& the Celebration of Nature
“The biophilia hypothesis suggests that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book, Biophilia (1984). He defines biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”. The term “biophilia” means “love of life or living systems.”
– Wikipedia
Trees are at the heart of our country – we should learn their Indigenous names
Jakelin Troy in The Guardian Apr 1, 2019. Also view Mi’kmaq names for trees
Embracing diverse worldviews to share planet Earth
F. Kohler et al., 2019. Essay in Conservation Biology 28 February 2019
How being still in nature can remind us of what it means to be human
Shalan Joudry · for CBC News Audio Essay
Should Trees Have Standing?: Law, Morality, and the Environment
Book by Christopher D. Stone 1972 & 2010. From Amazon: Originally published in 1972, Should Trees Have Standing? was a rallying point for the then burgeoning environmental movement, launching a worldwide debate on the basic nature of legal rights that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, in the 35th anniversary edition of this remarkably influential book, Christopher D. Stone updates his original thesis and explores the impact his ideas have had on the courts, the academy, and society as a whole. At the heart of the book is an eminently sensible, legally sound, and compelling argument that the environment should be granted legal rights. For the new edition, Stone explores a variety of recent cases and current events–and related topics such as climate change and protecting the oceans – providing a thoughtful survey of the past and an insightful glimpse at the future of the environmental movement. This enduring work continues to serve as the definitive statement as to why trees, oceans, animals, and the environment as a whole should be bestowed with legal rights, so that the voiceless elements in nature are protected for future generations.
When Trees Have Standing
Linda Pannozzo on her blog, The Quaking Swamp Journal Feb 25. 2022. “More than forty years ago, law professor Christopher Stone advanced the view that natural objects and areas should have legal rights. “Should Trees Have Standing” Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects,” became arguably one of the most provocative pieces of environmental law ever written…”
Nebooktook: In the Woods
“In Nebooktook, Mike Parker once again pays homage to our wilderness heritage and those who, in days gone by, revelled in a life in the woods. In today’s world, primitive wilderness places are more “visionary” than “actual. ” The call of the loon is being drowned out by the industrial roar of “men who dig up and tear down and destroy.” Newspaper headlines bemoan a myriad of environmental concerns and issues almost daily as beleaguered politicians and bureaucrats, entrusted to responsibly manage natural resources and safeguard the environment, are taken to task.”
Spring Forest in NS
Treasures Of The Old Forest (Video)
Produced in 2005 Avalon & Meguma Natural History Films. “Precious as jewels, fleeting as snow-flakes, yet ancient as the forest itself, these are the wildflowers of the Acadian forest. The trillium, the spring beauty, the bloodroot and lady slipper, once as abundant as the songbirds – now driven to the far recesses of their range. A priceless inheritance many Maritimers may never see, truly, the Treasures of the Old Forest”.
Wild At Heart, Landscape Painter Greg Dickie (Video)
by Mark Brennan Sep 30, 2012 “Mark Brennan travels with Artist Greg Dickie of Windsor, Nova Scotia into the Tobeatic Wilderness Area of Nova Scotia in the fall of 2012.”
Words, rhythms and songs of the Forest Funeral at Province House, Nova Scotia, Oct 19, 2017
Pots on nsforestnotes.ca on Oct 20, 2017. Audios of presentations at this event convey a lot of Biophilia, e.g. The Mi’kmaq Honour song honours all life…everything that has a spirit including the trees.
The Tent Dwellers
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~The Woodpile~
By Otis A. Tomas on his use of trees t make stringed instruments. “I remember the Autumn day some years ago when I took this grand old maple tree down. Until that day, it had reigned for many years over the forest on the mountainside on the other side of the road, serene and unchallenged, its huge girth and towering canopy dominating all the other trees around. If ever the forest had a wise and experienced guardian, this was it. It had obviously stood there for what would have been many generations of my kind, watching the seasons come and go, growing tall and strong as the trees around it grew and died and grew again…”
Earth Adventures
A Favourite: Woodens River Adventure
…You have reached the top of the river. You must release the potion at the bridge if it is to work. But Dreeg has a troll guard living under the bridge. Put it to sleep:
Sneak across the bridge to the far side.
Find the enormous tree nearby on the other side. Touch the tree with the potion bottle to add some of its wisdom to the potion. It is one of the oldest Tamarack trees in the Province.
Now turn to the bridge and sprinkle some potion on the bridge.
Wave your wand as you repeat.
…The tree you touched is a very old tamarack tree (also called a larch or hackmatack), and is likely several hundred years old.
“The thought of not being able to hear the ethereal flute-like song of a solitary hermit thrush at day’s end is most upsetting to me.” – VR in Yarmouth in the Chronicle Herald July 25, 2017
The Bancroft Wood
YouTube Video by Cliff Seruntine posted May 5, 2019. “Bob Bancroft is a retired biologist who is widely known for his tireless work as an environmental advocate. What few people know about Bob, though, is that for the last forty-four years, he has been quietly working to restore the land around his home into a vibrant, self-sustaining forest. Facing challenges ranging from restoration of ruined soil to preparing the forest to adapt to impending climate changes, Bob’s lifetime labor of love is now a transitional forest that closely approximates a local, natural ecosystem, and as the forest matures, it is becoming a refuge for wildlife.
Shaman Sun; Shaman Shadow
Cliff Seruntine on YouTube Apr 2, 2019 “It was the first day that really felt like spring, and before the sun even rose, I was already making my way deep into the forest. I had no other goal in mind than to see the woodland burst into renewed life. But the forest is generous, and her beauty is intoxicating. What began as a prelude to tracking and foraging turned into a spiritual journey.”
| Ethiopia’s Church Forests Saving Ethiopia’s “Church Forests by T. DeLene Beeland on BerfoisEthiopia’s ‘church forests’ are incredible oases of green National Geographic Jan 18, 2019 BY ALEJANDRA BORUNDA PHOTOGRAPHS BY KIERAN DODD “When Alemayehu Wassie Eshete was a boy, he went to church each Sunday. He would make his way along the dry, dusty roads between the wheat fields in his home province in northern Ethiopia. At the end of the trip was the prize: a literal step into another world.” |
Lichen Camp Day 170
Nina Newington, Aug 19, 2024
“I keep thinking about the experience of finding old growth forest. I’ve had the good fortune to do this several times in the Goldsmith Lake Wilderness Area. Stepping into a stand of old growth for the first time, there’s a feeling. Of recognition I think. Some sense of wholeness alongside the excitement of discovery. It comes from the ground under your feet and it’s in the air. I try to take a moment. To greet the forest and be greeted…” Read More
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The documentary presents absolutely wonderful imagery from still-intact hemlock forest in Nova Scotia, and on the flip side, very unsettling scenes showing “white ghosts” – hemlock trees completely dead after being infested by HWA (Hemlock Wooly Adelgid). The film as a whole explores the tensions within individuals and in the ecological/environmental community surrounding the injection of hemlock trees with strong pesticides to prevent HWA infestation. It does so by following forest ecologist Donna Crossland in her quest to save a few vestiges of intact hemlock forest in NS by injecting every tree in selected stands with pesticides. |
The Wabanaki Forest Love Affair
“The physical intimacy of yellow birch and hemlock often observed in old Acadian forest is more than a coincidence”
Photo-essay by DGP posted on www.versicolor.ca/sandylakebedford.ca, Jan 25, 2018. Also available as a PDF on archive.org
Why is the world so beautiful? An Indigenous botanist on the spirit of life in everything
CBC Radio · Posted: Nov 27, 2020 “‘Western science is a powerful way of knowing, but it isn’t the only one says Robin Wall Kimmerer.”
Diana Beresford-Kroeger bridges gap between science and spirituality
By Josiah Neufeld in BroadView . Nov 13, 2019 “The tree expert is working to protect the world’s vanishing forests…Orphaned at 12, Beresford-Kroeger grew up in rural Ireland, raised by her mother’s family to know the spirituality, language and law practised by the Celts since before English occupation. She learned to manage her emotions using a form of meditation, and to recognize the sacred and medicinal properties of plants and trees. But her scientific mind wasn’t content with esoteric explanations. She wanted to know how things worked.”
Abrahams Lake Thoughts By A Stream (Video)
by Mark Brennan Jan 31, 2012. “A poem about self realisation, written in the Nova Scotia Wilderness with the sounds and sights of the surrounding area”
Nature recording-The Acadian Forest, Wild Earth Voices (Video)
by Mark Brennan Jan 8, 2013 “A short film on the soundscape release, Peskowesk, by Wild Earth Voices which takes you on a journey, in the Early Spring, through the sounds of the Acadian Forest of Nova Scotia.” Also see (listen to) Mark’s Wild Earth Voices soundscapes which include four albums in forest wilderness settings in Nova Scotia.
‘Better than medication’: prescribing nature works, project shows
Damian Carrington on The Guardian Sep 4, 2023 “The prescribing of activities in nature to tackle mental ill health has benefited thousands of people across England, a government-backed project has shown. More than 8,000 people were helped to take part in activities including nature walks, community gardening, tree planting and wild swimming. It is thought to be the largest such project in the world so far. The results showed that after taking part in the schemes, people’s feelings of happiness and of life being worthwhile jumped to near national averages, while levels of anxiety fell significantly. The project also found the cost of a green prescription was about £500, making it cost-effective compared with other treatments. Cognitive behavioural therapy costs about £1,000 for 10 sessions.