Hellbender Press editor and publisher Thomas Fraser takes a break during a kayak run on the Pigeon River. A new study bolsters the idea that one way to turn people on to the importance of nature is to get them outside.  Jeremy Fraser/Hellbender Press

New research backs up conventional wisdom that getting people outdoors inspires them to conserve nature.

This story was originally published by The Revelator.

The natural world faces many threats, but to many environmentalists, none are so baffling and heartbreaking as public apathy toward those threats.

How do we get more people to care about the natural world so they’re moved to stand up and defend it? The answer is complex, of course, because humans are complex. But part of it can be found in a simple truth: Some people don’t care much about the natural world because they haven’t experienced nature directly.

For years experts have pointed to a potential solution: Getting people to spend more time in nature, they say, can help make them care more about threats to our environment and adopt more pro-environment behaviors.