If this resonates with you, you are already part of this
Keep It Wild Australia is built around a belief that many people already carry, even if they have never put it into words: the landscapes we inherit are not ours to use without limit. We benefit from them for a time and have a responsibility to pass them on with their natural character and future possibilities intact.
You do not need to describe yourself as a conservationist or activist to share that belief. You may be a walker, camper, climber, paddler, photographer, birdwatcher, local resident or someone who simply values knowing that wild places still exist. You may visit national parks every week or rarely have the opportunity to enter one.
What matters is the recognition that these places have value beyond what they can provide for us now, and that our generation has no greater claim to them than the generations still to come.
Enjoyment brings responsibility
Most of us come to care about protected landscapes through experience. We remember a particular walk, a quiet campsite, a mountain view or a moment when the scale of the natural world placed our everyday concerns into perspective.
Those experiences can create a powerful sense of connection, but connection does not give us an unlimited right to shape a place around our preferences. Sometimes the clearest expression of care is accepting that we do not need every comfort, service or experience to be available wherever we choose to go.
People who spend time outdoors are well placed to understand what is at risk. We have seen the value of simplicity, solitude and self-reliance, and we know how quickly the character of a place can change. With the privilege of enjoying these landscapes comes a reason to speak when development is presented as inevitable or when attracting more visitors begins to outweigh protecting the place itself.
Humility is not exclusion
The idea that not every person needs access to every landscape can sound uncomfortable in a public debate, but it is not an argument for keeping people away from nature.
Australia can and should provide a wide range of accessible outdoor opportunities. Urban reserves, coastal paths, short walks, lookouts and family campgrounds allow millions of people to connect with nature. Investment in these experiences is important, particularly where it removes unnecessary barriers and can be delivered without compromising sensitive places.
What fairness does not require is the remaking of every remote or fragile landscape around the same level of ease, comfort and service. Some places can remain challenging. Some can require preparation. Some may need limits because their ecological or cultural values cannot sustain more use.
Respecting those differences preserves a genuine diversity of experience rather than turning nature into a standardised product designed around the visitor.
Tourism and conservation can coexist with clear boundaries
Keep It Wild does not reject tourism or the businesses that help people enjoy the outdoors. Guides, accommodation providers, transport operators, outdoor retailers and regional communities all contribute to valuable experiences.
The question is where permanent commercial development belongs.
Gateway towns, private land and established tourism precincts can provide accommodation, meals, equipment and guided services while visitors enter a national park as members of the public. Commercial attractions and premium experiences can succeed without requiring protected areas to carry their buildings, utilities and ongoing business obligations.
You can support regional tourism and still believe that national parks should remain primarily places of conservation and public stewardship. Those positions are not contradictory. Clear boundaries allow both to flourish.
Agreement does not have to be absolute
People who share the Keep It Wild ethic may still reach different conclusions about a track, campground, shelter or visitor facility. Protected-area management is complex, and decisions can involve safety, environmental protection, cultural responsibility and existing public use.
Shared values give us a better starting point rather than a requirement to agree on every detail. We can ask whether infrastructure responds to a real management need, whether it is publicly accountable and proportionate to the place, and whether it preserves more choices than it removes. We can also ask whether the same commercial experience could occur outside the protected area.
Reasonable disagreement is possible. What matters is that conservation remains the first consideration, not one interest to be balanced after a tourism product has already been designed.
The people not in the room
Planning processes naturally focus on present needs. Governments consider current priorities, businesses forecast customers and communities think about jobs and opportunities available now.
Future generations are not in the room. They cannot make submissions, challenge assumptions or object when we narrow the choices they will inherit.
Thinking about them changes the way a proposal is judged. The question becomes not only whether it offers benefits today, but whether we are entitled to impose permanent consequences on people who had no voice in the decision.
Choosing restraint can be an act of generosity. It leaves our children, their children and generations beyond them the possibility of forming their own relationship with these places rather than inheriting only the decisions we made for ourselves.
A quiet form of stewardship
The public notices development because it arrives with plans, funding announcements and opening ceremonies. The decision not to build is much less visible.
Yet many treasured landscapes remain as they are because someone previously chose restraint. A proposal was refused, a community spoke up or a land manager recognised that the absence of infrastructure was part of what needed protection.
That kind of stewardship is often quiet. It may mean maintaining a basic campsite rather than expanding it, directing a business to private land or accepting a limit on visitation. Its value can take decades to become clear, particularly as undeveloped places become scarcer.
If you believe that some places should remain wild, that public land carries responsibilities as well as rights and that future Australians deserve the same choices we inherited, then you already share the values behind Keep It Wild.
We are custodians for a brief time. What we protect, and what we have the restraint to leave untouched, will become our inheritance to those who follow.
A note on independence
Keep It Wild Australia is an independent, principle-led initiative.
Any organisations referenced here are included for context and awareness only.
Their inclusion does not imply endorsement, affiliation, or partnership.
The organisations listed below offer a range of perspectives and initiatives related to conservation, public access, and stewardship. Exploring their work can provide additional context to the broader conversation.
Wild Magazine
For nearly four decades, Wild has actively and fiercely fought for the environment. Campaigning to protect our wild places is part of our DNA. Lastly, Wild is about telling stories that matter, stories that resonate with our readers. Wild is about deep engagement. It is about inspiration. It is about passion.
wild.com.au
Bushwalking NSW
Bushwalking NSW Incorporated is the peak body for bushwalkers in NSW and the ACT. It represents the interests of over 12,000 bushwalkers from 70 bushwalking clubs throughout the state, and provides a united voice to local, state and federal government agencies and other bodies on issues affecting bushwalkers. (Bushwalking NSW Inc. was formerly known as the Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs of NSW.)
www.bushwalkingnsw.org.au
Tasmanian Wilderness Guides Association
The Tasmanian Wilderness Guides Association formed in 2019 to provide a united voice for Tasmania’s outdoor guiding community. Our mission is to advocate on behalf of our members in relation to our employment, careers and working conditions, have a say in shaping a sustainable tourism industry in Tasmania and help cultivate and celebrate Tasmania’s unique guiding culture.
www.tasmanianguides.org
Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales
As the state’s leading environmental advocacy organisation, it is our mission to protect nature in NSW and create the conditions it needs to thrive. For more than 60 years, we have been at the centre of the state’s most important conservation battles and have notched up countless wins for wildlife, bushland, marine life, and local communities. We run campaigns, mobilise communities, and advocate passionately for the protection of our unique wildlife and bushland. We also play a leading role in fire policy, education, and ecology through our Healthy Ecosystems Program.
www.nature.org.au
Nature Conservation Society of South Australia
The Nature Conservation Society of South Australia is a voluntary body with members drawn from all parts of the State and all walks of life. The Society’s primary objective is to foster the conservation of the State’s wildlife and natural habitats.
www.ncssa.asn.au
National Parks Association of the ACT
The National Parks Association of the ACT started in 1960 with the prime objective of establishing a National Park for the National Capital. Twenty four years later, in 1984, this goal was achieved when Namadgi National Park was proclaimed. Today, the Association works to promote national parks, their good management, and the protection of our fauna and flora, scenery, natural features and cultural heritage. We do this by lobbying, education and by hands-on work parties.
www.npaact.org.au
Tasmanian National Parks Association
The Tasmanian National Parks Association (TNPA) is a non-profit, non-government organisation committed to the protection of Tasmania’s national parks and reserved lands. We reinforce public values, concerns and criticisms to policy makers and managers, while promoting conservation awareness. We aim to give park users a voice and involve the community in matters affecting these important and invaluable areas.
tnpa.org.au
National Parks Association of QLD
The National Parks Association of Queensland (NPAQ) promotes the preservation, expansion and good management of national parks and other forms of protected areas in Queensland. Established in 1930, NPAQ has played a pivotal role in the creation of many national parks in Queensland, including iconic parks such as Girraween National Park.
www.npaq.org.au
National Parks Association of NSW
National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) has been established as a conservation organisation for 60 years. NPA has played a role in the establishment of many of NSW’s national parks and nature reserves. Today there are 877 protected areas covering 7 million hectares on the land (9% of the State) and 66,000 ha of marine waters (6.5% of the coast), far exceeding the goals of our founders. NSW is one of the most environmentally diverse areas on earth and we work hard to ensure it remains this way.
npansw.org
Victorian National Parks Association
The Victorian National Parks Association has been at the forefront of nature conservation campaigns for more than 65 years, with outstanding results. In 1952, when the VNPA was formed, Victoria had just 13 national parks, covering a bit over 100,000 hectares, and no National Parks Act. Today, largely due to our efforts, we now have 45 national parks, 26 state parks, 13 marine national parks, 11 marine sanctuaries and numerous other parks protected under the 1975 National Parks Act. Here are some of the more notable campaign outcomes.
vnpa.org.au
The Bob Brown Foundation
The Bob Brown Foundation is all about action with a vision to protect Australia’s wild and scenic natural places of ecological and global significance.
www.bobbrown.org.au
National Parks Australia Council (NPAC)
PROTECTION FOR LIFE. Australian’s love of nature has protected our most unique and amazing natural areas. By working together, we can continue to protect the places we all love. The National Parks Australia Council (NPAC) has a mission to protect, promote and extend national park systems within Australia.
npac.org.au
Public Parks Not Private Playgrounds
The island community campaigned to bring the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail development back to the original concept with support from many organisations such as the Royal Society of SA, Conservation SA, the Wilderness Society SA, the National Trust SA, Field Naturalists Society of SA, KI Natural Resources Management Board, and Friends of Parks groups across South Australia.
ppnotpp.org
The Wilderness Society
The Wilderness Society is powered by over 30,000 Australians from all walks of life. We work to support the living world that makes all life possible. (Including our own.) The Wilderness Society began in 1976 — a meeting of just 16 people in the home of Tasmanian GP, Dr Bob Brown. The passionate campaign that emerged to save the Franklin River rocked the political orthodoxy and defined a generation. Together, we’re taking on transnational corporations, rogue operators, and the armies of lobbyists and politicians who defend them. From the corridors of Canberra to the streets of your town, we’re here to change the system.
wilderness.org.au
Environmental Justice Australia
Environmental Justice Australia is the environment’s legal team. We use our technical expertise and practical understanding of the legal system to protect nature and defend the rights of communities to a healthy environment. We are a not-for-profit legal practice. We are lawyers and legal advisers to environment and community groups, providing strategic and legal advice to support campaigns for positive social change. We are donor-funded, supporter-driven, independent of government and reliant on the backing of the community.
www.envirojustice.org.au
Protect Our National Parks
Protect Our National Parks is a space to keep track of proposals for private large-scale construction projects in national parks and other public land across Australia. It gives an overview of the problem, showing the results of the National Parks’ Service shift of focus from protection to profit. The site also helps community organisations battling these proposals by providing a central space to host information, educate the public and media, and monitor the status of these projects.
protectournationalparks.org
Bush Heritage Australia
Bush Heritage Australia is a national not-for-profit conservation organisation committed to returning Australia’s bush to good health.
www.bushheritage.org.au
WA Parks Foundation
Our focus is to deliver projects that celebrate, protect, promote and enrich WA parks so we can all enjoy them, now and in the future.
www.ourwaparks.org.au