Our Mission
Earthfire’s Mission is to reawaken our deep connection to wildlife and nature through Reconnection Ecology®, expanding our sense of community to include all living beings and moving us to protect thriving habitats for all life.
Susan’s Writing Cabin
Reconnection Ecology® is the practice of awakening our bonds to nature in order to spur both individual and collective change. Research tells us that meaningful experiences in nature can lead to profound changes in our worldview and behaviors. If we open ourselves to connecting deeply with the natural world, including with other species, those experiences can transform us—not just intellectually, but also emotionally, philosophically, even spiritually.
Humans represent the gravest threat to our planet’s future. Natural threats such as supervolcanoes, asteroids, and earthquakes may result in disaster, but human machinations are a proven, predictable force of mass destruction. Yet, with our remarkable intelligence and capacity for compassion, we also have the ability to recover what we’ve damaged and serve as Earth’s greatest advocates and protectors. The question is, why aren’t we?
“Belonging to something bigger than oneself… can shift worldviews in ways that little else can, especially when it comes to forming durable motivations for conservation.”
Matthew J. Zylstra, Ph.D., Connectedness as a Core Conservation Concern: An Interdisciplinary Review of Theory and a Call for Practice
While the reasons are complex, at the root is a simple fact: we are increasingly disconnected from the natural world. We share the planet with millions of other species, yet interact with very few. We live under the illusion we are no longer dependent on nature. As biodiversity continues to collapse, we fail to see the rapid extinction of other species as a threat to our own survival.
Many of us share the belief that global collective action—championed at the highest levels of government and corporate leadership—is needed to address the environmental crises before us. But we don’t often acknowledge that the power of collective action rests in our individual relationships to the natural world and our personal commitment to protecting it.
Transformation at the personal level can, over time, shift values and belief systems in societies. Developing a visceral, emotional relationship with another being or part of the natural world can instill in us the passion to defend it, drawing on our newfound wisdom to create practical solutions to ecological crises. Simply put, with deep connection, we are moved to protect what we love.
