14 June 2018
Are you passionate about the outdoors? Do you care about protecting our natural environment for future generations to enjoy? Please offer your support and help keep it wild.
I would love to say that Keep it Wild Australia is a team of people who are passionate about our natural environment but this is not the case.
My name is Darren Edwards and I love the outdoors, hiking in particular. I started hiking in order to escape from the real world for a while. To connect with nature, switch off from the hustle and bustle of life and disconnect from technology. The further I explored, the more I could see that the world I was trying to disconnect from was increasingly invading these natural spaces.
Recreation, adventure tourism, commercialisation, extractive industries, all of these were having an impact on the spaces that I loved and all of them were taking away from the psychological benefits I received through spending time in nature. I wondered how one person could make a difference. Where could I voice my concerns? How could I take action?
Keep it Wild Australia is an initiative I started in the hope that I can make a difference.
The threats to our wilderness range from littering to unchecked development and drilling in our nation’s wild places.
While wilderness designation provides the highest level of protection available to public lands, it does not provide sanctuary from threats that can diminish wilderness character. Although surveys exploring the trade-offs the public is willing to make for wilderness suggest that Australian’s are willing to accept higher costs for electricity, fuel, and other consumer products to protect wilderness, a variety of social, political and environmental forces both inside and outside wilderness can affect wilderness. The demand for economic development and a growing population exert significant pressures on our wilderness.
Many of these pressures are the same threats that other public lands face: Overuse, Technology, Fire Suppression, Invasive Species, Disease, Pollution, Lack of Public Awareness.
Whether it’s a financial contribution, signing a petition, taking personal action or sharing messages with friends and family via social media, your time, actions and generosity will make a difference.
Join this community and share your stories using #keepitwildaust.
