Conservation International (CI) has come up with a campaign that turns environmentalism upside down. Instead of imploring people to treat the environment better for their own benefit, the mini movies that CI is releasing are telling people, you know what, Nature will adapt and survive -- people will not.
The tone of the videos seems harsh and depressing but that is the whole point of the campaign taglined "Nature doesn't need people." People need nature. And whether you believe in greenhouse effect or global warming or not, the fact is, if humans were wiped off the planet, nature would bounce back.
According to Dr. M. Sanjayan, EVP and senior scientist at CI, the campaign was designed to rebrand the conservation debate and do a better job at showing people why treating nature better is important.
"Nature as a whole is really not what's at risk here ... Nature has been around for more than 4.5 billion years, evolving and adjusting to whatever the universe throws at it. People, on the other hand, are very fragile and entirely dependent on what nature provides," he shares in his first blog to launch the new campaign.
A-list celebrities who have been active environmentalists share their voices to the campaign in order to boost reach and popularity.
The website natureisspeaking.org details the personal convictions of the celebrity voices behind the mini movies.
Julia Roberts, who lends her voice to Mother Earth, says having children refocused her attention on what is happening to the environment for the sake of their future.
Harrison Ford, the Ocean, also happens to be the vice chair of Conservation International. He saw the importance of the organization's message that people needed nature 20 years ago; it still rings true today.
Kevin Spacey as the Rainforest keeps direct to the point: "We have to start listening to nature now."
Edward Norton, who voices Soil, is proud of his upbringing by conservationist parents and serves on the board for Conservation International, as well as a United Nations Ambassador for Biodiversity.
Penelope Cruz gave her voice to Water because she has personally observed the depletion of this clean, natural resource in her lifetime.
And finally, Robert Redford shares his special affinity with the Redwood from when he worked at Yosemite National Park when he was 15 years old -- an experience that forever changed him. He says he decided to be a political activist when he educated himself on how the United States was depleting its natural resources like coal and oil with wanton destruction to the environment.
The videos are thought-provoking and hope to show that nature is not a cause that is separated from people but rather something that people need in order to survive. Period.
I don't owe them a thing. I give. They take. But I can always take back. - The Ocean
I have fed species greater than you, and I have starved species greater than you. - Mother Nature
Humans need air. Well, I make air ... Humans. So smart. They'll figure it out. - The Rain Forest
Do you realize I'm just a thin skin on this planet? - The Soil
Will they wage wars over me like they do over everything else? - The Water
All of a sudden, there were humans. And all hell broke loose. - The Redwood (with a special appearance by Lena Redford)
