Voices from The Wilderness

environmentalists — especially those who desire the retention and extension of wilderness areas like arable land or grazing which are not protected by the need for optimum food production. In looking for such a plan, we are not groping in the dark corridors of persuasion. Ever since Serge Chakotin published his study of modern propaganda — which H.G. Wells regarded as the most significant book of the twentieth century — his pyramid of sociopsychological forces which form the essential structure of all valid and viable campaigns has been the guideline for professionals who have put it into practice. Its design can be found in the structure and functioning of all the great religions and also in the opposing forces, the methods used by Nazism and Marxist-Leninism.

At the base of the pyramid there is the myth and the book, the Bible of Christianity or the Koran of Islam — and it may be the creation of many men, or prophets and apostles, through the ages. The wilderness ideal has a library of such works. I mention again the works of Thoreau and John Muir, but there is not one work which embodies the essential aspects of the history and beliefs on which it is founded. Such a book is needed. It is not essential for it to be a work of original genius, but, like the Bible itself, it can be a compilation from the great wealth of inspired material that is available.

The creed — like the Nicene creed which is the formal statement of Christian belief — can be drafted by a council of experts if we are fortunate enough to have a scholar who is able to extract the essence of the book.

But there is no substitute for genius, the flash of inspiration, in writing the words of the slogan and designing the symbol in such a manner that they will be the ultimate synthesis of the collective unconscious. It is true that the cross, which was not used as a symbol before 900 A.D., grew out of the myth.

The golden autumn leaf of the erythrina tree, which has many historical associations in South Africa, has been chosen as a non-aggressive symbol by the Wilderness Leadership School and it is yet to be seen whether this can acquire sufficient empathy to give it meaning and inspiration. That would have to precede the acceptance of the suggested slogan, which has the ring of a biblical command: "Take this leaf." However, if leaves from suitable trees in other regions are selected, there is the danger that the element of universality will be lost. This is a world movement. People from every continent and country must respond to the symbol and the call.

Since I have been trained to the idea that the object of all propaganda is to initiate action, may I, in all humility, appeal for the implementation of a plan such as I have suggested so that those who love the wild places of this earth may be served by their own book, their creed, their call to action and their symbol.

"The Trail We Follow" is in the nature of the creed of the Wilderness Leadership School. Part of it states: "We believe that the youthful leaders of today, mankind's most precious natural resource, can be strengthened in spirit, mind and character by a wilderness experience which assists them to orientate their personalities to the great whole, the total environment, by an awareness of Nature's processes in the cycle of life that determines the fate of all living things; that the wilderness will derive bene116