The Idea of Wilderness Essay Example

of balancing the need for exploitation of wild environments with conservation of this wild ecosystems calls for the need for all interested stakeholders to sit down and draw up strategies that will make sure wilderness is conserved and protected for the benefit of present and future generations.

Absence of Design in Nature by Richard Jefferies

In the parlor to which I have retired from the heat there is a chair and a table and a picture on the wall. But outside I see no such chair, or table, or picture. Pondering deeply upon plants, living thing and elements, I came to a conclusion that there is no object, no end, no purpose, no design, and no plan. From childhood we build up for ourselves an encyclopedia of the world, answering all questions. For the practical matter of life, they are sufficient. I felt crushed when I finally saw that there was nothing especially made for man to sit on, write on, and to admire. Even that poor instrument, the mere hollowed stone early man used to ground his wheat was not thrown to him prepared for use. There neither is, nor has been, nor be any chair, or picture, or chair, or quern in the cosmos.

When at last I had disabused my mind from the enormous imposture of a design, an object, and an end, a purpose or a system, I began to see dimly how much grandeur, beauty and hope there is in a divine chaos than there is in a universe made by pattern. Locally, that which has a design or purpose has a limit. There is no enough in nature. It is one vast

prodigality. It is a feast. There is no economy: it is all one immense extravagance. It is all giving, giving: no saving, no penury, a golden shower of good things is ever descending. I love beyond all things to contemplate this indescribable lavishness- I wish it could be introduced into our human life. I know, none better, that it is at the present moment impossible to practice it, that each individual is compelled to, in order to exist, to labor, to use and to economize

As a child, the mention of the word “wilderness” evoked a picture of far way jungles that have not been inhabited by human beings. To my understanding, the place was inhabited by mysterious and dangerous wild animals that roamed the jungle in search of human intruders. I remember reading tales of people who never made it back after getting lost or venturing into the jungle in search of adventures. The jungle was a dangerous place that was to be avoided at all cost. My perception of the jungle was learned from reading stories in kid’s books and watching kid’s television programs.

However, as I grew up my perception of what wilderness is has changed. I have come to learn that wilderness does not only have to do with jungles and forests. From geography, I have known that wilderness refers to broad aspects of nature; both tangible and intangible. The jungle which I thought to be the wilderness is just a small subset of the entire wilderness. Tangible wilderness is made up of the physical aspects that can be seen and touched. This physical includes features such as mountains, forests, deserts, and other

landscapes that have not interfered with activities of the human beings such as urbanization, infrastructure development, and agriculture.

Growing up, I was not also aware that nature has an intangible aspect, of which I came to learn about it in school. These intangible facets of the wilderness include the aspects of mystery and unpredictability of the physical aspects of the wilderness. This aspect means that wilderness is not necessarily experienced at the untouched natural landscape, but can also be experienced in areas that have been affected by human civilization. I have also come to realize that my childhood perception of wilderness being a dangerous place with mysterious wild animals was false. Although human beings do not inhabit them, wildernesses are safe places that can be experienced as great vacation and adventure destinations for people.