A few Wilderness Resources for Academics

In addition to reading the International Journal of Wilderness - which:

"...links wilderness professionals, scientists, educators, environmentalists, and interested citizens worldwide with a forum for reporting and discussing wilderness ideas and events; inspirational ideas; planning, management, and allocation strategies; education; research and policy aspects of wilderness stewardship."

Select articles available courtesy of the Wilderness Task Force including:

• Support Is Building for Global Wilderness Conservation
• An Overview of the World Wilderness Congress
• Strengthening Wilderness in South Africa

You may also want to check out the Wilderness Research page (US focused) compiled by the Wilderness Institute at The University of Montana's College of Forestry and Conservation, the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center, and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute.

They have a handy index of Graduate Research related to Wilderness and here are some highlights of articles that can be found on just one subject close to our hearts:

• Wilderness Education for Youth at Risk: An Interpretive Case Study
• Set outs lessons learnt elsewhere that we are also drawing on for our Turn Around programme.
• Theoretical basis, process, and reported outcomes of Wilderness therapy as an intervention and treatment for problem behaviour in adolescents
  
• "The social importance of wilderness therapy and its emergence as an accepted treatment for more seriously troubled adolescents poses challenges and opportunities for wilderness conservation. Wilderness is being valued for more than just protected biodiversity and recreational opportunity, but also as a healing source for adolescents who are not being reached by traditional therapeutic techniques."
• Youth at Risk in Wilderness
• This paper concludes that when using Wilderness as part of an intervention programme for youth at risk, it is essential that the participants don't feel that they're mandated to take part as it leads to what the study calls 'adverse incidents' - This is of course makes complete sense - put differently, Wilderness only works on the willing and we take that into account in the core design of our Turn Around programme.

The search stretches much further - there are articles about Wilderness in Fine Arts, Folklore, Environmental Sciences, Anthropology, Archaeology, Biology and Botany. You name it.






Here in the UK we are working closely with the University of Essex, as regular readers will know. - You can still watch Jo Peacock (as more than a thousand people have done already) the lead researcher on the project talk about the conclusions reached so far:
- Get out into wilderness and boost your self esteem!: On YouTube / TeacherTube.

Ride Earth : Belgium and Beyond

A news update from Tom and Andy, the Ride Earth team navigating the globe on mountain bikes for the journey of a lifetime and to raise money for WFUK:

We quit our jobs. We sold our clothes, posessions, computers and stereos. We shaved our heads, said goodbye to friends and families, got on our bikes and cycled off one Sunday afternoon with the mother of all hangovers.

We left everything we take for granted behind in pursuit of some endless quest for intrigue and adventure, some kind of idealistic mission to find meaning in the world. Now, 2 weeks after we left, how does reality stand up to the idea we spent so long preparing for?

To find out the answer to Tom's question read their full blog entry here.

Tom, Andy (and Mark who is currently riding with them) have taken on a huge challenge - they are aiming to raise £10,000 for the Wilderness Foundation UK. A couple of weeks into their challenge they have reached 1% of their target. Please give them and WFUK a big boost by sponsoring them on their journey - they have taken on the greatest Wilderness Trail of them all.

Sponsor Ride Earth online safely and securely at: http://www.justgiving.com/rideearth or alternatively send a cheque or postal order made payable to "Wilderness Foundation UK" to:

Ride Earth
The Wilderness Foundation UK
47-49 Main Road
Broomfield
CHELMSFORD
Essex
CM1 7BU

Thank you.

Alec Forss' latest article on Wilderness just out on 'The Local':

"Snowbound and frigidly cold for most of the year, the brief arrival of summer transforms the mountains of Northern Sweden into a trekker’s paradise. Overlooked by most foreign tourists in favour of mountain playgrounds further south, such as the Alps, this isolated corner of Europe offers a wilderness experience par excellence."

Read the full article here: http://www.thelocal.se/7788/20070704/

Trustee speaks out on controversial windfarm development

Mountaineer, broadcaster and Wilderness Foundation UK Trustee Cameron McNeish has spoken out against the controversial wind farm proposal being considered for the Glencanisp and Drumrunie Estates in the picturesque Sutherland and Wester Ross regions of Scotland.

Quoted in The Scotsman on Tuesday 3rd July, Cameron said:

"[This windfarm proposal] could set a precedent and result in the finest part of Britain being spoiled and could harm tourism in the area"

The proposed development has caused controversy, not least because the area of land where it would be located (which includes the Suilven, Canisp, Cul Mor and Cul Beag mountains) was acquired last year by The Assynt Foundation, with the Scottish Land Fund contributing £1.6 million to the purchase and the Highlands and Islands Enterprise awarded £605,000. The community raised £15,000 with the John Muir Trust, a registered Scottish charity dedicated to protecting wild land contributed an initial £50,000 with a further £15,000 per year being made available for the next five years to manage the land.

The John Muir Trust representative on the board of the Assynt Foundation has withdrawn for a year while the proposal is being considered, thus giving the Trust the ability to speak freely on the subject.

The local community is divided on the development, with some sighting projected employment and income from power generation as being a means to revitalise the area, however others feel that the previously unspoilt scenery would be ruined by the erection of between one and six wind turbines.

The fate of the development is to be decided by a secret ballot.

The Wilderness Foundation UK continues to highlight the urgent need to reassess the development of onshore windfarms as a renewable source of energy.

We will bring you further news on this development as it happens.

Umzi receives further recognition from Eastern Cape Government

We just heard from our colleagues in South Africa that their Umzi project has once again been recognised for the impact it has. The Eastern Cape Premier has allocated funding for more places,
still - As reported in The Port Elizabeth Herald:

"The main sponsorship comes from overseas donors..." (Full story)

That's why you hear us talking about this inspiring project so much (and why we continually ask for your support). But how about the students who benefit? What do they say? Here are a few words from Freddie:



Learn more here: http://www.umziwethu.org - and if you'd like to support then you can still sponsor Richard, our indefatigable office manager and Chris Eppinger, long-time friend to the Foundation and Kilimanjaro veteran: They completed the Walk for Life recently and their fundraising page is still up and running - Read more here about that and also other Umzi reporting from us.

British London 10k Run

Jo and Richard made their way into the heart of London yesterday (Sunday) to cheer on the WF-UK team taking part in this year's British London 10k Run. Undeterred by the rain, they set up their pitch on Westminster Bridge, proudly holding aloft the WF-UK banner and calling out encouragement to the 20,000 people who ran past them during the event.

Congratulations and thanks to Eddie, Maureen, Jamie and Helen who ran for the Foundation, setting an excellent pace and a time to be challenged by the team we enter next year.

Funds raised by the WF-UK team will be directed towards our social programme, Turn Around - the pilot of which is being run in Essex this year. This wilderness-based project will help young people who are seeking to make a positive change in their lives, by undertaking new challenges, learning new skills and making a difference to themselves and the world around them.

For further information about Turn Around contact Eddie Charles at the Foundation or visit our website: http://www.wildernessfoundation.org.uk/turnaround

Is there any Wilderness left?

This just in from Nature Conservancy:

Is there any wilderness left? A new article in SCIENCE magazine co-authored by The Nature Conservancy's chief scientist says not really — and that conservation's task is no longer to "preserve the wild, but to domesticate nature more wisely." - Full interview with Peter Kareiva here.

They certainly pull on some strong facts (which we have taken the liberty of borrowing in order to really push the point):

• There's nearly six times as much water held in storage (e.g., behind dams) as there is in free-flowing rivers.
• About 50 percent of the world's surface area has been converted to grazing land or cultivated crops.
• And only 17 percent of the world's land area in 1995 was untouched by the direct influence of humans (such as agriculture, roads or even nighttime lights

We at the Wilderness Foundation have shared this concern since our inception more than thirty years ago.

- Explorers and writers, such as the Foundation’s founder Sir Laurens van der Post and its late patron, Sir Wilfrid Thesiger, often wrote of the ancient link between humanity and nature, and how within our fast moving cultures of today, much of this link has been forgotten.

We believe that by visiting the unspoiled places where nature has been allowed to exist since time began, this connection is rekindled.

We realise this alone is not enough - action must be taken - we welcome the research laid out in the paper and the urgent debate it'll hopefully lead to.

If you'd like to rekindle your connection - come on trail with us - and if you'd like to get involved with the latter, attend the next World Wilderness Congress or get in touch with us. Also, check out the work of the IUCN Wilderness Task Force (co-ordinated by our sister organisation Wild)