Blue-Tongued Lizard, Australia. © Ami Vitale Adopt-an-Acre® in Gondwana Link When you help protect the Great Western Woodlands in Gondwana Link by adopting an acre in Australia, your gift will be matched 100 percent, helping to preserve twice as many acres.

From the Photographer...
Ami Vitale

It is difficult to express exactly how immense, impressive and ancient the landscapes of southwestern Australia feel.

I traveled to this remote region to see the Gondwana Link Project, an ambitious plan to reconnect vast patches of wilderness that over recent decades were fragmented, desiccated and ravaged. Through the perseverance of a small group of remarkable individuals and partner organizations, including The Nature Conservancy, this special place is being nurtured back to life.

Of all the incredible things I experienced there, I met one reptile that left an unexpected and vivid impression — the blue-tongued lizard. I saw him sunbathing on the side of a road and my wonderful host, Gondwana Link Director Keith Bradby, introduced us. My fascination was instinctive and immediate.

Though the lizard can appear daunting and predatory, his artful defense strategy is pure con artistry since he's not poisonous. He hisses loudly, flattens his body to make himself look wider and opens his mouth to reveal a large blue tongue against a backdrop of pink, designed to create fear and drive away his attackers.

Unfortunately for him, he did not evoke the desired response, but I was impressed and deeply grateful. He brought me close to a world I had never imagined. This lone lizard reminded me that humanity and our landscape are entwined by intricate threads that reach back to our earliest experiences, both as individuals and as a species.

I was also reminded by the people working to heal the landscapes of southwestern Australia that humanity is admirable. I believe that despite our attempts to control and often destroy, the beauty inside all of us does prevail.

Ami Vitale is an award-winning photographer and cultural documentarian. Her work has appeared in National Geographic, Newsweek, Time, and Smithsonian, among others. She is based in Washington, DC.

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