I recently came across this organization after listening to a podcast. It could have been a photography podcast OR a business one. I really can’t remember where I heard about them, just that the mission and the organization spoke to me. Spoke to me as a photographer AND as an outdoorsman.
Straight from their website, here is their mission:
“Nature First promotes the protection and preservation of the world’s natural and wild places through inspiring, educating, and uniting everyone making photographs and videos in nature; empowering them to be ambassadors of the natural world.”
If you go camping or hiking you’ve probably heard of LEAVE NO TRACE.
If you’re part of Scouting now or in the past, chances are good that you have heard of the OUTDOOR CODE:
As an American, I will do my best to -
Be clean in my outdoor manners.
Be careful with fire.
Be considerate in the outdoors.
Be conservation minded.
Either way, Nature First takes those ideas and expands on them. They are committed to not only ensuring the conservation of the environment, but also of the photographer. It’s not just protecting the environment, it’s also about giving other photographers the same experiences. As a photographer, we don’t always think about the impact we are making on others. When we find a cool place to photograph, we have one of two thoughts run through our heads: I have to tell everyone where this is OR I can’t tell anyone where this is (it has to be my little secret). If we take the latter, we are doing it selfishly, but it’s actually the right thing to do, in spirit. Not because we want it all to ourselves, but because we need to preserve it for others. If someone else happens to stumble upon a location that’s fine. But if everyone knows about it, soon enough it will get destroyed, or close enough that it gets shut down for future generations. Nobody wants that.
That’s just one example. See the rest of their principles here: Nature First
Regardless of your outdoor enthusiasm level, whether you are a weekend warrior or a “once a year glamper” (yes I said Glamper) we can all agree on one thing: there is only one Earth and we need to do what we can to protect it. This isn’t a political statement or an introduction to a debate about climate change. At the core of it we are all humans and we can all agree that if we don’t protect the environment from, and for, each other, one day there will be very little of it left and what is left will look very different. That will be a sad day for us all. When you go out, do your part: pay attention, think about what you are doing, be a good human.
“I want to be a good human being.” — Jeremy Renner