30 Days Wild can be educational, mindful, creative, or simply fun. It can be done alone, in a group, or with children. It can take as little as a minute, or occupy a whole day at a weekend. You choose your level: there are no prizes to be won, except between you and nature.
In work ranging from farming and forestry to renewable energy, housing and commercial development projects, the Galbraith team encounter biodiversity professionally in many different ways – from accommodating bats in buildings to developing landscape-scale rewilding projects. Many of us also enjoy spending our free time in the great outdoors, so it’s tempting to think that we do all this already.
Yet 30 Days Wild is different. It’s a challenge to pay more attention to our senses, experience the familiar in a new way, value the things we take for granted, and step out of our comfort zone.
Researchers have found that, for months afterwards, participants in 30 Days Wild have better mental health, a stronger sense of connection to nature, and a stronger commitment to protecting biodiversity. Those are three things that we know the world desperately needs – so why wouldn’t we get involved?
I’m hugely excited to personally be taking part in 30 Days Wild with Galbraith. We can’t wait to see what people get up to and hope there will be some great stories to share. More importantly, we are excited to see what difference it makes to our team and how it shapes the work we do in a world where nature is desperately in need of champions.