A world where people are part of nature, not its masters
Five beliefs behind everything OpenForests builds, written by our co-founders, and what they mean in practice.
People are part of nature
We imagine a world where people and the rest of life flourish together, and where people are part of what we call nature, not its masters. Getting there takes a shift in how we see ourselves.
Equality comes first
A lasting connection with nature needs a fairer world. The people who look after forests and land deserve respect and real support for that work.
Economies that regenerate
Nature should not be used up for profit while the people who care for it stay poor. A tree is worth more than the carbon it stores or the services it provides.
Nature close to everyday life
We want more nature in people’s daily lives, and stronger emotional and intellectual connections to places far away that most of us will never visit.
Trust, cooperation and reciprocity
Organisations that invest in, restore and protect forests need to work differently: with trust, cooperation and reciprocity. Full disclosure and open communication are the first step.
Another world is possible
We believe that another world is possible. A world where human and nonhuman beings flourish alongside each other. A world where people are not masters of but part of what we call nature. For this to happen, we need a collective change of consciousness and to rebuild connectedness with the diversity of all life.
This world is an egalitarian world, as we cannot have sustained connectedness with nature without social equality. In this world, the stewards of nature are respected, awarded, and supported to continue doing what they do best and what sustains the lives of all of us.
Local and global economies will then truly be regenerative, nourishing both people and the planet. Nature will not be just a raw resource to be exploited and depleted so that a few people can profit while nature stewards remain in poverty. Trees will not just provide an ecosystem service or be just a carbon credit in an imbalanced and destructive capitalist system. Trees will be giving life both literally and metaphorically.
But how can we contribute to creating such a world?
To rekindle connectedness with nature, we can start by bringing more nature into the lives of everybody. Direct and conscious exposure to nature is paramount but fostering emotional and cognitive connections between people and nature in distant places is also important.
We also need to change how forest investment, restoration, and conservation organizations do ‘business.’ Restoration and conservation activities have to be carried forward by a global community of regeneration and connectedness. A community where the relationships between the stakeholders involved at the local, regional, and global level are based on trust, cooperation, and reciprocity. A first step towards this is full disclosure and transparency of nature interventions and open communication with all groups involved.
OpenForests emerged because we want to start co-creating and supporting such a community. We hope you will join us on this journey.
Our collective environmental consciousness is changing.
This vision is not new and it resonates with many others. So feel free to take this manifesto, use it like a seed which you can share, plant, water, grow, and adapt within your community.
Where these ideas came from
Three founders, a conversation that didn’t end the next morning, and fifteen years of building.
