At the Aspen Environment Forum 2010, a moderator of one of the panels stated that British kids could more easily identify Japanese cars than native plants and animals (h/t: Tomorrow’s Table). On one hand, given that cars move fast and do exciting things while plants just sit there, that’s not surprising at all. It also helps that cars have their names written on the back so, in a way, it’s like a flashcard game. Plants can be extremely difficult to identify. Of course, there are many plants that are easy to identify, but I’ve been in the forest with expert botanists who’ll admit that some plants are difficult, if not impossible to tell apart without DNA analysis. All this to say, it’s no wonder kids know their cars better than they know their plants and animals.

I do find it surprising in the sense that it’s a sign of how disconnected and isolated we’re becoming with respect to the natural world. Knowing the names of plants and animals is only one way out of many to be connected to the natural world, but the fact that most people (I’m extending the conjecture to everyone now, not just kids) could identify more kinds of cars than plants says something about which way we’re headed. Pamela Ronald, of Tomorrow’s Table, wonders:

Can we draw a link with this disconnect and the loss of biodiversity at an unprecedented rate? By 2050, the majority of our citizens will consist of the young people where that disconnect is most profound.

Would those responsible for destruction of entire species think twice if they knew the names of some of the species they were affecting? Would the CEO of BP invest more money in blowout prevention if he knew a bit more about marine biology? I’m not convinced but it’s definitely something worth thinking about.

Bonus points if you can name both cars and the plants in the photo above. I’ll be impressed if anyone can do both. I definitely couldn’t do the cars if I didn’t already know what they were.