General Manager, National Trust for the Cayman Islands
Today's Date: 29 Jan 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Growing up in an unspoiled tropical paradise I was continually surrounded by nature above and below the water. It has given me an appreciation for all living things. Seeing this paradise continually destroyed has had the greatest impact on me.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
My grandparents had a summer home in Bent Mountain, Virginia. When we visited them we had lakes, streams and mountains to explore that we did not have at home.
Now? I am continually amazed that even with the small size of our islands we continue to make new discoveries of plants and animals! So I like exploring my home best but am constantly looking for new unspoiled places to explore.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
I have always been obsessed with flying so birds and butterflies hold my interest. The tiny blue butterflies (Pygmy Blue, Lucas Blue, Cassius Blue) always catch my attention.
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?
The overpopulation of the world. All other challenges are directly related to this one issue. It will continue to be the greatest challenge until nature corrects itself.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Help organizations set some of our planet aside for conservation. Habitat conservation is the only way we will save what is left.
Thanks to my sister Michelle McIlroy for designing the logo!
January 29, 2007
Joni Spigler
PhD Candidate, Department of the History of Art, University of California, Berkeley
Today’s Date: January 28, 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
When I was a little girl I had a horse named Cinnamon. We lived in Mesa, Arizona at the time, near the dry Salt River bed, and in those days I could ride my horse from the little stables down the road to Arizona State University without ever seeing another human being. Of course I wasn’t allowed to ride so far, but I was secretive and rebellious. I loved the silence of the desert, and seeing the lizards and roadrunners darting and flitting across path ahead of us as I rode. You become very aware of your surroundings while riding, because anything can spook a horse. I told Cinnamon all my secrets and learned to read in her movements her desires and fears. I loved the way the sunlight hit the earth in those days, and remember looking down on the bleached bones of many animals. It was wonderful to gallop down powdery paths with a combination of sheer joy and terror. And there were little “oases” where Cinnamon could wade in shallow ponds and drink or nibble grasses. Some years the Salt River would flood and my friends and I would watch as whole houses and trucks would be washed down river in front of our eyes. When I was a child I wasn’t really thinking about economics or human displacement, but I was always awed by how sublime nature was, whether seeing what a river could do or just encountering the vastness of the desert.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The desert.
Now? I live in the Bay Area, and so I really do love to walk by the water and watch the lapping waves and changing light. I love tide pools and their little ecologies.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
I love my cat Kabuki. If I could *be* an animal I’d be a dolphin because they are smart and playful...or an otter because they are *always* playing. I think octopuses are fascinating to watch. I feel sorry for the elephants. And I love tigers. Jane Goodall’s “Chimpanzees, So Like Us” made me cry.
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?
Well, maybe this is the popular answer, but global warming. I understand that the big challenge will be to find a way to control global warming and its effects while not limiting the resources and technologies developing countries will have access to. But I also wish that, globally, we would learn to want something other than this world we are creating now.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Capitalism works under the assumption that resources are unlimited, but they simply are not. Our current economic philosophies and practices underlie most of the damage we are doing to our environment and we need to find a way to channel our innate desires into something other than the competitive struggle to have bigger and better stuff and “lifestyles”.
Today’s Date: January 28, 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
When I was a little girl I had a horse named Cinnamon. We lived in Mesa, Arizona at the time, near the dry Salt River bed, and in those days I could ride my horse from the little stables down the road to Arizona State University without ever seeing another human being. Of course I wasn’t allowed to ride so far, but I was secretive and rebellious. I loved the silence of the desert, and seeing the lizards and roadrunners darting and flitting across path ahead of us as I rode. You become very aware of your surroundings while riding, because anything can spook a horse. I told Cinnamon all my secrets and learned to read in her movements her desires and fears. I loved the way the sunlight hit the earth in those days, and remember looking down on the bleached bones of many animals. It was wonderful to gallop down powdery paths with a combination of sheer joy and terror. And there were little “oases” where Cinnamon could wade in shallow ponds and drink or nibble grasses. Some years the Salt River would flood and my friends and I would watch as whole houses and trucks would be washed down river in front of our eyes. When I was a child I wasn’t really thinking about economics or human displacement, but I was always awed by how sublime nature was, whether seeing what a river could do or just encountering the vastness of the desert.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
The desert.
Now? I live in the Bay Area, and so I really do love to walk by the water and watch the lapping waves and changing light. I love tide pools and their little ecologies.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
I love my cat Kabuki. If I could *be* an animal I’d be a dolphin because they are smart and playful...or an otter because they are *always* playing. I think octopuses are fascinating to watch. I feel sorry for the elephants. And I love tigers. Jane Goodall’s “Chimpanzees, So Like Us” made me cry.
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?
Well, maybe this is the popular answer, but global warming. I understand that the big challenge will be to find a way to control global warming and its effects while not limiting the resources and technologies developing countries will have access to. But I also wish that, globally, we would learn to want something other than this world we are creating now.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Capitalism works under the assumption that resources are unlimited, but they simply are not. Our current economic philosophies and practices underlie most of the damage we are doing to our environment and we need to find a way to channel our innate desires into something other than the competitive struggle to have bigger and better stuff and “lifestyles”.
January 28, 2007
Mr. Fayyaz Rasool
Deputy Manager (Marine Environment Unit), Marine Pollution Control Department, Karachi Port Trust, Karachi, Pakistan
Date: 27th Jan 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and /or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
It was the story of those days (mid 80’s) when I was student of high school. One-day on my return from the school I found that one of my relative visiting our family. He was serving in the Para- military troops of Pakistan and was posted at the border areas of Pakistan and India of District Bhawalnagar. This area is semi desert and flourish with Xeric type of floral communities. The deer, Hares, Foxes, jackals and peacock are the common wildlife of the area. The area is inhabited and only military post and installations are placed there. The Pakistan and India are two major rivalieries of the region but their army has one common thing that both of them killed wildlife on the borders brutally.
I was happy to see him because whenever he visited our home we had to listen many new stories of that area, especially the encounters among the forces, tact to avoid the encounters etc and wildlife thrives there. He also told us about the lives of peoples dwelling in the deserts.
This time when he visited our house he was not alone. He brought a baby deer with him. I was amazed to saw this little wild beautiful creature sitting at the corner of our courtyard behind a flowerpot.
Our guest told us that the army personnel’s of India and Pakistan keep close watch on the herd of the deer’s. They spotted the pregnant deer and shared the information with each other. When this female left the herd for delivery they rushed towards the site and pick the newborn leaving the mother helpless. This type of newborn was usually gifted to seniors in the agencies and it was meant as a high precious gift. Along with this the newborn chicks of the peacocks are also include in this categories.
This time he brought this gift for us. I was astonished to listen this terrible story behind this gift and automatically love has been emerged in me for this little creature who have been thatch from her mother without any crime. However my late Father told him that he did a brutal action and in future never bring this type of things for the city dwellers.
So in my family I was younger then my two brothers and the responsibility were given to me to take care of this little creature. As I was used to be the nature lover therefore my father selected me.
Recalling the entire event still I remember the loneliness in the eyes of this little baby deer. I knew I couldn’t brought the happiness in her eyes and can’t bring her mother back but I took optimum care and protection. She was so closed to me that she felt me as her mother. I know I can’t be her wild mother but I tried my best to keep her alive. But after a month she died and left me alone. I wiped that day when I buried her in the backyard and not listening to the words of my friends that “boys don’t cry”
This was my first shocking encounter to any wildlife. I don’t know until now how many wild babies have been thefts from there. I don’t know. I don’t know. However this incident leaded me to take a degree in natural sciences and my GOD ALLAH has provided me an opportunity to restore the mangrove forest. Now I have restored good amount of mangrove forest area in my country and feel proud that I have given something back to nature.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
I was born in Multan a famous city of Province Punjab of Pakistan. Punjab means the land of five rivers. Multan is located near to one of the river. So the river banks and their wilderness (variety of grasses, herbs, shrubs, small passerine birds, rodents, fishes in the small ponds, tadpoles in the small water holes etc) were my favorite places. I still remember the coldness of the soil after flooding of the river in these areas on below of my foot.
Now? I have been grown up and moved to the Karachi – a metropolitan of Pakistan. Now coastal areas are my favorite places and especially the mangrove forest ecosystem in which I did M.Phil.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
All animals are fine but the Snakes all of their kinds are very near to my heart. Their way of crawling on the stones around them behind then along them and climbing on the tree trunks is gorgeous. The shedding of their outer skeleton, nice colors all are amazing. The black color is usually not seems good but the color of the black cobra has its own beauty. The way the snakes erect their muscles to enter into the holes is really amazed. The animal made by the nature to control the rats and rodents etc aren’t it amazed otherwise we have to use rodenticides to pollute our habitat.
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?
There are lot of environmental challenges and it is very difficult to figure them out however overpopulation in the world is one of the key challenge as the increasing population is demanding more food more forest land are being converted into the fields, the population is demanding for the places to live so flat plains are being converted into big cities with paved roads. I don’t know how much % of earth the establishment of the paved roads has injured.
In near future the key challenge will be how to clear the aftermath of the industrial poison induced into the earth, how to revert the changes made on the earth face.
5. If you could give everyone piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources what would it be?
My advice is “Be simple, try to spend the life in simple way and stop abusing the rights of others (whether they are humans, natural resources, earth, water, rivers, water, trees coastal areas etc)
Date: 27th Jan 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and /or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
It was the story of those days (mid 80’s) when I was student of high school. One-day on my return from the school I found that one of my relative visiting our family. He was serving in the Para- military troops of Pakistan and was posted at the border areas of Pakistan and India of District Bhawalnagar. This area is semi desert and flourish with Xeric type of floral communities. The deer, Hares, Foxes, jackals and peacock are the common wildlife of the area. The area is inhabited and only military post and installations are placed there. The Pakistan and India are two major rivalieries of the region but their army has one common thing that both of them killed wildlife on the borders brutally.
I was happy to see him because whenever he visited our home we had to listen many new stories of that area, especially the encounters among the forces, tact to avoid the encounters etc and wildlife thrives there. He also told us about the lives of peoples dwelling in the deserts.
This time when he visited our house he was not alone. He brought a baby deer with him. I was amazed to saw this little wild beautiful creature sitting at the corner of our courtyard behind a flowerpot.
Our guest told us that the army personnel’s of India and Pakistan keep close watch on the herd of the deer’s. They spotted the pregnant deer and shared the information with each other. When this female left the herd for delivery they rushed towards the site and pick the newborn leaving the mother helpless. This type of newborn was usually gifted to seniors in the agencies and it was meant as a high precious gift. Along with this the newborn chicks of the peacocks are also include in this categories.
This time he brought this gift for us. I was astonished to listen this terrible story behind this gift and automatically love has been emerged in me for this little creature who have been thatch from her mother without any crime. However my late Father told him that he did a brutal action and in future never bring this type of things for the city dwellers.
So in my family I was younger then my two brothers and the responsibility were given to me to take care of this little creature. As I was used to be the nature lover therefore my father selected me.
Recalling the entire event still I remember the loneliness in the eyes of this little baby deer. I knew I couldn’t brought the happiness in her eyes and can’t bring her mother back but I took optimum care and protection. She was so closed to me that she felt me as her mother. I know I can’t be her wild mother but I tried my best to keep her alive. But after a month she died and left me alone. I wiped that day when I buried her in the backyard and not listening to the words of my friends that “boys don’t cry”
This was my first shocking encounter to any wildlife. I don’t know until now how many wild babies have been thefts from there. I don’t know. I don’t know. However this incident leaded me to take a degree in natural sciences and my GOD ALLAH has provided me an opportunity to restore the mangrove forest. Now I have restored good amount of mangrove forest area in my country and feel proud that I have given something back to nature.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
I was born in Multan a famous city of Province Punjab of Pakistan. Punjab means the land of five rivers. Multan is located near to one of the river. So the river banks and their wilderness (variety of grasses, herbs, shrubs, small passerine birds, rodents, fishes in the small ponds, tadpoles in the small water holes etc) were my favorite places. I still remember the coldness of the soil after flooding of the river in these areas on below of my foot.
Now? I have been grown up and moved to the Karachi – a metropolitan of Pakistan. Now coastal areas are my favorite places and especially the mangrove forest ecosystem in which I did M.Phil.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is and why?
All animals are fine but the Snakes all of their kinds are very near to my heart. Their way of crawling on the stones around them behind then along them and climbing on the tree trunks is gorgeous. The shedding of their outer skeleton, nice colors all are amazing. The black color is usually not seems good but the color of the black cobra has its own beauty. The way the snakes erect their muscles to enter into the holes is really amazed. The animal made by the nature to control the rats and rodents etc aren’t it amazed otherwise we have to use rodenticides to pollute our habitat.
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?
There are lot of environmental challenges and it is very difficult to figure them out however overpopulation in the world is one of the key challenge as the increasing population is demanding more food more forest land are being converted into the fields, the population is demanding for the places to live so flat plains are being converted into big cities with paved roads. I don’t know how much % of earth the establishment of the paved roads has injured.
In near future the key challenge will be how to clear the aftermath of the industrial poison induced into the earth, how to revert the changes made on the earth face.
5. If you could give everyone piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources what would it be?
My advice is “Be simple, try to spend the life in simple way and stop abusing the rights of others (whether they are humans, natural resources, earth, water, rivers, water, trees coastal areas etc)
Eglantine
Researcher
Today's Date: 27th January 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Association with the birds that come each morning and evening to my balcony to eat grains, rice & drink water and the cat that daily comes and mews for milk. The behaviour of birds, insects, reptiles, mammals, plants and beautiful scenes of nature which i read, see and experience have embedded me with a feeling of belonging, respect and care.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Now? Yes. In childhood it was the garden in the backyard of my house and now the beautiful valleys full of greenery.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Birds & why, maybe because i want to fly like them , exploring the beauty of nature from high sky.
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?
Climatic change and over population is the biggest environmental challenge facing us now and unavailability of clean potable water will be in future.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Keep u'r surroundings clean and don't waste water.
Today's Date: 27th January 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Association with the birds that come each morning and evening to my balcony to eat grains, rice & drink water and the cat that daily comes and mews for milk. The behaviour of birds, insects, reptiles, mammals, plants and beautiful scenes of nature which i read, see and experience have embedded me with a feeling of belonging, respect and care.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Now? Yes. In childhood it was the garden in the backyard of my house and now the beautiful valleys full of greenery.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Birds & why, maybe because i want to fly like them , exploring the beauty of nature from high sky.
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?
Climatic change and over population is the biggest environmental challenge facing us now and unavailability of clean potable water will be in future.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Keep u'r surroundings clean and don't waste water.
January 26, 2007
Lora Stone
Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Saint Francis (Dr./Prof.)
Today’s Date: 26 January 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
People noticed when I was a very young child that domesticated animals followed me around, approached me, or rested by me, and many wild animals - armadillos, birds, a young coyote, jackrabbits, feral cats and dogs - didn't seem threatened by my presence. The people who noticed these things told me that this was unusual and reinforced in my child-mind that this was a very positive attribute. When I told adults that I could hear what animals were thinking, they acted as though they believed me. So, the short answer to the stated question is: As a toddler, I was talking to non-human animals (and some trees) before I began having conversations with humans, I believed that the animals and trees spoke back to me, and the adults around me didn't discourage my behavior.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
As a child, I loved the uncultivated section of my paternal grandparent's farm in West Texas. There were 50 acres populated by mesquite trees, jackrabbits, sun-bleached cow bones, coyotes, sometimes a few cows, and a few feral cats. A perfect day: wandering around looking closely at everything, finding a spot under a mesquite tree, checking for fire-ants, then sitting and watching the wildlife move around.
Now? The Jemez Mountains in New Mexico and the red rock semi-desert areas in the northwest quadrant of New Mexico. Also, Albuquerque in the spring when the emerald hummingbirds migrate right through the city, hovering within inches of my face as I walk down a sidewalk, and when confused (?) roadrunners come running into the house you are in. One time, I was visiting a friend in Albuquerque, and a roadrunner dashed in the house through the front dog-door, then trotted around the house, then went out the back patio sliding door that was open.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Usually the animals that I am living with....but I think you are asking about my totem animal. So, my favorite animal is the bobcat. They live wild across the US, yet most people do not see them. The have a beautiful face that communicates intelligence and extra-ordinary senses. They appear small, but are heavy and strong for their size, and have the confidence of a much larger cat. The bobcat makes me think of possibilities, rather than impossibilities.
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?
Lack of education for humans regarding sustainable lifestyles is a current challenge. The future challenge will be salvaging whatever biodiversity survives our current unsustainable lifestyles.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Immediate, global agreement that all humans should not exceed replacement level reproduction.
Today’s Date: 26 January 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
People noticed when I was a very young child that domesticated animals followed me around, approached me, or rested by me, and many wild animals - armadillos, birds, a young coyote, jackrabbits, feral cats and dogs - didn't seem threatened by my presence. The people who noticed these things told me that this was unusual and reinforced in my child-mind that this was a very positive attribute. When I told adults that I could hear what animals were thinking, they acted as though they believed me. So, the short answer to the stated question is: As a toddler, I was talking to non-human animals (and some trees) before I began having conversations with humans, I believed that the animals and trees spoke back to me, and the adults around me didn't discourage my behavior.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
As a child, I loved the uncultivated section of my paternal grandparent's farm in West Texas. There were 50 acres populated by mesquite trees, jackrabbits, sun-bleached cow bones, coyotes, sometimes a few cows, and a few feral cats. A perfect day: wandering around looking closely at everything, finding a spot under a mesquite tree, checking for fire-ants, then sitting and watching the wildlife move around.
Now? The Jemez Mountains in New Mexico and the red rock semi-desert areas in the northwest quadrant of New Mexico. Also, Albuquerque in the spring when the emerald hummingbirds migrate right through the city, hovering within inches of my face as I walk down a sidewalk, and when confused (?) roadrunners come running into the house you are in. One time, I was visiting a friend in Albuquerque, and a roadrunner dashed in the house through the front dog-door, then trotted around the house, then went out the back patio sliding door that was open.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Usually the animals that I am living with....but I think you are asking about my totem animal. So, my favorite animal is the bobcat. They live wild across the US, yet most people do not see them. The have a beautiful face that communicates intelligence and extra-ordinary senses. They appear small, but are heavy and strong for their size, and have the confidence of a much larger cat. The bobcat makes me think of possibilities, rather than impossibilities.
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?
Lack of education for humans regarding sustainable lifestyles is a current challenge. The future challenge will be salvaging whatever biodiversity survives our current unsustainable lifestyles.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Immediate, global agreement that all humans should not exceed replacement level reproduction.
January 25, 2007
Dr. Michael J. Cohen - Project NatureConnect
Aren't We The Victims Of An Outrageous Lie?
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Dr. Michael J. Cohen, 360-378-6313
Email: nature@interisland.net
Website: http://www.ecopsych.com/
We Unnecessarily Suffer Stress And Disorders Because We Are Victims Of A Lie Perpetrated by Education, Psychology and Health Leaders.
In the tenth anniversary edition of "Reconnecting With Nature" (Ecopress, 2007), Dr. Michael Cohen, an Ecopsychologist, at the Institute of Global Education, demonstrates how a vast majority us are victims of a dangerous lie perpetrated by Psychology, Health and Education, professionals.
Cohen shows that our most trusted leaders help us produce the destructive stress and troubles we commonly suffer.
During our early childhood years our leadership emotionally bonds us to the idea that we live on the surface of Planet Earth. But we don't. We live 300 miles deep in our planet, imbedded in and nurtured by its biosphere. Since 1929, it has been widely known that Earth includes a biosphere zone where natural systems recycle and sustain all life on the planet, including humanity.
Nature produces no garbage because natural systems have the ability to correct themselves and as well as purify everything they flow through. The grace, balance and restorative powers of these systems stream through all of life, including the life of our psyche, of how we think and feel. This streaming is how nature sustains life, diversifies and grows without creating pollution or our excessive stress, violence and disorders.
Because we habitually believe our biosphere-separation lie, on average, we spend 98 percent of our time, thinking and feeling while disconnected from natural systems. This estranges us from their beneficial powers. They can't flow and recycle the contamination in our psyche. As a result, we suffer great personal and environmental disorders.
To reverse this detrimental habit, the sensory Organic Psychology techniques found in "Reconnecting With Nature" enable us to genuinely connect our thinking and feeling to natural systems. This gives us the ability to let the healing powers of natural systems help us remedy our personal and environmental dysfunctions.
Most of us know that a short walk in a natural area momentarily renews us as natural systems begin to flow through our psyche. Organic Psychology provides us with the means, online, to strengthen and prolong this worthwhile process. As we add its benefits to our personal and professional life, we increase individual, social and environmental well-being.
See some outcomes at: http://www.ecopsych.com/2004ecoheal.html
See a book description at http://www.ecopsych.com/newbook2007.html
For further information contact: Dr. Michael J. Cohen, 360-378-6313
Email: nature@interisland.net
Website: http://www.ecopsych.com/
For Immediate Release:
Contact: Dr. Michael J. Cohen, 360-378-6313
Email: nature@interisland.net
Website: http://www.ecopsych.com/
We Unnecessarily Suffer Stress And Disorders Because We Are Victims Of A Lie Perpetrated by Education, Psychology and Health Leaders.
In the tenth anniversary edition of "Reconnecting With Nature" (Ecopress, 2007), Dr. Michael Cohen, an Ecopsychologist, at the Institute of Global Education, demonstrates how a vast majority us are victims of a dangerous lie perpetrated by Psychology, Health and Education, professionals.
Cohen shows that our most trusted leaders help us produce the destructive stress and troubles we commonly suffer.
During our early childhood years our leadership emotionally bonds us to the idea that we live on the surface of Planet Earth. But we don't. We live 300 miles deep in our planet, imbedded in and nurtured by its biosphere. Since 1929, it has been widely known that Earth includes a biosphere zone where natural systems recycle and sustain all life on the planet, including humanity.
Nature produces no garbage because natural systems have the ability to correct themselves and as well as purify everything they flow through. The grace, balance and restorative powers of these systems stream through all of life, including the life of our psyche, of how we think and feel. This streaming is how nature sustains life, diversifies and grows without creating pollution or our excessive stress, violence and disorders.
Because we habitually believe our biosphere-separation lie, on average, we spend 98 percent of our time, thinking and feeling while disconnected from natural systems. This estranges us from their beneficial powers. They can't flow and recycle the contamination in our psyche. As a result, we suffer great personal and environmental disorders.
To reverse this detrimental habit, the sensory Organic Psychology techniques found in "Reconnecting With Nature" enable us to genuinely connect our thinking and feeling to natural systems. This gives us the ability to let the healing powers of natural systems help us remedy our personal and environmental dysfunctions.
Most of us know that a short walk in a natural area momentarily renews us as natural systems begin to flow through our psyche. Organic Psychology provides us with the means, online, to strengthen and prolong this worthwhile process. As we add its benefits to our personal and professional life, we increase individual, social and environmental well-being.
See some outcomes at: http://www.ecopsych.com/2004ecoheal.html
See a book description at http://www.ecopsych.com/newbook2007.html
For further information contact: Dr. Michael J. Cohen, 360-378-6313
Email: nature@interisland.net
Website: http://www.ecopsych.com/
Adwan Shehab
Researcher (General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research) - Syria
Today's Date: 25.01.2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
(no answer given)
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
(no answer given)
Now? (no answer given)
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
My favorite animals are Owls.
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?
The greatest environmental challenge facing us now (in our region) is the war; its reasons and results!!
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Please keep our environment free of mass destruction weapons, please save the souls of our children.
Today's Date: 25.01.2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
(no answer given)
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
(no answer given)
Now? (no answer given)
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
My favorite animals are Owls.
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?
The greatest environmental challenge facing us now (in our region) is the war; its reasons and results!!
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
Please keep our environment free of mass destruction weapons, please save the souls of our children.
January 24, 2007
Ko Chang-Hoon
Chair/ World Association for Island Studies
Today's Date: January 24, 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Death of my favorite dog, Jerry
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Seogwipo village port (South Korea)
Now? same
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Dog which used to be familiar with my family as one of family member
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?
pollution
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
strong preservation consciousness, policy, and movement
Today's Date: January 24, 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Death of my favorite dog, Jerry
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Seogwipo village port (South Korea)
Now? same
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Dog which used to be familiar with my family as one of family member
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?
pollution
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
strong preservation consciousness, policy, and movement
Anne Gilbert
Writer --- self-employed
Today’s Date: January 23, 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Crows come to mind. There are lots of them around here, and I've seen them do some very interesting things. They are smart, too. As for "nature", when the sun shines around here, you can't fail to see Mount Rainier, which is a volcano.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
One place my family was very fond of going when I was young was the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River near Darrington, Washington. It was, and still is, pretty rural. There are mountains all around, and the river is just wild enough, even in the summer, to be interesting. At one time, My family used to picnic in one part of what turned out to be a horse pasture. At one time I had a picture of the horse who used the pasture. I didn't know it at the time, but it turned out to be an Appaloosa with a particular, distinctive spotting pattern. Later, I think this influenced my writing(there is an Appaloosa-type horse who plays a part in the story I'm writing). Anyway, one thing I remember about the horse. The first time my family and I visited the place, she had recently foaled. She didn't do anything, but she was obviously very protective of the foal(she kept looking at us as if to say "don't get too close"). The following summer, the horse was so darn friendly that she came to our picnic table and tried to eat the picnic basket!
Now? Now, there are many places. There is an arboretum on the other side of the hill from where I live, and I like to walk there when the weather moderates (we've had kind of horrible weather for the Puget Sound region the past couple of months). There are lots of birds and trees, and in the spring, you can sometimes see hatched tadpoles in the ponds.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Wolves and cats, in no particular order. No, not dogs. Wolves. In their wild state. Because they are wild, and highly complex, social beings. Cats because cats are "domesticated" --- sort of --- but retain enough of their independence so that no cat, no matter how docile, is entirely predictable.
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?
Having just gone through the horrible weather patterns I mentioned earlier, I think the absolute greatest challenge we face at the moment is global warming. It's affecting everyone, in various ways. Here, it takes the form of increased rains and flooding in rural areas A story in this morning's paper, about Hmong farmers who lost most of their year's crop of flowers --- they depend on growing them for their livelihood --- rotting because of massive floods. These floods come almost every year now, and they are often quite damaging, and not just to Hmong farmers. And they come earlier, in November, or sometimes late October, rather than December or January as they once did. There has been less snow in the mountains (this year is an exception), so ski resort operators lose money. And the oceans are warming up so that what few salmon are left after overfishing, are now migrating farther and farther north. And that's just in the Pacific Northwest. The rest of the world has other, perhaps even more horrible problems caused, in part, by global warming. This will only get worse if we don't do something about it now. I have no particular ideas of what to do about it, only that we should all, every person, every nation, every part of the world, try to do whatever we can to deal with it.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
If you see a problem "out there", don't keep quiet. Speak up. Do everything you can to see it fixed. Now. Tomorrow the problem may be incomparably worse. Or tomorrow, it may even be too late.
Today’s Date: January 23, 2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Crows come to mind. There are lots of them around here, and I've seen them do some very interesting things. They are smart, too. As for "nature", when the sun shines around here, you can't fail to see Mount Rainier, which is a volcano.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
One place my family was very fond of going when I was young was the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River near Darrington, Washington. It was, and still is, pretty rural. There are mountains all around, and the river is just wild enough, even in the summer, to be interesting. At one time, My family used to picnic in one part of what turned out to be a horse pasture. At one time I had a picture of the horse who used the pasture. I didn't know it at the time, but it turned out to be an Appaloosa with a particular, distinctive spotting pattern. Later, I think this influenced my writing(there is an Appaloosa-type horse who plays a part in the story I'm writing). Anyway, one thing I remember about the horse. The first time my family and I visited the place, she had recently foaled. She didn't do anything, but she was obviously very protective of the foal(she kept looking at us as if to say "don't get too close"). The following summer, the horse was so darn friendly that she came to our picnic table and tried to eat the picnic basket!
Now? Now, there are many places. There is an arboretum on the other side of the hill from where I live, and I like to walk there when the weather moderates (we've had kind of horrible weather for the Puget Sound region the past couple of months). There are lots of birds and trees, and in the spring, you can sometimes see hatched tadpoles in the ponds.
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
Wolves and cats, in no particular order. No, not dogs. Wolves. In their wild state. Because they are wild, and highly complex, social beings. Cats because cats are "domesticated" --- sort of --- but retain enough of their independence so that no cat, no matter how docile, is entirely predictable.
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?
Having just gone through the horrible weather patterns I mentioned earlier, I think the absolute greatest challenge we face at the moment is global warming. It's affecting everyone, in various ways. Here, it takes the form of increased rains and flooding in rural areas A story in this morning's paper, about Hmong farmers who lost most of their year's crop of flowers --- they depend on growing them for their livelihood --- rotting because of massive floods. These floods come almost every year now, and they are often quite damaging, and not just to Hmong farmers. And they come earlier, in November, or sometimes late October, rather than December or January as they once did. There has been less snow in the mountains (this year is an exception), so ski resort operators lose money. And the oceans are warming up so that what few salmon are left after overfishing, are now migrating farther and farther north. And that's just in the Pacific Northwest. The rest of the world has other, perhaps even more horrible problems caused, in part, by global warming. This will only get worse if we don't do something about it now. I have no particular ideas of what to do about it, only that we should all, every person, every nation, every part of the world, try to do whatever we can to deal with it.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
If you see a problem "out there", don't keep quiet. Speak up. Do everything you can to see it fixed. Now. Tomorrow the problem may be incomparably worse. Or tomorrow, it may even be too late.
January 23, 2007
Hema Singh
Environment Tobago
Today's Date: 23/01/2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Last October I visited Yosemite Park in the US, I stood before the grand rock structures and was so amazed at its beauty. Driving through the area revealed ponds and streams and snow-capped mountains of immense beauty, too perfect to be real.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes.
Now? Yes
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
My favourite animals are birds. I love their gift of flight and the freedom that is associated with that ability.
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?
The greatest environmental challenge is, unfortunately, humans’ indiscriminate behaviour and irreverence for nature. If we understand that we are really stewards of the environment and change our attitudes to protect and live in harmony with our natural surroundings, we are in fact, creating a future for ourselves and our children. Failure to do this will of course mean that the greatest challenge to be faced in the future would be one of trying to sustain life on bare necessities with reduced land space, overpopulation and intense poverty to name a few.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
That our environment sustains our life. If we mismanage it, we are by extension, toying with our lives and others in generations to come.
Today's Date: 23/01/2007
1. What interaction with an animal and/or nature in your life has had the biggest impact on you?
Last October I visited Yosemite Park in the US, I stood before the grand rock structures and was so amazed at its beauty. Driving through the area revealed ponds and streams and snow-capped mountains of immense beauty, too perfect to be real.
2. Did you have a favorite place in the great outdoors during your childhood?
Yes.
Now? Yes
3. As a former zookeeper, I would love to know what your favorite animal is, and why?
My favourite animals are birds. I love their gift of flight and the freedom that is associated with that ability.
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?
The greatest environmental challenge is, unfortunately, humans’ indiscriminate behaviour and irreverence for nature. If we understand that we are really stewards of the environment and change our attitudes to protect and live in harmony with our natural surroundings, we are in fact, creating a future for ourselves and our children. Failure to do this will of course mean that the greatest challenge to be faced in the future would be one of trying to sustain life on bare necessities with reduced land space, overpopulation and intense poverty to name a few.
5. If you could give everyone one piece of advice regarding the environment and our natural resources, what would it be?
That our environment sustains our life. If we mismanage it, we are by extension, toying with our lives and others in generations to come.
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