Rural Children’s Perceptions and Definitions of Nature

Abstract

Children’s perceptions towards nature during childhood is crucial as it affects a child behaviour towards the environment and nature in later life as an adult. However, the number of children playing in the outdoor environment where nature exists including rural areas is rapidly declining. The phenomenon of the disconnection with the natural world will develop gaps between children and nature and subsequently may also breed apathy towards the natural environment. Therefore, this study investigates rural children’s definition and perceptions on nature. Finding suggests that it is important to reconnect children with nature. The directions for future research are also discussed. Keywords: Children; nature; definition; perception eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i21.3703