• Forests

Want to Temporarily Escape The You-Know-What? Here’s How To “Walk In the Woods” Virtually

• forest bathing
• National Geographic
• nature
• Pristine Seas
• St. Simon's Land Trust
• woods

With more states like ours — Maryland and Virginia — joining the “shelter-in-place” club, finding a way to get outdoors but maintain the appropriate social distance is increasingly difficult in urban areas and the stress of it all can be really draining.  There is a wealth of resources to help you get outdoors — albeit virtually — if you cannot easily get to a secluded place to enjoy nature safely. If you want something bold or exotic, try a virtual expedition with a National Geographic Explorer.  Even a one-minute “walk in the woods” in silence like the one above in Federica Park on St. Simons Island, Georgia can provide instant relief from our new relative captivity.

• Land

Staying Safely Connected To Nature During the Coronavirus Pandemic

• COVID-19
• National Parks
• nature
• parks
• social distancing

Florida is (finally) closing its beaches. The National Park Service has waived all park entrance fees but closed some parks and most of the facilities in the parks that remain open (check each park’s web site for more details) — they are taking “extraordinary steps to implement the latest guidance from the White House, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), and local and state authorities to promote social distancing.” 

Why This Matters:  It is spring break for many people across the country and the warming weather may make outdoor activities tempting, but unless we maintain our distances we won’t flatten the curve of exposure.

• Politics

Pete Buttigieg Releases A Plan to Conserve Nature

• 2020 Election
• 30 by 30
• nature
• Pete Buttigieg

Last Friday, Mayor Pete Buttigieg revealed his presidential plan to protect public lands including a stated goal of protecting 30% of all U.S. lands and waters by 2030. Goals of the proposal include: Ensuring consistent and robust conservation funding for federal land management agencies, states, and tribes–including securing full, permanent funding for the Land and […]

• People

Interview of the Week: Rue Mapp

• nature
• outdoors

Rue Mapp is the Founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro, a national not-for-profit organization and social community reconnecting African Americans with natural spaces through outdoor recreational activities. She oversees a volunteer leadership team of 80 men and women who represent 30 of the United States. Through Outdoor Afro, Mapp shares opportunities to build a broader […]

• People

The Growing Movement to Grant Legal Rights for Nature

• 30 by 30
• biodiversity
• indigenous communities
• nature

The rapid degradation of nature driven by human activity is forcing indigenous leaders and activists to push for nature having rights that are enshrined in law.

It’s not a new idea, but one that could be important for global conservation.

• People

The Business Case For Nature Is Being Made At World Economic Forum

• #30x30
• nature
• nature-dependent
• World Economic Forum

A new report entitled “Nature Risk Rising: Why the Crisis Engulfing Nature Matters for Business and the Economy” that was just released to coincide with the start of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum makes it clear that businesses are more dependent on nature than previously thought, with approximately $44 trillion of economic value generation moderately or highly dependent on nature.

Why This Matters:  As if we needed more reasons why we should save nature, now the World Economic Forum’s experts make it clear that it is in the world’s financial interest to do so.