Have you caught up with Gary Mantle’s blog: A Daily Dose of Nature?
Gary is Chief Executive of the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and President of the Sensory Trust, but his blog provides personal reflections about his experiences of nature with occasional comments on both environmental issues, generally, and on how both Trusts are working to reconnect people and nature. Gary is a good photographer, as even a quick reading of the blog shows. The picture here is one of his, taken at Dunwich Beach in Suffolk. But what’s the bird? If you don’t know, you’ll just have to look at the blog.
Gary’s point in writing is to remind us why it’s important that we all get a daily dose of nature. Well, cheers to that. And every day of course: rain or shine; oddly, nature just gets on with it, whatever the weather.
But what is nature? And where is it? Clearly, you don’t have to go to Suffolk to find it, pleasant as most of that is; nor do you have to visit a nature reserve or SSSI (stimulating as they tend to be), as nature surrounds us and we are embedded within. Indeed, we are inevitably a part of it. As we noted at the end of May, spending time in nature adds considerably to our wellbeing. It’s not clear though that being in a natural environment rich in wildlife is better for you than being in one somewhat less rich.
These things are hard to quantify.