A WORD FROM RONA AND HENRY
The Earth is awe-inspiring. Each life form is miraculous in its own right. Think of the Earth within the blackness of space, and its incredible diversity: from blue whales to bluebottle flies. With a little thought it is hard not to have a dawning of amazed incredulity at the beauty and complexity within which we find ourselves.
We humans are so complex. We come from many different backgrounds and hold to many different faiths. But no matter what we believe, there is room for acknowledgement and acceptance of the importance of every life. If you believe the world was created, then is not the entirety of creation sacred? Not just human beings? If you are an atheist, are you able to recognise and marvel in the intrinsic worth of each life form?
I always dilute my expression of concern for the plight of the planet, and for what I see around me all of the time, as I sound extremist when I pose such questions. But is it extreme? When we face unchecked biodiversity loss, astronomical human population growth (millions of women would take family planning if they had access), and looming climatic change: these are extreme circumstances and should the appropriate response not match the severity of the situation that we have created?
I am deeply distraught and exasperated by the apathetic inability of 'civilisation' to live in a more civilised manner when it comes to the natural world.
It is a flawed concept to refer to the 'natural world' - as it makes it something external to us, and we are, after all, part of this planet, part of nature, on one rung of evolution's non-linear ladder.
And we need the natural world for our own survival. But in the plastic wrapped life of relative convenience most of us who have access to websites live in, we have lost track of this. Indeed many of us have not been given the opportunity to be in a non-human dominated landscape and experience the freedom, exhilaration and calm that this very beautiful planet we live on gives to us. It is only when we experience it first hand that we live with respect and appreciation.
BUT there is hope! Dedicated individuals and organisations do a phenomenal amount to protect and restore wildlife and ecosystems. Governments could do so much more.
We set up World Environment Day Concert for three reasons: to celebrate the natural world, to empower people to do more, and to help those who give their lives to heal this planet, for you, for me and for all life it sustains.
Please visit the charities pages. Please come to the concert and enjoy. And please do all you can, which is a lot, to heal the Earth. It needs you and you need it.
With love, Rona
World Environment Day Trust Trustee
What gets your tail up? When have you felt complete and satisfaction poured through your body?
For me the answer is, time and again, nature and the wilderness. My daily inspiration, inclination and peaceful perspective on the world are drawn from moments like these:
The 600 year old oak, home to a sparkling white owl with green eyes and teeth like talons or the moon staring weaver fish that took unkindly to being trodden on by my sister. My life has been full of such moments and they have shaped my ambition to create and inspire an understanding between people and the natural world.
The objective of the concert is to set in motion a chain of positive actions where inspiration is provided by the music and action provided by you and your contribution to the cause.
Below are two memories I have, which I hope encourage you to support the concert and experience for yourself the tranquillity and power the natural world has to offer . . .
On the top of my list is a year spent in Africa amongst the magical creatures and climate of the Bushveld. Days were spent walking dry riverbeds in search of nothing but rainbow coloured mopani worms for the evening pot whilst nights involved avoiding nocturnal predators - the only aid being iridescent fire flies and a smoking fire. All my senses were on heightened alert and my not so infrequent frustration was absent, instead I lived by instinct and enjoyed being finely in tune with my body.
The second follows a day spent with my mother in the woods of Devon picking weird and wonderful mushrooms. Their vibrant colours danced in the autumnal leaf fall and belied their edibility, fortunately this is an age-old custom and I benefited from other gatherers mistakes and successes. It is easy to sense the mysticism surrounding these moon growers and their power is often documented in stories of poisonous murder, ferociously hallucinating Vikings and numerous fairytales.
Come and release the animal inside.
Henry