Viviendo en zona rural me di cuenta lo importante  que es cuidar el medio ambiente  nuestra fuente de agu  son los posos o aljibes   hay que  ahorrar agua en tiempos de sequia  se acaba  hay que tener los ríos limpios y arborizados ellos son las fuentes de vida de toso ser viviente   cuando las avez no encuentran   agua   vienen a buscar  cualquier  charco  para tomar de el  y observando las avez  me di cuenta  que esos hermosos seres son muy bulberable  por eso hay que proteger la naturaleza

Growing up, my favorite television shows were Zoboomafoo and Bindi The Jungle Girl. The Kratt brothers and Bindi discussed in-depth the importance of taking care of the Earth and wildlife. It was through them that I learned how important nature was and why we needed to take care of it. The Kratts and Bindi explained conservation in a way that encouraged you to make a difference in your own community. I inspire my own students' stewardship of nature through read-alouds, explicit lessons on the consequences of pollution, and by getting them outside whenever possible!

My old scoutmasters in our troop were devoted to the outdoors.  Troop rules were that you had to be present for one hike per month and at least six campouts per year.  We were outside all the time, often revisiting the same locations multiple times throughout the year to observe the changes.

I grew up in Mexico with no running water ,electricity ,and other commodoties and we had so many dogs and saw puppies from birth ,we also had lots of bird nest on our house porch ,we learned very early to be mindful of the use of water ,electricity ,clothes etc

I think my family were the main ones to inspire me to appreciate and want to actively take care of the natural world. This was due to the fact that they gave me so many opportunities to be in nature and learn more about the different topics that interested me about nature. I think one thing that stands out in mind the most about my early experiences are the large number of reference materials I have collected since then and still use today.

Back in the early 70's Lady Bird Johnson started the beautify America and was working as a surveyor and we had a college student working with us for the summer, we had a habit of throwing soda cans and wrappers out on the ground. To make a long story short he said something to us about it   and we listened to him we went and bough a small trash can and put it in the trunk and any wear I worked after that first thing I asked for from the boss was to have something put in the trunk for trash.

I didn't have a mentor, but our church retreats were in the mountains and they let us free range during their meetings. In terms of exposing kids, you are exactly right.  For our kids, we drove from a very urban settings to  state parks and went on bird watching tours from like 4 years up. It wasn't like that was all we did.  I took my daughter to a demonstration about air quality at the state capitol once. That was enough to have her become an environmental studies major and now writes climate change policy papers. By the way, I run a small day care and I'm doing all your suggestions and a number of the bird activities with my little ones. They are loving it! We entered the backyard bird count, and we entered the 5 birds they identified themselves.

I'm not sure I can think of a particular person.  For me, living near a huge open field, on the fringe of a small forest, with the beach within walking distance was all I needed.  I made salads from plants, made fairy houses, played games, picked daisies, climbed trees, and fell in love.  As an adult, I'm more of an introvert and still love to spend time in nature by myself.  I discover that I don't walk straight down paths like other grown ups.  I seem to find myself sitting in thickets, munching berries, sitting quietly near puddles, etc.  I hope to show kids how rewarding it is to attend to the unexpected, and to sit in the mud without a plan or care in the world.

I had several people who inspired me as a child. My father, a United Methodist preacher, taught me the connection between social justice and environmental stewardship. He was the first person I ever heard of who had a compost pile and only gardened organically. No chemicals, ever! My maternal grandmother loved bird (and squirrel) feeding and shared that love with me. She also loved wildflowers and we would amble the woods and talk about them. She purposely encouraged native violets in her flowerbeds! My mother allowed me and my siblings to play in the woods near our house from dawn to dusk, as long as we checked in for meals. Our vacations were mostly spent in nature or in historical areas--no theme parks for us. And I never missed them.

My mother taught us to observe and learn about birds and butterflies. She took us bird watching and to recognize bird sounds.,we take nature walks, learn bird photography.

One of my teachers explained to us how the environment nurtures us, so it's our duty to take care of it and that always stuck with me. It made me feel as if I had a duty to take care of the environment.

My family exposed my brother and me to spending our vacations outdoors on the Great Lakes and Canadian coasts(collecting small rocks, shells,seaweed)and the forests for hiking and exploring. My grandparents loved  trees and birds would tell us what the birds were and about their family life. My grandfather hunted and fished but also exposed us to the beauty of the animals and fly fishing calm. I will always remember my quirky high school biology teacher whom I adored when he sent us out to make spore prints from mushrooms which were really cool. Even though I pursued the path of an artist and art teacher, I always have embraced science and nature in my and my students' works.

Mi primero contacto con la naturaleza se lo debo a mi padre, era un alfarero y la arcilla la obteníamos de una mina en la montaña, había un espacio especial en el que el camino se cerraba con árboles y era como pasar bajo una cueva de árboles, y luego escuchar el canto de los guardabarranca definitivamente me marco, de joven enseñaba a los niños sobre el bosque y me gustaba llevarlos y jugar con las chicharras y subir a los árboles. Cada fin de año organizaba una visita a un lugar maravilloso llamado Piedra Tambor, hasta que el los estudios y el trabajo me lo dificultaron, actualmente volví a sentir el llamado de la naturaleza, y desde el 2020 que no hay semana que no me tome mi baño de bosque, en uno de estos encuentros en el bosque me surgió la especial atención sobre las aves y a partir del 2021 soy un observador de aves, es un agradable inicio para una maravillosa afición.

When I was young, our parents would let us play outside until it was dark! They took us to the creek to play in with our cousins - one of my greatest memories. We would go to the zoo and swimming pool, and playgrounds. I have a lot of memories playing outside.

I owe my appreciation of the natural world to my dad. My brothers and I grew up in Southern California's Mojave Desert. Our first nature lesson was the dangers of scorpions (I was four). I think our dad had a strong fear of scorpions from an incident when he was a kid. He encouraged us to learn as much as we could could about the plants and wildlife in the desert. We also watched all the nature shows, particularly the Jacques Cousteau specials. He was a big fan of the old Sea Hunt TV show, which led me to learn to scuba dive and study marine biology in college. Mr. Cessna, my high school biology teacher, and Dr. Belkin, my entomology professor at UCLA, were also great mentors. One of the activities suggested in the Improve Your Habitat for Birds section was to make hummingbird nectar with your kids. My four year old grandson helps me when we cook up a batch. He calls it "Bird Soup", and from now on, it will always be known as that.

My mother took me and my siblings to nature parks early on. Seeing all the flowers blooming in the springtime helped me develop a love of nature. We also explored across the street from our house when I was pre-school age. There were some trees there, a small stream where I looked for crayfish under the flat rocks, and a wild strawberry patch! She also took us to our first national park: Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We drove down Skyline Drive through the center of the park and pulled off at a few overlooks for brief sight-seeing, the typical tourist method. But while we were at these pull-offs, I noticed trails leading out from the parking area, going into the woods and up and down the mountain sides. Though we didn't explore any of them due to our limited time schedule, I promised myself that someday I'd come back to see where they led. I did just that as a young adult many years later and came back to accomplish my first backpacking trips with my youngest brother. I've also had numerous other mentors who introduced me to the plants and birds of my area. Every opportunity I've had to be with them I've tried to learn from them as much as possible.

I grew up with my grandparents. Both grandma and grandpa were knowledgeable about herbal medicine. To them, many of the trees, shrubs and grasses were medicine and meant to be protected. This gave me a chance to learn a number of useful plants and to respect them by not destroying them. When I went to a national park for my tourism training, I really loved almost everything I saw. One nature guide called Peter introduced me to birding. I was  very much driven by Peter's enthusiasm.  

While talking with my kids about my childhood memories in nature, I realized there have been so many ways that my mother has shared her enthusiasm for the natural world. It is heartening to think about how small acts of noticing and sharing can have such a positive and lasting influence.

My ex-mother-in-law inspired me to learn more about nature, and then nature itself inspired me in a myriad of ways. Her dedication to the birds for whom she advocated showed me how powerful our influence can be on nature. I hope to be able to inspire children in the same way so that they find their own love for nature and act on their own ideas and goals to help nature thrive.