The Rewild Revolution

By: Francesca Mundrick, Founder of Rewilding for Liberty

The normative modern environmental movement, starting in the 1960s, is slowly becoming irrelevant and in desperate need of reform. The inception of environmentalism was necessary and created great progress- environmental education is at a height, environmental protections abound, and awareness is ever present. However, where there are positives, exist negatives.

Environmentalism has moved away from many of its original premises and goals. Environmentalism has become highly polarized and weaponized for political and economic gain. Environmentalism has become globalist, elitist, and pretentious. Environmentalism leans on increasingly collectivist policies that centralize governmental power directly conflicting with American ideals of constitutional libertarianism. Environmentalism is commercialized, corporatized, and privatized. Environmentalism does not target the root causes of the very issues it attempts to solve. All of these factors have caused the environmental movement to become stagnant, lacking vision, and devoid of continued growth.

We are missing the point.

We first must realize that our relationship with the environment starts with sociology not just ecology. Understanding the systems of our world and facing the harsh realities of those systems is how we overcome them. This is not a call to destroy our society and rebuild it- this is a call to get rid of the parts of our system that aren’t working for us by enhancing the parts that are.

Environmentalism is not about people saving the Earth, it is about the Earth saving people. The environment is our greatest power and we have been deceived and drastrated from that fact.

We say that we are ready for the truth, but, somehow, we cannot seem to see the reality right in front of us. We the people are in a revolution against the powerful who seek ultimate control.

Advancements in globalization, urbanization, corporatization, and technology are perpetuated by elitists, corporate monopoly, and government oligarchy. These influences have created a modern world that breeds dependence, disconnection, a loss of localism, manipulated economics, and a degradation of resources.

We are kept comfortable with convenience, stupid with mindless entertainment, devoid of spirituality and meaning, codified with shallows gratifications, quieted by special interests, divided by political propaganda, and dependent as our lifeways vanish.

How can we deny this revolution when it is no secret that systematic warfare on the people has persisted in our society for decades. Modern warfare on our humanity has broken our connection to nature causing the loss of our sovereignty.

So, how do we win this revolution?

We are not fighting this modern revolution with weaponry on the battlefield- we are fighting it with our choices, life ways, and shared ideology. In order to win this revolution, like any real meaningful challenge, we must awaken, we must resist, and we must we must fight for our sovereignty.

What is sovereignty? To be sovereign is to be free. Sovereignty is to be independent of control in daily life. Sovereignty is to possess liberty.

So, what do we do to get sovereignty back?

We Rewild. Rewilding is not a fad, a cause, a greenwashing ploy, another band aid on environmental problems-it is the transformation of our lives in real time. Rewilding is slowly being moved from its niche social space into mainstream culture as it answers the call for sovereignty where modern environmentalism does not.

Rewilding as a discipline includes several branches- Conservation, Human, and Community Rewilding. The philosophical foundation of rewilding is what makes it groundbreaking for modern time. Rewilding is hope. Rewilding is authenticity in a fake inauthentic world. Rewilding is the recognition that nature, including our human nature, is the only thing that is real, the only thing that we can trust, and where our real power lies.

Conservation Rewilding is an approach that prioritizes nature-first, nature-led ecological restoration strategies. Conservation Rewilding drives balance by maximizing the functionality of ecosystems through restoration practices that focus on coexistence, ecological relationships, habitat connectivity, increasing biodiversity and, overall, low management strategies. While historically associated with megafauna reintroduction, wilderness conservation, and the Three Cs Model (Cores, Corridors, and Carnivores), Conservation Rewilding in practice is now seen as any benefit to nature regardless of scale.

Human Rewilding is an approach that reconnects people to the knowledge provided by the innate wildness of our primitive human origins. Human Rewilding is defined by the practice of reskilling and lost ways which promotes self-sufficiency in the post-industrial modern world. Reskilling activities include foraging, herbalism, homesteading, hunting, fishing, ancestral knowledge, weaving, permaculture, holistic wellness, composting, beekeeping, textile making, astronomy, wilderness survival, primitive lifeways, orienteering, bushcraft, and more. Human Rewilding in practice is a rediscovery of the power that exists within the human spirit.

Community Rewilding is an approach that re-establishes the connection between local environments and the people who live there. Community Rewilding is a pillar of the localization movement because it shifts power back to local people and environments with the application of scalable rewilding efforts in community centers such as homes, schools, workplaces, churches, parks, community gardens, civic centers, and more. Combining elements of both Conservation Rewilding and Human Rewilding in practice, this approach counterbalances modern challenges by helping people to achieve sovereignty.

In the face of a world in great change, ever “progressing” with advancements promising more, we seek the simplicity and the honesty of the natural world once again. While we may believe the globalist, technological future is imminent, with elitist power infinite, nothing will ever possess more power than our ancient Earth and that power is bringing us home. The reality is people are finding truth in nature once again and that reality will ultimately reign supreme.

Rewild for Liberty. Nature is freedom. To an America wild and free,

Franny