The Sanctuary Interview Meet Harvey Locke

Harvey Locke, Co-founder of the Nature Needs Half Movement and of Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, speaks to friend and colleague Vance G. Martin, President of WILD Foundation (USA), Wilderness Foundation Global (South Africa), and Founder-Co-Chair of the Wilderness Specialist Group of the World Commission on Protected areas (IUCN).

You are one of the core founders of the Nature Needs Half movement, and you have reported on it before to Sanctuary readers. Because the 11th World Wilderness Congress (WWC; WILD11) will convene at the fabulous location of Jaipur, Rajasthan, in March 2020, and NNH will be one of several core elements in WILD11’s drive for solutions. Could you please summarise it again?

Nature Needs Half is a global movement to protect at least half the world – land and ocean - in an interconnected way so that we can turn around the environmental crisis that faces humanity and rest of life in the 21st century. It is an optimistic vision that is deeply rooted in the belief that we can have a positive future for our children and grandchildren if we transform our relationship with nature from one of exploitation to one of citizenship, where we live in community with the rest of life.

What does it mean that NNH is a “movement”? How is this different from ways that other organisations launch and manage projects?

A movement is a shared idea that enters the public consciousness and supported by a wide community. It is different from a campaign, which an individual or organisation drives and often brands as a strategy to get more resources to support their work. With movements, as long as people are aligned with the core idea, they are free to use their own means to spread the word and get the job done. All big ideas that have changed the world have worked like that - and Nature Needs Half is a big idea about how to save the world.

Why is NNH relevant at this particular time in our world?