Restoring, rebalancing
& being nature
Restoring, rebalancing & being nature means for humanity to switch from harming the planet to living in alignment with and as a part of nature – the intelligence which underlies this entire universe. It means acknowledging the mutual relationship we have with all life on Earth, reversing habitat destruction such that life can unfold its innate abundance, in simple, transparent & inclusive ways – reflecting nature’s values back to the lands and waters that we are a part of. The material below is meant to provide a deeper sense of what it means to be nature for the mere purpose of triggering a memory of who you are within you, showing you what you already know.
Trees For The Future
Maryland, USA
Turning degraded land into forest gardens in Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda & Tanzania – creating economic stability & sustainability for small-scale farmers via a training program which leaves farmers self-sufficient; the projects are sponsored by collaborating companies & institutions.
Animal Trust Technique
England, UK
A method which connects & heals animals & humans, highlighting the value of trust and mutual understanding, recognising the importance of the animal-human relationship in personal & global change.
Eden Reforestation Project
California, USA
Fair wages – empowering local communities: > 700 million trees grown, planted & protected through reforestation projects in Madagascar, Mozambique, Kenya, Brazil, Central America, Haiti, Nepal & Indonesia.
International Anti Poaching Foundation (IAPF)
Akashinga (Zimbabwe)
Rooted in local communities, vegan, all-women anti-poaching unit: eliminating poaching by over 80% without firing a single shot by empowering marginalised & abused women trained to do what they can do best – protect nature; founded by Damien Mander – a retired Australian Defense Force Naval clearance diver, special operations sniper & Iraq war veteran.
Braiding Sweetgrass – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Citizen Potawatomi Nation
Deep indigenous wisdom about our connection with nature, the role of gifting versus purchasing embodied by everything that is part of nature, a language which includes all of nature, justice of the land and much more; Robin is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology in Syracuse, New York.
Tristan Gooley
England, UK
A natural navigator who deeply knows & teaches how to read the sky, weather, land, sea, plants and animals based on a profound embodiment of nature – his unique books are an invitation to strengthen our connection with and confidence as nature, and remember forgotten knowledge; natural navigation is not a survival skill but a means to understand the world around us and our place in it: be human – be nature.
River Network
Colorado, USA
Connecting & aligning > 8500 NGOs, agencies, indigenous groups & utilities, facilitating collaboration, creating community & increasing impact to protect & restore our waters. Reaffirming our right to affordable, clean water & healthy rivers. One-on-one mentoring, consulting, trainings, conferences, events. Committed to integrity, inclusiveness & openness to new knowledge. 1% for the Planet.
Buffalo Field Campaign
Montana, USA
Ending harassment & slaughter of America’s last wild buffalo herds, permanent year-round protection of wild free-roaming bison, the ecosystem they depend on and other native wildlife, honoring the sacredness of wild buffalo in collaboration with First Nations to create a world in which buffalo & all other native wildlife can live for their own sake, are given priority on public lands, and herds self-regulate their populations; founded under leadership of Lakota activist Rosalie Little Thunder & videographer Mike Mease.
The Gaia Foundation
UK, Ireland, worldwide
Local, decentralised work, forming bonds of affection in the collaborating communities. Securing food & seed sovereignty. Ending extractivism. Helping indigenous communities reestablish their Earth connection previously broken by the loss, destruction & desecration of their lands & culture. Empowering communities by rebuilding confidence necessary to stand up for their rights. Guided by nature – translating nature’s laws into human legislation.
The Endangered Language Fund
Worldwide
Documenting & revitalising endangered languages through grants to individuals, tribes & museums. Work in > 60 countries. Development of indigenous radio programs, recording of last living speakers of indigenous languages, orthographies & literacy materials for endangered language teaching programs, language-sharing workshops involving games & art etc. Bringing together language activists, linguists, students & speakers of rare languages.
Rewilding Honey Bees
Cameron Nielsen, USA
The importance of rewilding honeybees. Film by Cameron Nielsen (see Film & photography [link]). Introducing swarms to habitats that are conducive to the instinctive preferences which are very different from conventional beehives. Reading nature.
SeaForester
Worldwide
Green Gravel method: seeding small rocks with kelp spores and planting them in the ocean, reversing the disappearance of seaweed forests by tapping into nature’s abundance: “If we take an area of 5,000 square kilometers, which represents 0.03% of our global target coastal zone with shallow water, kelp forests can support 500,000 tons of fish.”
Akira Miyawaki
Japan
Japanese plant ecologist for seeds & native plant restoration on degraded land. Accelerating reforestation by mimicking native, primary forest in composition & structure – regrowing healthy, multilayered, forests of high resilience in 20-30 years. Method tested extensively in many countries. Planted 400,000 trees along Great Wall of China, gathering 4000 Chinese & Japanese people. Formed seed bank of > 10 million identified seeds gathered around temples, tombs, cemeteries where old native forest had survived. Involved in many international vegetation surveys & planting of > 40 million native trees.
Utah Diné Bikéyah
“The people’s sacred lands” Navajo Nation, USA
Healing people & Earth by supporting Indigenous communities & protecting ancestral lands. Healing is only possible when we are connected with the Earth: its lands & waters. Strengthening ties to ancestral land – practicing nature-embedded native cultures, languages, mutual respect & support creates & strengthens that connection. Amplifying voices of indigenous communities & grassroots organisations. Connecting people – forming relationships & networks. Passing on indigenous knowledge, beliefs, histories & stories. Culture sensitivity trainings & social media consultations. Longstanding legacy of transparent leadership.
Rewilding Europe
Netherlands, Europe
Rewilding 15 European landscapes – allowing natural forest regeneration by reducing active management, removing dykes & dams to free up rivers, reintroducing wildlife such as aurochs, wild horses & bison, then: letting nature take care of itself. Independent organisation, pan-European initiative & accelerating movement, collaborating with many partners.
Official Trailer:
The Northern Rangelands Trust
Kenya
Grassroots organisation owned & led by 43 community conservancies run for & by indigenous community leaders & elders. Building peace, securing human rights, preserving endangered wildlife & improving livelihoods by managing community-owned land together, building business, providing training, access to water & funding. Governed by democratically elected, multiethnic Board of Directors, rewriting histories of conflict between ethnic groups. Empowering women & youth to drive change.
The Borneo Project
USA & Malaysian Borneo
Supporting locally initiated & community-led campaigns to defend forests, environmental & human rights. Facilitating mapping for ancestral land claims, supporting legal cases, negotiations, paralegal education, mobile legal aid clinics. Helped > 200 longhouse communities hold off destructive logging & industrial palm oil plantations carried out without consent, violating land & human rights. Supporting cultural survival, reforestation, organic gardening, indigenous education & visions such as Baram Peace Park. Bringing international attention to corporate violence. Linking local & global movements.
Tshaukuesh Elizabeth Penashue
Innu Nation, Labrador, Canada
Innu elder, cultural & environmental activist, author of ‘Nitinikiau Innusi: I Keep the Land Alive’, based on her diary in Innu-aimun language of daily experiences, reflections on court appearances, interviews with reporters, trad. & modern Innu life. Led Innu campaign against NATO’s low-level flying & bomb testing on Innu land during 1980s/90s. Led walks & canoe trips in nutshimit: “on the land” for years, to teach people about Innu culture & knowledge. Recipient of National Aboriginal Achievement Award & honorary doctorate from Memorial University of NL. Website not up to date, but anyway:
Ocean Cleanup Technologies
Netherlands
Removing floating plastic from the ocean which would otherwise be trapped in circular currents for decades or longer, impacting hundreds of marine species & carrying toxic substances into our food chains. Concentrates plastic pieces before collection & recycling. Expected to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040. Also intercept plastic in rivers before it reaches the ocean.
Shipibo Conibo Center
Peru, USA
Supporting self-determination, territorial sovereignty, visual arts, music incl. Amazonian hip-hop artists, ethnobotanical research & Shipibo Agroforestry Cooperative Koshicoop of & by Peru’s Shipibo Conibo people. Belief that indigenous identity belongs to a technologically-anchored, sustainable future. Led by 5 artists, filmmakers, activists & anthropologists. Commitment to core values of Shipibo ethics & protocols of conviviality, reciprocity, kinship. Decolonising art. Art made based on natural dyes, immersive Amazonian soundscapes etc.
Till the Coast is Clear
England, UK
Clearing shorelines of plastic pollution with recyclable boats & kayaks made from recycled fishing nets. Volunteer-run, community-centred. Connecting people to the outdoors to improve physical & mental health. All recovered material is up cycled, recycled or used for waste to energy production. Educating about plastic pollution in schools, businesses etc. Rooted in genuine recognition of ocean plastic pollution worldwide. > 12 tons of plastic & other waste removed from South Devon coast.
New Zealand Plant Conservation Network
New Zealand
Recognising & restoring New Zealand’s diverse & unique native plant life by connecting people around plant conservation. Habitat protection, monitoring & restoration. Botanic gardens. Seedbank covering different ecosystems & groups of wild plants incl. flowers, shrubs, trees, garden plants. Emphasis on team work & quality training & research. Biennial conferences. Volunteer program for seed collection.
Vrouva Farm
Greece
Sanctuary for old, abandoned & abused animals created from scratch out of necessity on a piece of private land. Caring for > 100 animals, incl. donkeys, horses, cats, dogs, chicken, sheep, pigs, goats, cows. International volunteer program for those who deeply appreciate community life, animals & simplicity. Valuing & living holistic ecology, non-violence & veganism. Animal rights activism.
Survival International
Worldwide
Expose abuse of indigenous peoples in the name of conservation & profit incl. racism, genocide, slavery, factory schools etc.; secure indigenous rights, decolonise conservation, amplify & empower indigenous voices (Tribal Voice platform) – rooted in longstanding relationships with 100s indigenous communities. Protecting uncontacted tribes. Embodying diversity & inclusivity in every way. Incredible organisation.
Guide to decolonising conservation:
Arcturos
Greece
Protection of wolf, bear, lynx, chamois, otter, deer, jackal & their natural habitat. Greek Shepherd Dog Breeding Program for traditional management of human-wildlife peaceful coexistence. Ending illegal possession of wolves, bear & wolf imprisonment, use of bears in circuses, use of illegal & poisonous baits. Scientific research & environmental education. Wildlife sanctuaries for bears, lynx & wolves. Participant in ‘LIFE Bear-Smart Corridors’ project teaching communities to peacefully live alongside bears. Bear Information Centre for education. Afforestation programs.
Two Worlds
White snow, an icy rock
All I am hearing is a gentle knock
Perhaps a bird on the roof
Or a neighbour aloof
In the midst of silence
That silence this is me
An everlasting sun
Sharing my presence with a tree
Roaring in stillness, so much fun
It’s loud and it’s now
Like a gust of wind
Taking over the world
Without noise, without hint
To those who are sleeping
Can’t see and won’t hear
Life is fading
An empty blast of fear
For those who are silent and feel the roar
It’s all excitement – they take off and soar
A new life, a new planet built by us
Between the worlds a large crevasse
What a mess, such chaos
So much love in the snow
We are almost there
With the rivers we flow
Poem by Carina Ramm
