Henderson Island is a wakeup call for us all.
Reported last year, the island is one of the world’s most remote and uninhabited, part of the Pitcairn group, but with the dubious honour of also having the world’s most polluted beaches.
I have been thinking about Henderson Island a lot following a week in Apia, Samoa.
In western Arnhem Land there is a cluster of adjacent Indigenous Protected Areas that have all adopted the Healthy Country Planning approach to operating their ranger teams. Warddeken, Djelk, ASRAC, Mimal and Jawoyn have all created strong community-based plans that guide their day to day work and help to look after the health of some of our most important peoples and country.
Without doubt the smell of the spruce-bough floor of our wall tent made for one of my most memorable camping experiences. That and the small wood-fired stove – never had a tent with one of those before. Oh, and the huge and comfortable sleeping bags.
Or it could be the frozen solid tube of toothpaste – minus 30 degrees celsius overnight will do that.
