Wild Woman

An engaging blend of conservation stories and humorous, personal anecdotes from Philippa Forrester about women who, like her, choose to live and work in the wild.

Surviving in the wilderness has long been associated with men, and traditionally conservation and environmental biology have been male-dominated subjects. Yet many remarkable women also choose to live and work in wild and challenging landscapes. In her new book, Philippa Forrester studies and celebrates what it means to be a wild woman.

Taking an anthropological approach, Philippa considers the grit and determination required for women to maintain connections to wildlife. She reveals stories of female conservation heroes and other extraordinary wild women and relates some of her own experiences from three decades spent travelling around the world working in some of the wildest places on Earth. What does it take for a woman to live or work in the wild? Which qualities help women to survive and thrive in the most challenging of natural environments?

Talking to women from around the world, she examines how these women benefit from a life spent in the wilderness and considers what the natural world gains from them. And as she explores our relationship with the wild, Philippa contemplates what we expect and need from nature and ponders why we still feel a pull towards it despite living pasteurised lives disconnected from the natural world.