ADVENTURES IN WILD AFRICA • CONSERVATION & MENTAL HEALTH
Unearthing the correlation between Conservation & Mental Health By Nick Holme, Zambesia Conservation Alliance
W
hen I was a young boy growing up in rural Zimbabwe in the 1970’s and 1980’s, the bush, with all its amazing animals and plant life was a source of pure joy and wonderment for me. I was always happiest when I was amongst the blessings that Mother Nature had endowed on us and if ever I felt sad and down, it was the bush that restored me to happiness and gave me the sense of equilibrium that we lack so much in this modern world. Fast forward to 2020, when the world was ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic and countries entered into total lockdown, with people being restricted to their houses for weeks and months on end. We were suddenly denied the simple pleasures of going for a walk and watching the birds flying from tree to tree or the bees and butterflies flitting from flower to flower. We weren’t allowed to visit the green parks in cities or walk in the open countryside. We weren’t allowed to hear the babbling of streams, or the wind sighing through the leaves. We weren’t allowed to run through meadows of lush green grass or experience the majestic beauty of hiking up mountains. We were prisoners in our own homes and gradually became prisoners of our minds. Our mental health suffered and the whole world came to the realisation that mental well-being is inextricably bound to our natural world and the myriad of simple joys that can be experienced in
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