Saving the planet: Should we shift our perspective on nature?

I am back from five weeks travelling throughout New Zealand. It was my first solo trip, and the first time I travelled so far away from home. I drove more than 4,000 kilometres in a campervan, I read the news three times in five weeks and therefore allowed myself some space to think about sustainability from a non-updated news, non-policy, non-society perspective. Just from the standpoint of Nature, as this is where I was to be found. For the first time, I truly spent time in nature. By this, I meant I slept in the wild, washed in rivers (or not at all), and hiked without any phone signal for hours, every single day.

Despite my lack of connection with the political and environmental world for weeks, or thanks to it, I felt more of an environmentalist (environmentalist = standing for the protection of the natural world) than ever before. I was truly reminded of what I'm fighting for (trees, soil, water), rather than against (oil companies and the capitalist system), and this was a huge shift. Repeatedly fighting against something is tiring, unnerving and depressing; fighting for something is uplifting, hopeful and inspiring.

We all babble a lot about implementing sustainability and how to make the planet a better place, without spending actual, quality time in the world we're trying to protect, which, I think, is partly why we don't succeed at protecting it. We can't fight for something we don't know.

By being immersed in the wild (it doesn't even have to be that wild really, anything wilderness you can find), you truly understand the magnitude of what is at stake about saving the planet. Beyond saving humanity (if we are worth saving is another debate), the intricacy and the complexity of what we're destroying is unfathomable to us - hence why we have been destroying it unashamedly for 200 years. We have no idea how complex and powerful nature is; science is touching upon it, and religion filled the holes that we couldn't explain yet. Spending time in nature, witnessing untouched ecosystems and biodiversity made me even more aware of this. It awakens you to the multiplicity, power and importance of the natural world.

And this is where the issue lies. When I write these words, most people will think and say that I am a "tree hugger", a "green something", too green for them or too lefty (How is this an argument I hear over and over again? Change your game people). The discourse of recognising the power of nature, and how much we rely on it is so deeply proscribed and tabooed by our capitalist society (a system based on proving that Man (unlike woman) can tame nature - how foolish - have you ever tried to stand against hurricanes, droughts and fires?), that we don't even dare thinking in these terms. Assuming that nature is more powerful than us, that we, humans, are smaller, at her mercy, and that we entirely and completely rely on her, makes us appear weak and meek. It shouldn't.

Accepting that we are indeed smaller, and that we do rely on the natural world and ecosystems for everything we do (extracting oil for instance, but also side stuff such as breathing and eating), will oblige us to understand the magnitude of what is at stake in acting on climate change and biodiversity loss: us and the environment that sustains us and makes our life here possible.

We have to shift our mindset around if we want to stand a chance.

Now, go and walk in nature, listen to what's going on around you and don't take your phone (but you can take a dog if you happen to have one around).

If you want to know more about the intricacy of Mother Nature, I recommend highly The Hidden Life of Trees, by Peter Wohllenben.

If you want to read about another perspective on the take on climate change, this article might help you understand the urgency of it all.