We evolved in wilderness and although we are now able to satisfy many of our physical needs outside it (at least in the short term), psychologically we still need the vital diversity, complexity, grandeur and beauty of wild places. We need to feel connected to something tangible that can be seen, smelled, tasted, that is much greater than our own fleeting existence.

  Preserving and fostering the fantastic life on earth grants infinitely more practical and intellectual rewards than the expensive but trivial knowledge of whether there are microbes on Mars.

From The Trees in My Forest

By Bernd Heinrich