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When ecology was still written oecology

When I was 11 years old, I followed my sister Ellen to become a member of the Belgische Jeugdbond voor Natuurstudie^✶, a self-governed youth league for the study and conservation of nature. It's Dutch counterpart, the NJN^✶, originated in 1920 as an idealistic answer to the horrors of the first World War. At that time several organisations of this type emerged, out of the idea "war, never again". The organisation was in the hands of the youngsters themselves, in the ages between 12 and 25. To soothe worried parents about what could go on during summer camps, a pair of 'old socks' (former members that had passed the age limit) was invited to take part in the camp activities, but they didn't have any particular authority.

The activity of the local sections of the BJN consisted in almost weekly excursions to places of naturalistic interest nearby our town, of weekends and camps during the holidays in natural places a bit further from home, in Belgium and the Netherlands. With similar organisations in other countries a network was formed, IYF, with some Unesco support. The excursions were led by ourselves, with everybody learning from one another how to recognise different species of plants, birds, and other animals. We used field guides that were published commercially, or by our organisations themselves. Reports of the excursions were made and compiled into regular publications, sometimes also used as a contribution to lobby for the conservation of interesting biotopes.

Most of the members tended to specialise in some branch of the natural kingdom. I was more keen on plants and sea shells, but many were interested in birds, recognising them on sight, or even better, from their songs and sounds. Early in the morning, at the break of dawn, we would go into some forest and listen how one species after the other woke up, and began to sing to define its territory. Beyond the mere determination of species, there was an interest in 'nature sociology', to see how a combination of species of plants and animals composes a biotope. So I was a member of the plant sociology workgroup, that investigated more in detail which plants tend to live together on certains types of soil.

Besides the interest in the determination of species, and the differentiation into biotopes, it was evident that in our overcrowded and industrialised world, nature conservation was a priority. Whenever possible, the organisation propagated and lobbied for the establisment of nature reserves and parks, one of them the Ekerse Dijk^✶ near Antwerp. It made us understand that the big industry isn't interested in preserving the quality of life and the environment, be it animal, vegetal or human.

Going for walks in nature continues to be a favourite pastime. Nowadays, my spouse and I try to go for a trip into the countryside every one or two weeks. I still remember a lot of plant names, and I like to photograph flowers as well as mushrooms^✶.