Coffee & cake with Andrew Whitehouse: nature and nation

Informal discussion on the relationships between nature and nation and the issues they pose for conservation

Speaker: Andrew Whitehouse

Venue: 23 St Machar Drive

Conservation issues are often framed in relation to nations whilst nature, in one form or another, is often important to a nation’s identity.  In this discussion we explore these relationships between nature and nation and consider the issues they pose for conservation.

Conservationists often evaluate the significance of species, sites and habitats in relation to the nation (e.g. in terms of ‘national’ or ‘international’ importance).  They also become anxious about non-native species that are introduced, and sometimes about ‘invading’ species.  People more generally feel connections with nature as symbols of the nation, particularly in settler nations such as Australia, New Zealand, the USA etc.  In such places, nature makes the nation different to the homeland more easily than culture.  Here are some questions that arise from these sorts of connections between nature and nation:

1. Is the connection between nature and nation more prominent in certain places e.g. settler nations, island nations such as the UK? 
2. Is the making of connections between nature and nation essential to galvanising a concern for nature and for conservation within a country?
3. What makes a species ‘non-native’?  Are introduced species more of a problem than ‘invading’ species?
4. How would conservation in Scotland be different when thought about in relation to a) Scotland, b) the UK, c) temperate Europe?  Which species, sites and habitats would be most significant in relation to each?  Which issues would assume greater prominence?  Which would become less significant?  Which ‘scale’ is most appropriate?

Dr Andrew Whitehouse is a teaching fellow at the Dept of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen.

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