10/06/2024
....What is ecological grief?
In their recent Nature publication, Ashlee Cunsolo, and Neville Ellis, from their research in Northern Canada and the Australian Wheatbelt respectively, define ecological grief as the pain, sadness or suffering people feel due to the (anticipated) loss of an ecosystem. While grief is well established when it comes to deaths of loved ones, it is rarely acknowledged in the context of ecological losses. The lack of acknowledgement is important as it helps to create understanding when people who are affected by loss of their ecosystem appear to “give up” instead of fight injustice or immediate start to rebuild their lives.
The concept of ecological grief encompasses three types of losses; the first is loss of the physical environment that severely disrupts peoples day-to-day life (e.g., hurricane Katrina destroyed many houses, schools, places of work). The second loss relates to “the way of living with nature” and affects multiple generations as the cultural education is severely disrupted. This second type tends to affect peoples’ sense of self, i.e. their identity and is most prominent amongst individuals who live close with nature. For example, Sandra Pannell described how aboriginal people in Australia experience deep distress amidst the ecological degradation of the colonization of their land. The third type of loss consists of anticipated future loss. This phenomenon is currently often observed amongst young western individuals in which anticipatory grief further intensifies feelings of ecoanxiety.
"Ecological losses are now gradually being recognized as a source of grief." ....
Ecological grief shows that ecocide is not just an environmental issue but also a psychological one.
