Intangible elements of cultural heritage are nonmaterial. Important nature-related intangible elements of heritage include systems of knowledge and beliefs (the essence of human-nature relationships); values (what is important); identity (who we are; groups we are part of); aesthetics (what is beautiful); and conceptions of “the good life.”

—Chapter 6: Nature and Cultural Heritage in the US, First National Nature Assessment Zero Order Draft, 2024

What did my ancestors think when they first caught sight of the foreign vessels—an armada of large, three-masted ships—crossing into their horizon’s sightline? Besides any foreboding they might have had for the moment, did they also feel a tremor arrow into the distant future—which we are all now part of? Did they see in their mind’s eye that later time in which our islands’ rich mineral, agricultural, and other natural resources have become steadily depleted, one in which the very waters are warming too fast, so coral reefs have bleached to the color of bone. . . .