Epic Games, the online games kids will do anything to play (you know the names… Fortnite and Rocket League) –– even if they need to line up and play at the library computer. This online gaming company has decided they will use company profits to help save an Old Growth Forest in North Carolina. This makes environmentalists everywhere proud.
The founder of Epic Games decided to donate 7500 acres of land in the Appalachian Mountains to be preserved as a haven for wildlife forever. According to press reports the donation includes the largest American Chestnut restoration project in the country, extensive boulder fields, rich coves full of biodiversity, old growth forests, six waterfalls, and a system of rare heaths.
In addition to overseeing Epic’s Fortnite and Rocket league goods franchises Tim Sweeney has decided to be a Green Prophet and a conservation philanthropist. The land he has bought and donated is considered “priceless”.
It is the vision of philanthropists who can have an impact on the planet for hundreds of years into the future.
“As we watch so much of our region get carved into sub-divisions, strategic acquisition of large parcels of land is increasingly important — and increasingly hard to accomplish. In twenty years this gift might be one of the few sites in Western North Carolina that still looks like it looked one hundred years ago, or one thousand years ago,” said aid Carl Silverstein, executive director of the land trust who will manage the forest.
“These parcels include some of the most sought-after conservation acres in the eastern United States, including over 100 miles of pristine creeks and streams. We really are honored to be entrusted with the responsibility to steward this vast mountain complex,” he added.
Philanthropists play an important role in land conservation in the United States and countries like Scotland where people with vision 100 or 200 years into the future or more – understand that if private individuals don’t take action by preserving big swaths of land, it will be divided up for private use ruining the “wild” in wildlife.
Welcoming biologists
“This project is a conservationist’s dream come true,” said Marquette Crockett also from the land trust. “Pristine roadless land that has not been timbered over is almost impossible to find in the Southern Appalachians in 2021, but this assemblage contains so much that we value, from old growth forests to high-elevation open areas in an undisturbed condition. My phone will ring off the hook from biologists who want to visit and study this unparalleled preserve. We look forward to welcoming them to the mountain.”
Multiplayer player video games can be violent and addictive but there are options for steering your kids towards games that encourage cooperative play.
Video games like crypto can also be terrible for the environment from the carbon emissions released by the servers that run the games –– well, for the air conditioners that cool the servers that run the games. While there are companies in Helsinki using “greener” solutions and companies buying carbon credits, donation land to land trusts like this is just as good or maybe even a better than a short-term solution. And I hope the game developers will show off this gift to their players. Because the real values in life are connected to nature and our place in it.
If you don’t love video games for your kids: games like Minecraft are based on multiple player interaction but before you go there there is a single-player Creative mode on the “Peaceful” setting, where there is no interaction with others in the game and therefore no conflict. But eventually as kids develop in the game, most kids will want to play with others, and multiplayer gaming invites some risks.
