Development Manager, Charles Darwin Foundation (Galapagos)
Today's Date: 14th july 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Watching the giant tortoises eat in the wild.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Flinders Ranges South Australia
Now? Genovesa Island/Galapagos
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Galapagos land iguana- something regal and primitive in that crusty scaly face
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Slowing- stopping- the human impact on natural areas
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Act before it's too late.
Thanks to my sister Michelle McIlroy for designing the logo!
July 14, 2006
Laura Rossacher
Intern, Austrian Press & Information Service of the Embassy of Austria
Today's Date: 14th of July 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
In 2005 I went rafting on the river "Kolpa", the border river between Slovenia and Croatia. Because of heavy rainfalls it was an extraordinary experience and I have never felt as close to nature as on that day. It felt like I was affiliating with the water and the river.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
As I had a dog when I was little, I loved taking him for walks in the woods close to our flat in my Austrian hometown Graz.
Now?
In general I am a huge fan of nature, especially of the mountains in Austria during summer. Unfortunately I haven't made a hiking trip to the mountains for several years. I have gone skiing to the Alps in Salzburg every winter, which I also like a lot.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favourite animal is, and why?
My favourite animals are butterflies, because of their beauty and diversity. I enjoy watching butterflies and love butterfly section in the Viennese famous zoo Schönbrunn.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
To my mind the greatest environmental challenge of the present and the future is to find a way of avoiding air pollution, which is the cause of so many more environmental damages. In particular there should be put much more effort in finding alternative fuels for cars.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Everyone should be more aware of the impact he or she personally has on our environment in every day's life. In fact the small things will make the great difference, for example using public transport systems instead of going by car.
Today's Date: 14th of July 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
In 2005 I went rafting on the river "Kolpa", the border river between Slovenia and Croatia. Because of heavy rainfalls it was an extraordinary experience and I have never felt as close to nature as on that day. It felt like I was affiliating with the water and the river.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
As I had a dog when I was little, I loved taking him for walks in the woods close to our flat in my Austrian hometown Graz.
Now?
In general I am a huge fan of nature, especially of the mountains in Austria during summer. Unfortunately I haven't made a hiking trip to the mountains for several years. I have gone skiing to the Alps in Salzburg every winter, which I also like a lot.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favourite animal is, and why?
My favourite animals are butterflies, because of their beauty and diversity. I enjoy watching butterflies and love butterfly section in the Viennese famous zoo Schönbrunn.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
To my mind the greatest environmental challenge of the present and the future is to find a way of avoiding air pollution, which is the cause of so many more environmental damages. In particular there should be put much more effort in finding alternative fuels for cars.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Everyone should be more aware of the impact he or she personally has on our environment in every day's life. In fact the small things will make the great difference, for example using public transport systems instead of going by car.
Oberon Zell-Ravenheart
Founder & Primate, Church of All Worlds (www.CAW.org)
Headmaster, Grey School of Wizardry (www.GreySchool.com)
Designer, The Mythic Images Collection (www.MythicImages.com)
Today's Date: July 13, 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Wow-so many! I've had many, many pets and companion animals over my long lifetime. Possums raised from babies have been some of my favorites-I've had several of them, and they have been just adorable. Sadly, their lifespan is only a year or two. When I lived out in the woods from 1977-1985, I raised up a few baby deer, which continued to hang out with the wild herds, but would come when I called them. During that time, I also caught and raised a feral pig, which was quite an experience!
But certainly the two most important non-domestic animals I have had in my life were my boa constrictor, Hista (1967-1972), and my great horned owl, Archimedes (1986-1994). With each of them, I bonded so deeply that I could enter their minds in my dreams, and follow them about on their nocturnal journeys around the place (neither were kept caged). When Hista died (of wounds inflicted by a dog during a few weeks when she was lost outside, and before she returned, "calling" me to where she was hiding), I felt her death. I felt her mind join with mine as we'd often done in dreams, and then I felt her drop her body at the other end, and just move in with me permanently. She became part of me.
I've also had a few cats that were uncannily intelligent, and highly conversational-especially Octobriana, a tortoise-point Siamese who was a full member of the family. And one absolutely immense Burmese python (12 feet) named Ananta, who was a real sweetheart, and often climbed into bed to sleep with me. Octobriana liked to sleep in the middle of his huge coil.
Throughout the 1980s I also raised several living Unicorns, which I exhibited at Renaissance Faires all over North America and eventually leased on exhibition to the Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey Circus for four years. But that's a whole other story.
Oh yeah. And the weasels.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes. The slew (marsh) near our suburban house, where I used to spend many hours alone building hideouts and tree platforms in the enormous weeping willows, sitting very still watching critters, catching swimming things to stock my aquaria and terraria, etc. My room was a miniature zoo and museum of collections (seashells, fossils, rocks, butterflies & moths .). I even had a pet little brown bat and a little screech owl for a time. Also many snakes and several lizards (including iguanas, geckos, and tegus). My parents were, now that I think back on it all, remarkably indulgent. Of course, there was the episode with the terrarium full of praying mantises that got loose in the house.
Now?
The 55-acre parcel of wilderness sanctuary called "Annwfn" that our Church inherited as a Deed of Trust in 1982. It is located in the mountains of Mendocino County, NorCalifia, and is completely off the grid. It is a very magickal place, with lovely gardens and orchards. For eight years I lived next door, on an adjacent 220-acre parcel, but I moved away over 20 years ago. However, I still go back for gatherings, and to see the forest that's grown from all the trees I planted so long ago.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Probably the flying fox. Genuine "flying monkeys" straight out of the Wizard of Oz! Related to primates, not insectivores like other bats. I would love to be able to have one! I'm also particularly fond of snakes, and I have a lovely ball python at the moment.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Global warming and mass extinctions of many species. Rising sea levels, and a new Ice Age. The future will be a very different world than we have known for the past 10,000 years.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Always keep in mind the most important maxim of Wizardry throughout all the ages: "Omnia vivunt; omnia inter se conexa." (Cicero) Everything is alive; everything is interconnected. Plant trees. Plant lots of trees. Grow your own vegetable garden. Reuse, recycle, renew, restore.
Headmaster, Grey School of Wizardry (www.GreySchool.com)
Designer, The Mythic Images Collection (www.MythicImages.com)
Today's Date: July 13, 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Wow-so many! I've had many, many pets and companion animals over my long lifetime. Possums raised from babies have been some of my favorites-I've had several of them, and they have been just adorable. Sadly, their lifespan is only a year or two. When I lived out in the woods from 1977-1985, I raised up a few baby deer, which continued to hang out with the wild herds, but would come when I called them. During that time, I also caught and raised a feral pig, which was quite an experience!
But certainly the two most important non-domestic animals I have had in my life were my boa constrictor, Hista (1967-1972), and my great horned owl, Archimedes (1986-1994). With each of them, I bonded so deeply that I could enter their minds in my dreams, and follow them about on their nocturnal journeys around the place (neither were kept caged). When Hista died (of wounds inflicted by a dog during a few weeks when she was lost outside, and before she returned, "calling" me to where she was hiding), I felt her death. I felt her mind join with mine as we'd often done in dreams, and then I felt her drop her body at the other end, and just move in with me permanently. She became part of me.
I've also had a few cats that were uncannily intelligent, and highly conversational-especially Octobriana, a tortoise-point Siamese who was a full member of the family. And one absolutely immense Burmese python (12 feet) named Ananta, who was a real sweetheart, and often climbed into bed to sleep with me. Octobriana liked to sleep in the middle of his huge coil.
Throughout the 1980s I also raised several living Unicorns, which I exhibited at Renaissance Faires all over North America and eventually leased on exhibition to the Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey Circus for four years. But that's a whole other story.
Oh yeah. And the weasels.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes. The slew (marsh) near our suburban house, where I used to spend many hours alone building hideouts and tree platforms in the enormous weeping willows, sitting very still watching critters, catching swimming things to stock my aquaria and terraria, etc. My room was a miniature zoo and museum of collections (seashells, fossils, rocks, butterflies & moths .). I even had a pet little brown bat and a little screech owl for a time. Also many snakes and several lizards (including iguanas, geckos, and tegus). My parents were, now that I think back on it all, remarkably indulgent. Of course, there was the episode with the terrarium full of praying mantises that got loose in the house.
Now?
The 55-acre parcel of wilderness sanctuary called "Annwfn" that our Church inherited as a Deed of Trust in 1982. It is located in the mountains of Mendocino County, NorCalifia, and is completely off the grid. It is a very magickal place, with lovely gardens and orchards. For eight years I lived next door, on an adjacent 220-acre parcel, but I moved away over 20 years ago. However, I still go back for gatherings, and to see the forest that's grown from all the trees I planted so long ago.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Probably the flying fox. Genuine "flying monkeys" straight out of the Wizard of Oz! Related to primates, not insectivores like other bats. I would love to be able to have one! I'm also particularly fond of snakes, and I have a lovely ball python at the moment.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
Global warming and mass extinctions of many species. Rising sea levels, and a new Ice Age. The future will be a very different world than we have known for the past 10,000 years.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Always keep in mind the most important maxim of Wizardry throughout all the ages: "Omnia vivunt; omnia inter se conexa." (Cicero) Everything is alive; everything is interconnected. Plant trees. Plant lots of trees. Grow your own vegetable garden. Reuse, recycle, renew, restore.
Selena Fox
Executive Director, Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve
Today's Date: July 13, 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Experiences of oneness with Nature through Nature communion since childhood.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Pear tree in the backyard of my childhood home in Virginia.
Now?
my home in an Oak forest near Barneveld, Wisconsin
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Cats of many types .... life long affinities, companionship, spiritual connections.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
greatest environmental challenge at present is lack of awareness and corrective regarding humankind's negative impact on the Circle of Life on the planet.
greatest challenge in the future is the problem of overpopulation by humans and the need to have sustainability that benefits and maintains the Circle of Life.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Be an informed voter when it comes to environmental positions and records of politicians ... and vote in candidates that have a good environmental record and positions. ... and VOTE!
Today's Date: July 13, 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Experiences of oneness with Nature through Nature communion since childhood.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Pear tree in the backyard of my childhood home in Virginia.
Now?
my home in an Oak forest near Barneveld, Wisconsin
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Cats of many types .... life long affinities, companionship, spiritual connections.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
greatest environmental challenge at present is lack of awareness and corrective regarding humankind's negative impact on the Circle of Life on the planet.
greatest challenge in the future is the problem of overpopulation by humans and the need to have sustainability that benefits and maintains the Circle of Life.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Be an informed voter when it comes to environmental positions and records of politicians ... and vote in candidates that have a good environmental record and positions. ... and VOTE!
John Michael Greer
Grand Archdruid, Ancient Order of Druids in America
Today’s Date: 13 July 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Hard to say. I grew up in the Puget Sound region of Washington state in the days before it got turned into a wetter equivalent of LA, and nature was all around me all through my childhood. The suburbs where my family lived still had patches of undeveloped woodland, and we camped and hiked frequently in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains and on the Pacific coast. During my teens and twenties, though, I watched the whole region sell out its natural beauty, its clean air and water, and its quality of life for the sake of "growth." That was a defining experience for me, but it was an interaction with human society, not nature.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The ocean beaches north of Gray's Harbor, on the Pacific coast, where we spent a lot of summers during my childhood. To my mind that's still the most beautiful place in the world.
Now?
See above.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
The mouse-eared bat, Myotis lucifugus. Bats are amazingly elegant creatures and it's a joy to watch them dance in the air -- besides which, any animal that eats its own body weight in mosquitoes every evening is a friend of mine.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
I'll have to preface this by saying that I don't believe in the mythology of progress -- the claim that our civilization will just keep on getting more advanced, more powerful, and more mechanized, until it either blows itself up or metastasizes across the galaxy in some sort of Star Trek fantasy future. In my view, industrial civilization peaked in the second half of the 20th century and now faces a long downward slope of decline and fall, like every civilization before it. From that perspective, the present as well as the future take on a very different appearance.
The greatest environmental challenge facing us now is our culture's inability to realize that nature is a community to which we belong, not a commodity that we can own. Most of industrial society's dysfunctional relationship with nature comes from the delusion that we're separate from nature, that we don't depend on it for anything but amenities. Even in economic terms that's complete nonsense -- one good study showed that human beings get something like 33 trillion dollars a year in "free" goods and services from nature, which is around four times the value of all human-produced goods and services -- and of course on a deeper level it's nonsense, pernicious nonsense, as well. Human beings are never quite healthy or sane when they try to hold themselves apart from nature.
The greatest environmental challenge in the future will be dealing with the ecological legacies of our current dysfunctional relationship to nature. Industrial society, as I've suggested above, has peaked and is beginning the long downward slope of decline. One implication of this is that the long-term impacts of our current abuse of the environment will have to be dealt with by people who have fewer resources and less economic capacity than we do now. It's hard enough to deal with global warming, toxic waste contamination, and the like now -- imagine having to do it with an economy in long-term decline and a society strained to the limits by its own dysfunctions! Still, that's the world we've made for our children and grandchildren, and for their descendants centuries on into the future.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
You don't need as much as you think you need. You've been conned into thinking that happiness can be bought at a store in the form of an endless torrent of wretched consumer gewgaws, and it can't. Stop, think, pay attention to what actually matters, and you may just discover that a simpler life that does much less damage to the earth is more satisfying and more filled with delights than the work-buy-consume-die treadmill you're on.
Today’s Date: 13 July 2006
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Hard to say. I grew up in the Puget Sound region of Washington state in the days before it got turned into a wetter equivalent of LA, and nature was all around me all through my childhood. The suburbs where my family lived still had patches of undeveloped woodland, and we camped and hiked frequently in the Cascade and Olympic Mountains and on the Pacific coast. During my teens and twenties, though, I watched the whole region sell out its natural beauty, its clean air and water, and its quality of life for the sake of "growth." That was a defining experience for me, but it was an interaction with human society, not nature.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The ocean beaches north of Gray's Harbor, on the Pacific coast, where we spent a lot of summers during my childhood. To my mind that's still the most beautiful place in the world.
Now?
See above.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
The mouse-eared bat, Myotis lucifugus. Bats are amazingly elegant creatures and it's a joy to watch them dance in the air -- besides which, any animal that eats its own body weight in mosquitoes every evening is a friend of mine.
4. What do you think is the greatest environmental challenge facing us now, and what do you think will be the greatest challenge in the future?
I'll have to preface this by saying that I don't believe in the mythology of progress -- the claim that our civilization will just keep on getting more advanced, more powerful, and more mechanized, until it either blows itself up or metastasizes across the galaxy in some sort of Star Trek fantasy future. In my view, industrial civilization peaked in the second half of the 20th century and now faces a long downward slope of decline and fall, like every civilization before it. From that perspective, the present as well as the future take on a very different appearance.
The greatest environmental challenge facing us now is our culture's inability to realize that nature is a community to which we belong, not a commodity that we can own. Most of industrial society's dysfunctional relationship with nature comes from the delusion that we're separate from nature, that we don't depend on it for anything but amenities. Even in economic terms that's complete nonsense -- one good study showed that human beings get something like 33 trillion dollars a year in "free" goods and services from nature, which is around four times the value of all human-produced goods and services -- and of course on a deeper level it's nonsense, pernicious nonsense, as well. Human beings are never quite healthy or sane when they try to hold themselves apart from nature.
The greatest environmental challenge in the future will be dealing with the ecological legacies of our current dysfunctional relationship to nature. Industrial society, as I've suggested above, has peaked and is beginning the long downward slope of decline. One implication of this is that the long-term impacts of our current abuse of the environment will have to be dealt with by people who have fewer resources and less economic capacity than we do now. It's hard enough to deal with global warming, toxic waste contamination, and the like now -- imagine having to do it with an economy in long-term decline and a society strained to the limits by its own dysfunctions! Still, that's the world we've made for our children and grandchildren, and for their descendants centuries on into the future.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
You don't need as much as you think you need. You've been conned into thinking that happiness can be bought at a store in the form of an endless torrent of wretched consumer gewgaws, and it can't. Stop, think, pay attention to what actually matters, and you may just discover that a simpler life that does much less damage to the earth is more satisfying and more filled with delights than the work-buy-consume-die treadmill you're on.
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