a heightened awareness of ecological issues, and a respectful relationship with nature. Responsibilities to the site are an integral part of the experience and learned through active processes, such as choosing which wood to burn and which to cut, so as not to compromise its ecological integrity.

By participating in Forest School activities, children also develop confidence in their knowledge about nature, in their own abilities and skills to work with others and to complete tasks and—on a small scale—to effect change in the natural environment. To the extent that property is constructed through such performance, then Forest School may contribute, in turn, to the production of a different concept of property. One in which the nature and capacities of land are integral and in which knowing and caring about the land we use is the norm.

Educating children to enjoy relationships of love and respect with land is one way to promote a property law that, in moving beyond a traditional rights-based framework, recognises the centrality of the land itself to decision-making, better accommodates the complexities of the human—land relationship and imposes obligations that ensure appropriate environmental protection. Initiatives such as Forest School provide opportunities for children and young people who may well not otherwise experience time in nature or a relationship with a natural place.

This is not to say that Forest School provides perfect conditions for developing a connection with nature, or for the development of ecological intelligence. It may be, for example, that some Forest School experiences are too limited in time or too activity-focused for strong bonds to develop. It may also be argued that Forest School could better promote ecological intelligence by placing more direct emphasis on the environment, for instance. Nevertheless, although there might be room for improvement, Forest School would seem to make an effective contribution to the forming of special relationships with place which gives rise to a way of relating to the land which is fundamental to the Earth Jurisprudence project and a Wild Law of property.

In this way, it can be seen as an emerging form of primary Wild education nurturing the capable stewards and motivated reformers needed for the success of the Wild Law project. Forest School, whether delivered by school or community group, requires access to natural spaces.

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It may also provide impetus for development of further incentives to encourage private landowners to provide land for the running of Forest Schools or other outdoor experiences. Perhaps offering space for such activities may also give landowners the opportunity to rediscover some of their own connection to nature which may, in turn, influence their future land management decisions. This article is not a call for a return to alleged halcyon days in which children gambolled in meadows in the declining sun, or a denial of the complexity of altering the legal regulation of our relationship with land.

The neoliberal capitalist agenda which informs the evolution of so many institutions and policies makes the transition towards an ecocentric property law a hugely challenging and lengthy task. If we are to proceed then we need to recognise that such transition relies, in part, on the re-establishing of a connection with the natural world and reassessing dominant narratives of our place in nature. And it needs everyone involved. Promoting the significance of connection with nature in land use policy and decision-making would be a start. But fostering the connection with nature, which many children are currently denied the opportunity to develop, is central.

Experiential education initiatives, such as Forest School, play a crucial role in forming the foundations of a Wild education on which reform associated with Wild Law rests. This suggests that supporters of Wild Law should consider collaboration with providers of Forest School type initiatives, to provide practical support or shaping of the content. This may be through obligations on schools to provide—and perhaps share—natural spaces.

It may even be that we require schools to provide some experience of learning in natural environments, preferably along the lines of Forest School, and that teacher training reflects this. It may also be that additional obligations on local authorities to ensure that land is available for recreation and educational activities are appropriate, as well as on private landowners to better accommodate access.

Only by taking action now to provide the conditions for connection with nature will we be able to create effective Wild Laws in the future. The usual disclaimers apply. Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

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Close mobile search navigation Article navigation. Cormac Cullinan, Wild Law: Explored below at Section 4. Luke Martell, Ecology and Society: Law, Property, Environment Routledge Property, Rights and Nature Hart Publishing For detailed discussion, see Burdon, Earth Jurisprudence n 1. As with those commentators sympathetic to the Earth Jurisprudence approach, see Graham n Although the Agricultural Tenancies Act is an example of apparently permissive legislation which, by facilitating short tenancies, makes the treatment of the land as an economic asset by the tenant almost inevitable.

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