Planning for Children and Wildlife Begins at Home

Abstract

Investigations of children's attitudes and behavior toward the natural environment through a series of questionnaires, interviews, and field investigations were carried out with children and parents in an assortment of North Carolina residential areas in 1983–1985.

Research, the current literature, the knowledge of children, and wildlife and environmental management have all contributed to the creation of a set of design criteria for enhancing children's appreciation of wildlife in urban areas. These criteria fall into three main categories—site specific, educational or people specific, and wildlife specific design—and they can be used by planners, landscape architects, architects, and educators in designing or planning children's environments.