It's a big challenge, and you're entirely right about city kids' lack of exposure to things that are wild. I was certainly one of those kids. I grew up in a small city but wasn't really exposed to too much outdoors.
What I'm told by professional educators is that the amount of involvement doesn't have to be that much; it just has to be something. I realize it's a provincial responsibility, but there has to be curriculum material that gets kids involved in the outdoors. They have to know where their food comes from. Food does not come from Safeway. It comes from animals, for the most part, and plants. Children have to understand where it comes from.
Getting involved in outdoor activities, whether through the national park system, through hiking, photography, bird-watching, hunting, fishing—all of these things—is important. And it can start to happen at a very young age. I think it only works if the base level of knowledge is built up a little bit, and then through community groups, that's where the kids will really get the opportunities. It can't be forced on children. They just have to be exposed to it.
Someone—I believe it was Robert Bateman—came up with a plan to put something in the curriculum whereby all kids would have to learn 10 natural plants and animal species. That's a great idea. Most kids couldn't name 10 wild plant species, I don't think.