nature

“Given the nature of spiders, webs are inevitable. And given the nature of human beings, so are religions. Spiders can't help making fly-traps, and men can't help making symbols. That's what the human brain is there for - the turn the chaos of given experience into a set of manageable symbols.”

The benefits that we gain from a healthy environment - food and clean water, for example - are called ‘ecosystem services’. Reducing biodiversity can threaten these services. Placing a more clearly-defined value on ecosystem services may help us protect them better.
- See more at: http://newsandviews.ceh.ac.uk/topics/ecosystem-services#sthash.QMMIYBzc.dpufFarmlandWe all depend on the natural environment to supply our basic needs; air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat and the physical world to sense. These benefits that we gain from the environment are often called ‘ecosystem services’.

We constantly draw upon the ecosystem services of nature, yet often take them for granted. Whilst there are many examples of protecting ecosystem services, in general we exploit the natural world through overuse, pollution and destruction. After decades of harming our environment in this way, we are noticing the effects: some farmers are having to spray more pesticides because the natural predators of crop pests are getting rarer, many towns are at risk from flood damage because woodlands that absorb rainfall have been cut down, people in cities are becoming less healthy and more stressed because they no longer have access to green spaces to exercise in.

One of the main problems is the human-caused loss of biodiversity. A recent report has found that England has already lost almost a quarter of its butterfly and amphibian species, and a total of 943 species of plants, animals and fungi are endangered. These species may be vital links in the web of interactions that allow ecosystems to function normally.

MeadowIn order to make sure that we can continue enjoying the benefits of nature, we need to start taking nature into account in our actions. The ‘ecosystem approach’ is a way of thinking about the effect of our actions on every element of an ecosystem. By adopting the ecosystem approach to all decisions that will impact the environment, we can calculate the real cost that these choices will have for us in the long-term. For example, building a factory over a patch of meadow might create jobs and useful products. However the loss of the pollination and pest control services provided by the insects from that meadow could reduce the yield of neighbouring crop fields, the increased surface water run-off could endanger a nearby town with flooding, there will no longer be the plants to remove carbon dioxide from the air and help prevent climate change and local people would lose countryside to walk in and enjoy.

Scientists and governments, are beginning to understand this, but the idea of placing a clearly-defined value on natural resources - and including these valuations in our decision-making - needs to spread if we are to protect the ecosystem services that are our life-support systems.

- See more at: http://newsandviews.ceh.ac.uk/topics/ecosystem-services#sthash.QMMIYBzc.dpufDeath is a part of life.

It’s a cliché. But clichés exist for a reason.

The fact is we are surrounded by dying each and every day. Every time we step out in our yard, we are seeing an abundance of life. But we are also seeing the results of the death, decay and rebirth that is inherent in the cycles of life.

It makes intuitive sense, then, that a closer connection to nature may help us better come to terms with death and the grieving process.

That help may take many forms, and with debate still raging over whether grief should be treated as depression, any early restorative and healing interventions should be considered an important tool in preventing more severe problems from developing that may require medication.

Teaching us the facts of life (and death)
On one level, nature provides an intellectual frame of reference for death and dying — reminding us that death is a natural phenomenon that we can neither escape nor ignore. That context should not be underestimated, particularly in a culture that often seeks higher meaning in, or a reason for, a loved one’s passing. It’s no accident that many children’s books on grieving follow nature-based themes, such as "The Fall of Freddy the Leaf" by Leo Buscaglia Ph.D.:

“This story by Leo Buscaglia is a warm, wonderfully wise and strikingly simple story about a leaf named Freddie. How Freddie and his companion leaves change with the passing seasons, finally falling to the ground with winter's snow, is an inspiring allegory illustrating the delicate balance between life and death.”

The regenerative powers of nature
The allegorical role that the natural world plays in our grieving doesn’t just end in teaching us that death happens. Nature also provides undeniable physical evidence of another age-old cliché – life goes on.

In an article on nature awareness as a healing therapy, Kirsti A. Dyer, MD, explains this key healing quality of nature as it pertains to grief:

“Being in nature one becomes aware of the infinite circle of life. There is evidence of decay, destruction and death; there are also examples of rejuvenation, restoration, and renewal. The never-ending cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth can put life and death into perspective and impart a sense of constancy after experiencing a life changing loss or a death.”

Emotional connections
On a purely emotional level, too, nature can provide solace in grief, which at its heart is a response to the loss of someone or something to which we’ve formed a bond. Such emotional support may take the form of new bonds with animals, plants or natural landscapes — or it may involve finding comfort by visiting sites or scenery that were dear to both the deceased and the grieving party.

Nature-based solutions for general health
It shouldn’t be forgotten that nature plays a supportive role in nurturing our overall well-being and health, a key factor in helping somebody move on from grief and avoid the risks of prolonged depression.

In an article on biophilia (a posh term for our natural affinity to nature), writer Neil Chambers describes the growing field of research into a nature-based approach to heath care, the benefits of which include better recovery times in hospitals, improved concentration and fewer behavioral disorders in school age children, and increased emotional and mental well-being:

“Our mental and physical health is directly connected to biophilia. As a species that exists within nature, we are incredibly affected by its absence and presence. Yet, we function in cities and buildings that largely lack a connection to the environment. Studies indicate that this disconnect has caused myriad issues that we now expect to be corrected with modern medicine and drug therapy. Since the early 1980s, studies have explored how biophilia affects our physical health, and the findings are eye-opening. The act of simply reconnecting people to the natural elements brings about faster recovery rates, reduced stress, and eased symptoms of physical and mental disorders.”

How, then, can we consciously use nature to aid in the healing process? Below are a few starting points for exploration.

Explore nature-based rituals
Flowers and plants have long been a symbolic part of our rituals surround death, but there is a growing movement that seeks to create more profoundly nature-based ceremonies and processes. From woodland burials to Grief Walking retreats, there are a myriad of options for incorporating nature into the rituals we adopt.

Get out more
Simply setting a routine to get out more in nature can be a great way to keep moving after the loss of a loved one. That might take the form of a regular walk you take alone, walking with friends, or even seeking out a walking group that is specifically tailored to those who are grieving. In the video below, Maureen Hunter, a former nurse who began writing and speaking about grief after the death of her son, reflects on the importance of one of her regular walking spots:



Use visualization
Kirsti A. Dyer also reminds us that simply holding images of nature in our minds, and in particular images of nature’s healing and regenerative properties, can provide a powerful inspiration to keep going when it feels like our world has been destroyed:

“Nature’s healing forces can serve as powerful recuperative images for those who have experienced a death or other significant loss. Images of the rebirth in nature can be useful as symbols for the strong internal forces, bringing hope of surviving the loss. From monumental newsworthy events to ordinary insignificant occurrences, one can witness the incredible destructive power and the amazing healing capabilities of nature…”

Start a garden
From opportunities for exercise to providing healthy food, gardening has many potential therapeutic qualities. For those who are grieving, it can also be a great way to both get motivated and to form a direct, intimate connection with the kinds of healing processes we have discussed in nature. IdeaStream reports on one community in Ohio which took this concept to a logical next level, starting a Grieving Garden with the intentional purpose of coping with an unforeseen tragedy. Listen to an audio file below:



Be creative
There is no “right” way to experience grief, and there is no “right” way to use nature to deal with it. Each of us has our own view of nature, our own opportunities to connect with it, and our own needs in terms of our emotional and physical well-being. If you are experiencing grief, or seeking to help someone who is experiencing grief, take some time to seek out ideas, activities and rituals that work for you.
 What does it mean to bring our awareness to something? For many, it seems to mean that they begin thinking about whatever they are focusing on.

Awareness is qualitatively different from thinking about something. In fact it’s possible to be aware and not think at all.

One could even make the case that thinking detracts from our awareness of things.

How can we learn to bring awareness to everything in our lives—awareness without thought?

How can we just be conscious of the various aspects of our lives, so that we actually experience life instead of having a concept about it?

Eckhart Tolle explains in Stillness Speaks that nature is a good teacher on this score:

Bring awareness to the many subtle sounds of nature—the rusting of leaves in the wind, raindrops falling, the humming of an insect, the first birdsong at dawn.

Some things in nature are particularly easy to become present with, and Eckhart has highlighted these kinds of things.

A person feeling deep grief, for instance, sits on their porch watching a street of large trees in full foliage swaying in the breeze. The person finds that they are able to actually experience their grief, rather than merely thinking about it.

The sadness is felt rather than telling themselves a story about it.

Raindrops splashing on leaves and branches, into a pond or stream, or just on the pavement are especially easy to become present with. They afford an experience of immediate awareness in which we can totally immerse ourselves.

Whatever aspect of nature you choose to be present with, Eckhart adds:

Give yourself completely to the act of listening. Beyond the sounds there is something greater: a sacredness that cannot be understood through thought.

It doesn’t do much good to think about the sacred—it quickly becomes highly speculative, conjectural, even debatable.

The invisible and infinite ground of everything, the Source of all that exists, is beyond anything we can think about our even begin to imagine.

But the sacred is easily experienced the moment we become aware of and present with an aspect of nature.

 Risk management is not new. It is something we are born with. The most basic risk management systems are part of our DNA. We adapt, develop and occasionally improve on aspects of our natural heritage to build resilience. Nature evolves – it changes, it learns, it gets better. This is key to long-term success and one we must embrace.

The same principles apply to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) as they do to IT security, or any other form of catastrophic risk. The Fukushima disaster in Japan, for example, taught us that most large accidents do not simply “occur”. There are many little warning signs and minor events, which then build up to a critical mass, a tipping point or a perfect storm. These ignored warning signs sometimes precipitate into catastrophe.

Professional risk managers may want to talk about probability risk assessment or Monte Carlo mathematical models, but risk management in any organization – public or private – is a topic fundamentally grounded in the natural world. People usually want to bring together the most brilliant minds in a variety of cutting-edge fields to plan, analyse or defend against some new technology. But, all you really need to do is look at how similar problems are dealt with in nature.

Failing IT security is an increasing and potentially catastrophic risk, but the fertilization of a human egg may provide a solution. Only one sperm is allowed to get inside that egg, and once it does, the doors are closed and locked – even though there are thousands of identical candidates banging on the door, each carrying an identical DNA “key” that should, in theory, grant them access. Talk all you want about biometric authentication – this is one pretty sophisticated security system at work.

The animal kingdom also shows us different approaches to risk management; all are effective for different purposes. Why do some fish swim in schools or mammals herd together? Call it instinct or evolution, but the bottom line is that their risk management “protocols” are an integral part of their being. Of course, individuals on the periphery of the swarm or the herd are more exposed and thus less secure, but this natural “system” is designed to protect the group. The loss of a tiny fraction of its members is an acceptable element in the process of mitigating risk for the group.

Look at how penicillin and other antibiotics attack certain bacteria, but leave others untouched. That is an alternative approach to authentication being offered by biochemistry. Antibiotic resistance is yet another experience we need to learn from. You cannot approach risk management after the fact, or add on “safety features” when a product or a complex system is nearing completion. It has to be built in from the start.

We need to look at the problem differently. We must learn the lessons from a million years of history to anticipate the risks of the future. Some will be disappointed at not finding clear-cut mathematical or even procedural answers to urgent questions about risk and security. However, understanding the right way to approach a problem is often much more useful than getting a quick-fix answer to that problem.

Today’s answers are almost certain to prove unsatisfactory tomorrow, not because the answers are wrong, but because the problems keep changing. Sustainable success in risk management is rooted in an attitude, not a single solution.Perhaps like you, I resent being thwarted or trapped by some external constraint.

I have often rushed at these immovable things like a bull at a gate, with the same results of a sore head.

However, that was until recently. I’ve discovered, through nature, how fruitful such solid outside constraints can be. Twice this year I’ve seen the kind of ripe power that can burst forth after a period of life-strangling tight confinement.

‘How strange that constraint can create a build-up of awesome energy’ I thought (completely forgetting about bondage restraints and water dams) as I watched my “winter pansies” and “Lidl strawberries” produce flowers and fruits at an accelerated rate after my negligent containment of them.

I bought fifty tiny “winter colour” seedlings ultra-cheap from a Guardian offer in the Autumn. I potted them up with zealot gardener dedication.

But I was too late getting them into the flowerbeds and between one hard frost and another, followed by inches of snow on frozen ground, too cold and hard to gouge the trowel into, they were abandoned in their tight little containers.

In the Spring I noticed they seemed to still be alive, had even managing a bud or two in their tiny cells. I planted them out randomly in the garden and in the window boxes, what the hey.

Whoo-o! Within two days they were three times their size, bursting with new leaf and bigger buds, new buds and some had even flowered! They embraced their liberation with a force they must have been building and building after surviving the dormant freeze of wintertime. They have since produced flourishes of bright, joyful flowers for several months.

Similarly, the box of strawberry seedlings a friend gave me a couple of months ago which became root-bound. I fretted mildly about where to plant them and putting straw around the plants and what about losing them to our snails and slugs who rampage with full territorial rights through our garden and was there any point really in planting them out at all?

What a thing to admit to! And yet it reminds me of the fears we sometimes have about starting any creative project – our mind throws up all kinds of possible obstacles and fears which often prevent us from doing anything at all.

What is the point of spending hours of my life on this novel if it is never published? What is the point of buying a paint set if I never have time to paint? And so on, you get the idea.

I planted the strawberries out last week and already there are bunches of hard creamy strawberries beginning to blush with pink – the bright red one of a few days ago has already been eaten by a mouse or bird.

There are so many basic and complex examples of solid, external circumstances that confine and constrain us in our lives in just the same way ice forms in the stems of pansies. A lack of funds, the death of someone, a locked door, a phone not answered, a Visa expired, love rejected, a bus that breaks down.

So often our response is to try to fight the constraint, push it away. Maybe even deny it altogether. And yet look what nature tells us about the power external constraint can give us. If we freeze, pause a little and then allow ourselves to build our energy it will be there as a huge reserve you can let burst when external circumstances change, as change they will.

I am going to be more pansy and strawberry plant like from now on when I’m forced by external circumstance and situation to be dormant, pull my feelers in, remain alert and unmoving – be patient within a prolonged pause.

I am not talking here about in-between fallow periods. I am talking about those very real, very tangible forces outside of ourselves that stop us in our tracks and which we cannot change by force or any other method.

If my pansies or strawberries had fought against their confinement they would have lost a large reserve of stored energy. Instead, by pressing a natural ‘pause’ button they have given themselves the energy reserve to, at the slightest lessening of their confinement, burst forth with a huge force of raw, flowering and fruitful power.

And so it is with us. Instead of fretting and fighting about a confinement we might have – traveling to work, a difficult relationship, a tight deadline, an enemy setting us up for a fall, a pay freeze, a drain on cash flow – so many situations come up in life that press our ‘pause’ button.

I’ve noticed that many people advocate pushing through these forced constraints and I agree it is a good idea to test the strength of it initially. But then we must pause and wait, always knowing the release may not come but quietly containing our energy so we are ready for the dam bursting, the bonds removed, the money flowing and we can enjoy the hugely magnified power we had in only in potential before the constraint.

Constraints are good. They dam our creative power. And that means our creative power can explode like a new universe from a black hole.

If you, like me, are hoping that the photographer, Kalpana Chatterjee, who captured the image above immediately pulled out a pair of wire cutters and cut that barbed wire right off, you are only showing the positive spirit of humanity that has us always turning towards life and growth. Let us imagine the divine release and how the tree sap flowed after that snipping.


There is no question that Earth has been a giving planet. Everything humans have needed to survive, and thrive, was provided by the natural world around us: food, water, medicine, materials for shelter, and even natural cycles such as climate and nutrients. Scientists have come to term such gifts 'ecosystem services', however the recognition of such services goes back thousands of years, and perhaps even farther if one accepts the caves paintings at Lascaux as evidence. Yet we have so disconnected ourselves from the natural world that it is easy—and often convenient—to forget that nature remains as giving as ever, even as it vanishes bit-by-bit. The rise of technology and industry may have distanced us superficially from nature, but it has not changed our reliance on the natural world: most of what we use and consume on a daily basis remains the product of multitudes of interactions within nature, and many of those interactions are imperiled. Beyond such physical goods, the natural world provides less tangible, but just as important, gifts in terms of beauty, art, and spirituality.


Photo Credit: rgbstock photo

Remind ourselves what nature gives us free-of-charge. Here then is a selective sampling of nature's importance to our lives:

Fresh water: There is no physical substance humans require more than freshwater: without water we can only survive a few hellish days. While pollution and overuse has threatened many of the world's drinking water sources, nature has an old-fashioned solution, at least, to pollution. Healthy freshwater ecosystems—watersheds, wetlands, and forests—naturally clean pollution and toxins from water. Soils, microorganisms, and plant roots all play a role in filtering and recycling out pollutants with a price far cheaper than building a water filtration plant. According to research, the more biodiverse the ecosystem, the faster and more efficiently water is purified.

Pollination: Imagine trying to pollinate every apple blossom in an orchard: this is what nature does for us. Insects, birds, and even some mammals, pollinate the world's plants, including much of human agriculture. Around 80% of the world's plants require a different species to act as pollinator.

In agriculture, pollinators are required for everything from tomatoes to cocoa, and almonds to buckwheat, among hundreds of other crops. Globally, agricultural pollination has been estimated to be worth around $216 billion a year. However large such monetary estimates don't include pollination for crops consumed by livestock, biofuels, ornamental flowers, or the massive importance of wild plant pollination.

Seed dispersal: Much like pollination, many of the world's plants require other species to move their seeds from the parent plant to new sprouting ground. Seeds are dispersed by an incredibly wide-variety of players: birds, bats, rodents, megafauna like elephants and tapir, and even, researchers have recently discovered, fish. Seed dispersal is especially important for tropical forests where a majority of plants depend on animals to move.

Pest control: A recent study found that bats save US agriculture billions of dollars a year simply by doing what they do naturally: eating insects, many of which are potentially harmful to US crops.

Almost all agricultural pests have natural enemies, along with bats, these include birds, spiders, parasitic wasps and flies, fungi, and viral diseases. The loss, or even decline, of such pest-eating predators can have massive impacts on agriculture and ecosystems.

Soil health: The ground under our feet matters more than we often admit. Healthy fertile soil provides optimal homes for plants, while participating in a number of natural cycles: from recycling nutrients to purifying water. Although soil is renewable, it is also sensitive to overuse and degradation often due to industrial agriculture, pollution, and fertilizers. Natural vegetation and quality soil also mitigates excessive erosion, which can have dramatic impacts from loss of agricultural land to coastlines simply disappearing into the sea.

Medicine: Nature is our greatest medicine cabinet: to date it has provided humankind with a multitude of life-saving medicines from quinine to aspirin, and from morphine to numerous cancer and HIV-fighting drugs. There is no question that additionally important medications—perhaps even miracle cures—lie untapped in the world's ecosystems. In fact, researchers estimate that less than 1% of the world's known species have been fully examined for their medicinal value. However the ecosystems that have yielded some of the world's most important and promising drugs—such as rainforests, peat swamps, and coral reefs—are also among the most endangered. Preserving ecosystems and species today may benefit, or even save, millions of lives tomorrow.

Fisheries: Humankind has turned to the rivers and seas for food for at least 40,000 years but probably even longer. Today, amid concern of a global fishery collapse, more than a billion people depend on fish as their primary source of protein, many of them among the global poor. Fisheries also provide livelihoods, both directly and indirectly, for around half a billion. Coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass ecosystems provide nurseries for the world's fisheries, while the open ocean is used for migrating routes and hunting.

Even with the direct importance of the world's fisheries for food, stewardship has been lacking, allowing many populations to drop precipitously and still permitting ecologically destructive fishing. While the world's fisheries are primarily threatened by overfishing, including bycatch, marine pollution is also a major problem.

Biodiversity and wildlife abundance: The argument to save the world's wildlife has often come from an aesthetic point of view. Many conservationists have fought to save species simply because they like a particular species. This is often why more popularly known animals—tigers, elephants, rhinos—receive far more attention than less popular (although just as endangered) wildlife—for example, the redbelly egg frog, the smokey bat, or the bastard quiver tree. But beyond making the world a less lonely, less boring, and less beautiful place—admirable reasons in themselves—many of the services provided by biodiversity are similar to those provided by all of nature. Biodiversity produces food, fibers, wood products; it cleans water, controls agricultural pests, pollinates and dispersers the world plants; and provides recreation, such as birdwatching, gardening, diving, and ecotourism.

In the discussion of biodiversity, however, bioabundance is often ignored. A loss in bioabundance means that species are not just important for their diversity, but for their numbers. While Asian elephants may not go extinct any time soon, their depletion in forests means that the ecosystems lose the elephants' special ecological talents such as spreading seeds and engineering micro-habitats. The drop in salmon populations in the US has caused the entire freshwater ecosystem to receive less nutrients every year (researchers estimate a nutrient-drop of over 90 percent); this means less food for people, less salmon for predators, and a less rich river overall. Declining nutrients also makes it impossible for the salmon to rebound to optimal populations, creating a vicious circle of bio-decline.

Climate regulation: The natural world helps regulate the Earth's climate. Ecosystems such as rainforests, peatlands, and mangroves store significant amounts of carbon, while the ocean captures massive amounts of carbon through phytoplankton. While regulating greenhouse gases are imperative in the age of climate change, new research is showing that the world's ecosystems may also play a role in weather. A recent study found that the Amazon rainforest acted as its own 'bioreactor', producing clouds and precipitation through the abundance of plant materials in the forest.

Economy: In the common tension viewed between the economy and the environment—e.g. do we clear-cut a forest or conserve it?—one fact is often neglected: the environment underpins the entire global economy. Without fertile soils, clean drinking water, healthy forests, and a stable climate, the world's economy would face disaster. By imperiling our environment, we imperil the economy. According to research published in Science, the global worth of total ecosystem services could run between $40-60 trillion a year.

Health: Recent research has found what nature-lovers have long expected: spending time in a green space, such as a park, provides benefits for one's mental and physical health. Exercising in a park, instead of inside a gym, has shown to provide mental health benefits as a greater sense of well-being. Walking for 20 minutes in a green space has been proven to help children with ADHD improve their concentration, even working as well, or better, than medication. People who live in more natural settings have better overall health, even when research has taken into account economic differences.

Art: Imagine poetry without flowers, painting without landscapes, or film without scenery. Imagine if Shakespeare had no rose to compare Juliet to, or if William Blake had no Tyger to set alight. Imagine if Van Gogh lacked crows to paint or Durer a rhinoceros to cut. What would the Jungle Book be without Baloo or the Wind in the Willows without Mr. Badger? Imagine My Antonia without the red grass of the American prairie or Wuthering Heights without the bleak moors. How would The Lord of the Rings film series appear without the stunning mountain ranges of New Zealand, or Lawrence of Arabia without the desert of North Africa? There is no question that the natural world has provided global arts with some of its greatest subjects. What we lose in nature, we also lose in art.

Spiritual: While some of what nature provides us is measurable, most of what nature gives us is simply beyond measure. Economic measurements are useful; but as with most of what happens in the world, economics is simply incapable of capturing true worth. Science is also a useful measurement regarding the importance of nature, but once again cannot measure what nature means—practically and aesthetically—to each individual.

Perhaps the most difficult gift of nature's to measure is its ingrained connection to human spirituality. In most of the world's religions the natural world is rightly revered. In Christianity, Earthly paradise existed in a garden, while Noah, the original conservationist, is commanded by God to save every species. Buddhists believe all life—from the smallest fly to the blue whale—is sacred and worthy of compassion. For Hindus every bit of the natural world is infused with divinity. Muslims believe the natural world was created by Allah and only given to humans as gift to be held in trust. Indigenous cultures worldwide celebrate the natural world as their 'mother'.

But one need not be religious to understand the importance of nature to the human spirit: one only need spend time alone in a shadowy forest, sit on a forgotten beach, touch the spine of a living frog, or watch the quarter moon swing behind mountain silhouettes.

This article was originally written by Jeremy Hance and published by Mongabay; tropical rainforest conservation and environmental science news.
What are your views? Not sure? Read the resources below for more information. Add your comment below. We welcome your thoughts and proposals. Not a Planetary Citizen? Join us and Sign up to Our Future Planet today!