External communications

Have you noticed that many environmental organizations do not include people in their pictures?

They have pictures of beautiful landscapes, especially those coveted “perfect shots”' of places the organization has protected. Surely, the intent is to communicate the pride the organization has in its work and the passion it has for conservation. But what is the impact?

Not including people in any of your pictures may be sending unintentional messages. For example, it reinforces the misconception that land needs to be protected from people. That misconception was created by colonizers to justify the removal of Native stewards from their homelands. Is that the message you intended to send? Probably not.

Have you noticed that when you do see pictures of people enjoying nature, they are predominantly white people, heterosexual couples and people without any visible disabilities?

To illustrate this, type “people enjoying nature – images” into your search browser and see what comes up. How many of the images include people with disabilities or people of color? Sadly, we have been getting the same results for years when doing this activity.

Surely the intent was to show the beauty of nature and how wonderful it feels to be in and connected to nature. At least for some people. The unintended impact is that everyone who has a disability, or is not white, or is not heterosexual, feels excluded and, more importantly, unwelcomed.

The photos above also perpetuate the misconception that only white people enjoy the outdoors because only they can “protect” nature. This is deeply ingrained into our society. Land trusts can help change this narrative with simple acts of inclusion. People inherently want to see photos of people they can identify with. This simple act of inclusion makes people feel welcomed and comfortable before they even show up.