There is no doubt humanity needs to be inspired to work harder to save the planet. How often do we stand by and watch flood catastrophes, record-breaking heat waves and the extinction of an animal species before we become inspired?

There is no easy answer to this question; I am honoured and lucky to have spent time with some of the people at the forefront of the change agenda, people who are profoundly inspiring and face unimaginable odds every day in trying to move the needle. My journey into planet-saving was a fast experience; I needed to understand vast complex concepts to get a small grasp of what I could do to make a difference.

During this time, I have come to relate quite profoundly to the concept of rewilding. I believe the core of the human problem is our lack of "nature time". This lack leads to an urbanization or perhaps spiritual hardening that gives rise to an 'Unnatural state of being" where perhaps we become blind to the large-scale warnings the planet is trying to show us; that she is in dire need of help. The more nature disappears, the worse it will become; our spiritual essence that we need from the natural world is slowly lost.

I was fortunate to have close contact with people in the heart of the planet and animal activism agenda. My first experience was the protest against Shell and their seismic surveys on the Wild Coast of Southern Africa. This experience undoubtedly sparked a flame within, unlike any I have experienced throughout my life. I must, however, ask myself why a flame about something as vital as saving the planet even needs to be sparked. Surely it is something I should know or, even better, something should simply get on with.

During this process, my own memory of my natural–nature experiences came to the fore, where the work and spiritual message of someone like Ian Player became the cornerstone of current principles, principles which I will become more targeted the more I traverse the planet saving landscape.

My subsequent pursuit of understanding has been nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster and confusion.

Something that has taken me a short nine months to learn might take another person several years. The great paradox is there is so much to learn, do and change with very little time to do so. Putting all these things aside and my personal experience on this journey, I have concluded that you, the reader, the fellow earth walker, might make a difference and perhaps the flame within will alight.

I believe every able-bodied person on earth is duty bound to learn as much as they can about climate change and conservation; the same people are duty bound to ensure that they insist on teaching at least one other person what they have learnt. Every educational institution and government body must ensure all students coming or going from that institution are educated in some way or form. Every company, large or small, should dedicate a portion of all their advertising, marketing or PR to creating customer awareness. Every customer ceases to support a company not trying to become sustainable.

The same companies are obligated to convert 10% of their business into being sustainable per year for the next ten years. Once all these aspirations are set in motion, all the influencers in the world are to take on the responsibility of inspiring a passion in all their followers to make the difference we need to create and be responsible for the hope–motivating force that is required to carry the world toward healing.

It is my hope that, like me, you will find that somewhere, one aspect of climate change or conservation will light the fires within. This fire might be set alight by the waves crashing to the shores, the innocent eyes of a Rhino or the plight of a Blood Lion. It is in hope, community and most importantly, a love for all things natural that the difference will be found and the inevitable reversed.