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Better with Birds: Webinar Replay

By Matthew Zylstra @eyes4earth · On May 22, 2024

Why birding benefits us & the planet

I was recently invited on as a Guest Speaker for BirdLife South Africa’s Conservation Conversations. Even though I felt clunky with how I presented – especially in the beginning – I thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with participants at the end. We had a great turnout of 300 participants. The feedback since has been humbling and very encouraging. Seems there is an appetite for these insights.

Here’s the replay:

Better with Birds: Webinar replay

This presentation unwrapped some of the science behind why birding benefits health.  Our gateway into this topic was through the concept of “nature connectedness”, why it is highly relevant in these times, and how watching birds can enhance this. Increasing research is showing that our level of nature connectedness is a reliable predictor for our wellbeing and motivation for conservation. And it seems that bird watching is an effective gateway toward achieving greater connection along with supporting stress reduction, mood, attention restoration and cognitive flexibility.  But here’s the thing: the benefits might actually depend on how you bird… 

AfricaAttentionCWNHuman-Wildlife Interaction
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Matthew Zylstra

Matthew Zylstra, PhD is an ecologist, lecturer and facilitator focusing on human~nature connectedness. His transdisciplinary research has entwined ecology, environmental psychology, and education in support of deep learning and wellbeing. He is a keen naturalist, especially in coastal and marine ecosystems.  Matthew’s PhD dissertation on meaningful nature experience, nature connectedness and its role in transformative education is freely available for download here »

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    May 22, 2024
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The PhD research underpinning certain content on eyes4earth.org was completed in early 2014.

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