Christine's Nature Adventures

Some inspirational wisdom from Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass (a brilliant and important book not to be missed); paired with a photo of this... a favourite view of mine, along the old power-line road that skirts the forest here ...this place always strikes me as a threshold, a stepping into shadow and mystery... I am learning that the Earth loves me as I love it Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond. ~Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

Nemophilist Ne`moph´i`list n. One who is fond of forests or forest scenery; a haunter of the woods. Art by Alexandra Dvornikova

What happens when you look deep into the eyes of an animal - a fellow creature, sharing our planet? Share the experience of Dr. Stephan Harding, Coordinator of ...the MSc in Holistic Science at Schumacher College and author of author of 'Animate Earth: Science, Intuition and Gaia'. What do you think of this clip? We're opening up for collaboration our new major documentary - The Sequel: What Will Follow Our Troubled Civilisation? - about the unique vision of the radical ecologist and economist, David Fleming. We're putting online a dozen short tasters like this as we film them, for your feedback with ideas, events and people we could include. The place for extended versions, or to find out more, keep in touch and share ideas for us to follow up on is on the film's blog at: http://www.flemingpolicycentre.org.uk/the-sequel/

Native bees need our help. Plant native! Here’s a free book: https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov//Bee_Basics_North_American_ Here are free native planting guides: https://xerces.org/pollinat/pollinator-friendly-plant-lists

How to build an Ark. (From wearetheark.org) Step 4. Embrace the ‘messiness’. We are losing the magic in the world, in ourselves. We are trained to see wildness ...in our gardens as ‘messy and lazy’, to see neatness as ‘care’. Neatness in nature means barren. There is very little life in a neat garden. There is no magic in a tidy, wall to wall carpet of lawn. There is no hope in those spaces, no sanctuary. Re-wilding land allows life to thrive once more. Death is an important part of life. Standing deadwood supports a huge amount of life. A living mature oak, for example, supports over 500 species of life, but a dead or dying tree supports thousands! Leave the dead leaves, branches and old growth. Leaves are winter homes for so many creatures. Larvae, fungi, small mammals ... it’s the earths winter blanket. Seed heads on everything from alders to nettles are important winter sustenance for birds. There is a huge range of support for the living, from the dead and dying elements in nature. At least 40% of woodland creatures depend on dead wood and leaf litter at some point in their lives. Intricate relationships exist between many native plants, fungi, insects and decaying creatures.

Within a brief moment of earth's history, the humans have come along and decided that fallen leaves are bad and dirty. No, they are beautiful and crucial to th...e ecosystem. When did deciduous trees evolve? During the Devonian period, about 360 million years ago, when plants first invaded the land. The earliest trees (big plants [30 meters] with woody stems) had roots and leaves (begin carboniferous). More info here: https://sites.google.com//paleopla/narrative/first-forests See more

Germany is working to end the scourge of leaf blowers to save wildlife. We don't have hedgehogs in North America, but we do have fireflies, butterflies, beautif...ul moths and birds that rely on a leafy habitat to over-winter. Article in German: https://www.bund-naturschutz.de//obdachlose-igel-laubblaes See more

More good stuff in the works!