Equitable Access to Nature and Transformational Politics

Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh's (1926–2022) account of the nearly two years he spent as a fugitive in the Dai Lao Forest among the Indigenous Highlanders of Vietnam in his memoir Fragrant Palm Leaves demonstrates the transformational political potential associated with such access to nature. Based on this and recent work like Tiya Miles's 2023 book Wild Girls: How the Outdoors Shaped the Women Who Challenged a Nation, I propose that contemporary environmental activism toward more equitable access to nature in the United States should better highlight this transformational political potential—understood as dismantling systemic ecological and social injustice—in addition to offering public and mental health benefits.