MNN: What inspired you to start ISF?
Ian Somerhalder: What didn’t inspire me to start ISF is more like it! I’ve always understood the interconnected nature of all living things. Growing up in rural Louisiana, I was fortunate to experience the magnificence of nature firsthand. I formed compelling and significant relationships with both the grandest demonstrations of life as well as the most precious and small.

While this continuously shaped my beliefs and my lifestyle, the real tipping point for me was the Gulf oil spill. Watching the small part of Earth I call home succumb to wide-scale, man-made devastation, inspired me to use my voice for immediate worldwide change. Before I knew it, my voice was joined by an echoing family of voices that were equally as passionate and emphatically determined to heal, protect and honor the planet and all its creatures. These empowered voices are the ISF family.

What are some of the greatest challenges the planet faces today?
Each of us could easily list a million challenges facing the planet, but at ISF we believe that one fundamental understanding has the ability to catalyze infinite possibilities. It’s the understanding that we are not separate from nature. Nature is an interdependent being that is expressed through us.