Get out and stay out
IF WE HAVE A central mission at Australian Geographic, it is to encourage Australians to connect with nature. Just about everything we do – from the stories we tell to the people we sponsor and the activities we promote – is underpinned by some enduring tenets.
We are fortunate to live in a country with more than its share of wild places. And we should get out into them, cherish them and look after them, because they can’t be taken for granted.
The benefits of breathing clean air and enjoying physical exercise in inspiring landscapes are obvious and immediate. Now, groundbreaking Australian research is proving that the benefits go much deeper than the simple joy and exhilaration we experience by taking a long bushwalk. Our physical chemistry alters in response to our surrounding environment. Importantly, the quality of that environment is critical to those changes and can profoundly affect our health and wellbeing ( The good earth, page 64). It’s heartening to see scientific evidence for what we already knew.
We are mightily encouraged by the growing focus on extended periods of outdoor experiences in kids’ education generally and in the relatively new phenomenon of nature schools
( Bush school, page 86). For lasting and cumulative benefits, we need to spend good amounts of time in nature, and no matter where we live in Australia, nature is never far away.
Many of our big cities contain national parks or recreation areas within their broader footprints, and, in any case, big natural landscapes are never more than a bus or train ride away. The Leyland brothers played a pivotal role in educating a generation of Aussies about remote places and how to get to them in the 1970s and ’80s.Their family adventures inspired many to hitch up the caravan or pack the tent, put the kids in the car and take to the open road.
This year, we honoured that unique contribution when we awarded surviving brother Mal Leyland our Lifetime of Adventure medallion at the Australian Geographic Society Awards. We congratulate Mal and all our amazing winners (see page 30) and we thank Coral Expeditions and all our awards sponsors who enable us to shine a light on our heroes each year in this special way.