Vance G. Martin
on the Magic of the Wilderness
“Rewilding our hearts and minds is fundamental. We need to accept, celebrate, and activate the principle of relationship, the essential function and ethic that sustains life on Earth. We need to bring a hopeful story to life. One about a richer, more vital future.”
Nature has always been inside Vance G. Martin's heart. As a child, he knew from day one that he loved nature and wanted to be a forest ranger. There was no elaborate philosophy or mental construct. However, after graduating from forestry, he realized his dream would essentially mean becoming a tree scientist, an engineer, or a biologist. But he was none of those.
Vance G. started travelling with little money, learning more about himself, trusting who he was. His love for nature carried him to more than 75 countries, where he met his mentors: author and explorer Sir Laurens van der Post and South African conservationist Dr. Ian Player, who believed he was worth their tutelage.
He took part in the organizing of the World Wilderness Congress and his life-long interest in nature conservation developed into a profession, the commitment to understand, protect and communicate wilderness values and the irreplaceable role of rewilding in a healthy modern society.
Vance G. Martin co-created and built the WILD Foundation over 40 years as its President, crafting international wilderness-related programmes that integrated science, human communities, policy, business, and culture. Today, after handing over WILD Foundation to next-gen leadership in 2023, Vance G. works on the board of numerous organizations around the world. He is building an alliance of leaders, indigenous and non-indigenous, youth, artisans and organizations across continents that will help us protect and restore enough wilderness to bring back balance and sanity.
His book, “Wilderness”, reflects his essence: bringing nature awareness and protection into the centre of our world as an essential element of human life. Because, as in medicine, “rewilding efforts should emphasize helping nature’s inherent healing powers regain strength.” It means helping nature heal, letting her lead with human support, and offering the possibility for more:
“More beauty. More abundance. More equity among all creatures that inhabit the Earth. An invitation to be meaningfully engaged in a transformative movement for people and the planet.”
Read Vance G. Martin's answers for Inspirators and understand why having a relationship with nature starts from the way we think. It is about understanding that “we are one species among many, bound together in an intricate web of life that ties us to the atmosphere, the weather, the tide, the soils, the oceans, and all living creatures on the planet.”
Thank you, Vance G., for being a Rewilding Magician!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Vance G. Martin
Company / Institution: Wilderness Foundation Global
Title: President Emeritus; Author
Website: www.wildernessfoundationglobal.org
LinkedIn profile: www.linkedin.com/in/vance-g-martin-8193152
Country of origin: USA
Country you currently live in: USA
Your definition of Regeneration: The result of creative and effective adaptation!
Main business challenge you face: The general lack of understanding that healthy and whole humans are fully dependent on a healthy planet/biosphere/nature.
As Herman Daly said, and which is often quoted by friend and colleague Professor Nick Stern (former Chief Economist at the World Bank), “The economy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the environment, not the reverse.”
We’re part of nature, and everything in nature, including us, is interconnected. What we do to it, we do to ourselves.
Main driver that keeps you going: The need for and power of vision, empathy, enjoyment, and commitment to change.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Patience, persistence, perseverance.
The trait you most value in others: Listening, asking, then acting.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Children.
The Inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
My parents, who accepted and encouraged me to be myself;
The founders of the Findhorn Foundation who saw me;
Richard St Barbe Baker for all things trees;
Ian Player who grew beyond his own roots, recognized raw talent in a young man and mentored me in conservation!
A starting point for companies or professionals that are beginning the regeneration journey: Listen to the Earth, partner with Nature, and act as if all Life matters!
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you:
"Sustainable development"; “green” anything!
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: You were born for this moment! Love it, grasp it, and work with others to overcome any challenge!
Books that had a great impact on you / Must-Reads for any regenerative professional:
Ozymandius (Percy Bysshe Shelley);
The Art of War (Sun Tzu);
Meetings with Remarkable Trees (Thomas Pakenham);
The Abstract Wild (Jack Turner);
The Use of Lateral Thinking (Edward DeBono);
Venture to the Interior (Laurens Van der Post);
Heart of the Hunter (Laurens van der Post);
Jung and the Story of our Time (Laurens van der Post);
Ecological Intelligence (Ian McCallum)
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again: Invictus; Holy Frit; Immediate Family.
Websites / Podcasts you visit frequently: How I Built This (NPR); Fresh Air (Terry Gross, NPR).
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Almost all of it - à classical, soul, R&B, hip hop, except gangsta, and especially Leonard Cohen!
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Every place, in one way or another. But that first trip to India, Afghanistan and the region in 1971-72 opened a young man’s eyes to the world, to reality.
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow:
Vandana Shiva;
Bittu Sahgal;
Tashka and Laura Yawanawa;
Julie Cajune;
Ilarion Merculieff
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: The irreplaceable role and power of nature’s ‘wildness’ for human well-being and spirit.
Events we should attend / Best places for networking (online or offline):
A well-managed children’s preschool demonstrates all there is to know! Every day is a networking opportunity as long as it leads to insight, knowledge, love of life, and action.
Impactful and relevant Sustainable Development or Regeneration courses or certifications: Silence; Active Listening; Transformational Breathing.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: Our planet tends toward balance, and recognizes and responds favorably to holism.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: Even if we cannot be optimistic, we can always be hopeful, which strengthens active engagement even when you are unsure of the outcome…but pessimism is not part of the equation.
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: Vision of an interconnected world. Empathy for the less fortunate. Passionate commitment to a better world!
The Inspirator you are endorsing for a future edition is:
Andrew Muir, Wilderness Foundation
The quote that inspires you:
Winston Churchill said it best:
“Now is the time to dare and endure.”
Your quote that will inspire us:
