I was born into a life in which wildlife & nature were part of everyday life. My early childhood was spent on the Zambian/Congo border, on a small strawberry estate, 13 miles from the town where I went to school, with my afternoon & weekends spent mostly with local children, & surrounded by mostly non-predatory wonder creatures such as vervet monkeys, bush babies & gazelles. We climbed trees & wandered in the luscious & verdant surrounds. Sometimes I stayed the afternoon with classmates, with my father picking me up after work, but even in this surprisingly cosmopolitan British ex pat town, wildlife could be found on the streets. Yes, there were snakes, too, & other wild life one wanted to steer clear of but the attitudes held from my grandmother, through to my parents, to me, was that all life forms are connected & should be valued & respected. On immigrating from landlocked Zambia at 10 with my family to South Africa, my love of nature expanded to the oceans that were there before me. We moved a fair bit but we always located in ocean cities. This loving of nature attitude is in the DNA, also carried on to my son —who was taken by me to an ocean spot as soon as I could in the very first days of his life — & now onto his children. The family of four now live happily in an ocean village on the west of Vancouver Island, where one can often see wild life making a life too among the human inhabitants. One can spot bears fairly often, wolves too, coyotes & lots of deers, often munching in one’s garden! One of my grandchildren, just 10, envisions a life as a zoologist or wildlife vet, the other at 13 did the 2022 WWF run to restore nature, making it to number 3 on the leader border, raising $1808. A sizable sum, especially as she was in mostly a top group of adults with a fair number of corporate donors. I was her fundraiser & luckily has friends world wide, who supported her & the WWF. As a fairly young child, she referred to fellow primates as her cousins. She certainly is good family! Her brother initiated a rescue of an abandoned husky pup from the desert climes of Qatar last July.This much loved dog knows how extremely lucky he is to have landed with the animal & nature loving family, in a climate region far better suited to having a heavy coat. I have long been a supporter of WWF, as well as of groups helping to protect the Amazon rainforest. Both my grandchildren are delighted at being associated with the donations to these various conservation projects. They now have the generational family conservation baton firmly in their hands, & in all likelihood will run again to restore nature in the future, again in a threesome of my son, & grandson to accompany my granddaughter in solidarity. Another good way to support WWF is buying gifts at their shops. My granddaughter has a number of their great wildlife socks, which she loves & my grandson a rainproof jacket, perfect for living on the Wild West rainforest coast. Written by S Fuller, a primate, currently living in Vancouver en route to the VI west coast.
Born In The Wilds; Ocean & Nature Lover; Generational Commitments Into The Future To Ensure A Planetary Future
