YuShan
Well-known member
OK, not relevant for me right now because Covid-19 keeps me very local at the moment, but generally speaking....
I often feel guilty when I travel a long distance, and especially when I need to use an (international) flight for a birding/ nature trip. I travel to admire birds and nature in general, but by travelling to do this I'm contributing to the destruction the very thing that I love so much! I'm really struggling with this at times. It's paradoxical and hypocrite.
While I'm doing my best to keep my destructive footprint as low as possible (minimise eating meat, minimise waste, use public transport and walk where possible, living small, rejecting consumerism, etc), all this is more than offset by any international flight I take, which serves no other goal than my own pleasure, which is, paradoxically, enjoying nature at exotic locations.
It is easy to be angry about, for example, deforestation. But many people involved, for example small sustenance farmers, often don't have much of a choice at the moment to feed their family. Me on the other hand, I am with my birding hobby putting a massive burden on the environment just for my self indulgence. To experience beautiful nature myself, while I could also settle for just watching David Attenborough's documentaries at home and just be happy with the birds in my local city park that I can reach by walking for 5 minutes.
Are more birders here struggling with this paradox?
I often feel guilty when I travel a long distance, and especially when I need to use an (international) flight for a birding/ nature trip. I travel to admire birds and nature in general, but by travelling to do this I'm contributing to the destruction the very thing that I love so much! I'm really struggling with this at times. It's paradoxical and hypocrite.
While I'm doing my best to keep my destructive footprint as low as possible (minimise eating meat, minimise waste, use public transport and walk where possible, living small, rejecting consumerism, etc), all this is more than offset by any international flight I take, which serves no other goal than my own pleasure, which is, paradoxically, enjoying nature at exotic locations.
It is easy to be angry about, for example, deforestation. But many people involved, for example small sustenance farmers, often don't have much of a choice at the moment to feed their family. Me on the other hand, I am with my birding hobby putting a massive burden on the environment just for my self indulgence. To experience beautiful nature myself, while I could also settle for just watching David Attenborough's documentaries at home and just be happy with the birds in my local city park that I can reach by walking for 5 minutes.
Are more birders here struggling with this paradox?