Saving Our Planet Requires Animals to Move Freely

"Globally, human animals have trespassed into the homes of countless nonhuman animals (animals), and our planet-land, water, and air-has become severely fractured by these reckless intrusions. As a result of our interference, many animals have lost the ability to roam and behave naturally. What if they could move here and there as they are meant to do? In her new, well-written and beautifully illustrated book Roam: Wild Animals and the Race to Repair Our Fractured World, environmental journalist Hillary Rosner asks, "What if saving our home planet starts with giving other species space to roam? How can we reshape our human-built landscapes to serve both people and wildlife?" This is an important and most urgent question, and here's what she had to say about this."

"Hillary Rosner: I had been thinking about wildlife corridors ever since a coyote turned up in Central Park 25 years ago. I was living in New York City at the time-I grew up there-and found it fascinating to envision what route this animal took to land in the center of a concrete-covered island. Much more recently, over the past decade or so, I found that the stories I was most drawn to as a science journalist were those that in some way involved animals whose movement we had affected by chopping and remaking the planet for our own purposes."

Human-centered land use has fragmented terrestrial, freshwater, and aerial habitats, restricting animal movement and natural behaviors. Restoring connectivity through wildlife corridors, protected pathways, and reshaped human landscapes can allow species to move and fulfill ecological roles. Reconnection supports biodiversity, gene flow, and resilience to climate change while benefiting human communities through healthier ecosystems. Conservation that emphasizes coexistence requires policy changes, urban and rural planning, and community engagement. Curiosity, hope, and empathy toward other species can motivate transformative approaches and practical efforts such as corridor projects and landscape-scale planning to repair fractured ecosystems.

Read at Psychology Today