Shifting Baseline Syndrome
If you’re over 30, you might say things like “when I was young” or “10 years ago.” 😉
So, I wonder when you were younger…
What do you remember about nature?
What foods were available?
What was your local area like?
I am in my 40s.
🤔 In the early 90s, my village council built a housing estate of identical houses on one village field.
I remember when avocados and kiwis were available locally.
The high street had many independent shops and a small supermarket with tiny trolleys.
In my mid-20s, a large supermarket replaced the library. Soon after, the local food shops closed.
Today’s schoolchildren in my childhood village only know this new reality.
My mum remembers a different one. She grew up when avocados and kiwis weren’t available in the Netherlands.
She remembers moving from Canada to Turkey in the mid-1950s by ship. I visited Canada by plane.
🦎 A shifted baseline
These realities are examples of shifting baseline syndrome. Each generation knows the world differently. That becomes the new normal.
The term was coined in 1995 by fisheries scientist Daniel Pauly. He was frustrated by rapid fish declines.
Younger generations saw these reduced populations as normal. That is shifting baseline syndrome.
David Attenborough describes the same phenomenon. He says we judge from today’s reality, not from what once existed.
So we expect less.
When you are 30+, you will notice these shifts. Attenborough has seen wilderness decline by 30% in his lifetime.
👉 What can be done?
- Read about what once was.
- Look at images and watch documentaries.
Find out about local habitats.
Landscape your garden or balcony accordingly.
🏛️ Governments and collective action should:
- Create more protected areas.
- Let nature flourish and remind us of its true richness.
- Follow nature-based solutions.
- Reintroduce forgotten techniques.
- Stop destruction and concrete landscapes.
And if you want to read more about what I do in the climate space, then please do check out my services.