Distressed photograph of a woodland in the snow

~~~~

The Value of Wilderness

To Nature
It may indeed be fantasy when I
Essay to draw from all created things
Deep, heartfelt, inward joy that closely clings;
And trace in leaves and flowers that round me lie
Lessons of love and earnest piety.

So let it be; and if the wide world rings
In mock of this belief, it brings
Nor fear, nor grief, nor vain perplexity.

So will I build my altar in the fields,
And the blue sky my fretted dome shall be,
And the sweet fragrance that the wild flower yields
Shall be the incense I will yield to Thee,

Thee only God! and thou shalt not despise
Even me, the priest of this poor sacrifice
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1777–1834)

Wilderness, pristine and untamed, has a long been a topic that fascinated artists and writers, scientists and conservationists. It is not surprising that in Europe the perceived need to protect Nature (with a capital N) originated in the 18thcentury, in a time in which rapid industrialization affected ecosystems and markets around the globe. In the midst of large-scale societal transformation that has been proposed as one of the starting points of the age of the Anthropocene, Romantics such as Coleridge turned to wilderness to find spiritual meaning.

It was however in North America, that in the late 19th century the first national parks were formed, inspired by writers and naturalists such as John Muir. Muir described the American continent as a wild garden. He ignored the existence of indigenous people and their relationship with the landscapes he sought to protect. The national park soon became an ‘export product’ that was used to protect the wilderness in European colonies for the sake of beauty and science. Up to today, national park management, while often depending on the revenue brought into the area by international tourists, leads to the exclusion of human local populations traditionally living off the land.

Questions

  • What is the value of wilderness?
  • What is wilderness in the Anthropocene?
  • How can national parks create value for people and animals?

Reading

Cronon, W. (1996). The trouble with wilderness: or, getting back to the wrong nature. Environmental History, 1(1), 7–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/3985059

Daston, L. (2019). Against Nature. MIT Press.

De Bont, R. (2021). Nature’s Diplomats: Science, Internationalism, and Preservation, 1920-1960. University of Pittsburgh Press.

Vannini, P., & Vannini, A. (2021). Inhabited: Wildness and the Vitality of the Land. McGill-Queen’s University Press.

Author: Somayyeh Amiri & Simone Schleper