Explore Nature

Photo: Ji-Elle
Standing tall and proud, limbs akimbo, this wonderful oak is between 800 and 1200 years old. Found in a small village called Allouville-Bellefosse in France, it has two small chapels in it that are still in use today. One is reached by a spiral staircase and the other is in a hollow on the ground 'floor'.

Photo: Le ghola
Locals say the oak has been alive since the time of Charlemagne and William the Conqueror in 1035 but a few scientists say 800 years. Whatever the truth of the matter, it is one of the oldest trees in France and may be one of the oldest in the world.
Photo: Le ghola
The tree did not always have the chapel - in the 1600s, it was hit by lightning and much of the tree was hollowed out. These hollows were noticed by two men of the cloth, Aboot Du Detroit and Father Du Cerceau. They built the first chapel to the Virgin Mary in the trunk and later added the second one.
Photo: Le ghola
Not only did the oak escape death from the lightning strike but it also escaped death during the Revolution. A crowd came to burn it as a symbol of the hated church and the old ways when a smart local renamed it the temple of reason and it was spared.
Photo: Le ghola
The shingles on the tree are to cover signs of aging where the bark has fallen away. Part of the trunk has died and the tree itself is supported by poles but the villagers still come to celebrate mass twice a year in it.
Hopefully, the oak can live on longer and stay a symbol of faith and reason for the people.
Source: 1

Photo: Patrick Bombaert
The incredible Bandiagara Escarpment is over 150 kilometers long and rises 500 feet into the air – a monumental sandstone cliff that has been on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites since 1989.

Photo: Håvard Solstad
The escarpment – which is made of sandstone formed into horizontal layers – has all sorts of irregularities, some natural and some man-made.
Photo: Jialiang Gao
The Tellem people who existed in the area before the Dogon (who live there now) used to make use of caves carved into the wall to bury their dead, and both peoples have made their villages at not only the bottom of the escarpment but as part of it as well.
Photo: JialiangGao www.peace-on-earth.org
The Dogon are a people rich in cultural history. Back when they first came to the land – in approximately 1490 AD – they were fleeing from invaders and drought. The escarpment made the perfect place to set up their villages and defend them.
Photo: Håvard Solstad
The Dogon practice a religion that is based heavily on ancestor worship. A Hogon is a priest who works with a few villages (rather like a parish priest does in Christianity) and is the spiritual leader of the people. Religious life is part of the day-to-day as well, however. Dogon villages are spiritually divided one sense – a symbiotic relationship is thought to exist between living and dead men – but each person has a shared village surname, a sign of strong unity.
Photo: Dario Lorenzetti
The incredible rock art above is found in a ritual area for a triennial boys' circumcision ceremony. Ritual and ceremonies are rooted deeply in the culture, with many shrines to their gods and deities. One of the most important rituals is one we in Western society might well take note of; as one site has it: "The women praise the men, the men thank the women, the young express appreciation for the old, and the old recognize the contributions of the young."
Photo: Lukecf
Ravines pierce the escarpment, making their own microclimate in its shaded terraces. It is humid in the ravines, and they have become home to dense vegetation – some not seen in the valley below.
Photo: upyernoz
There are even boggy areas that are formed due to water retention in the different fissures of the escarpment, at least on the gentler slopes and horizontal areas.
Photo: Crazy Joe Devola
In the image above, we have an example of a Dogon village built into the hills. For those who want to learn more about the Dogon, a good article on their beliefs and myths can be found here.
Photo: Jeff & Susan
Dogon architecture is simple but attractive, made up of mud houses and granaries that traditionally have a thatched roof. The Dogon also make ladders to reach high up the escarpment to spots where there are burial caves for the people.
Photo: qiv
Here we see one of the ravines mentioned above. The Bandiagara Escarpment is considered one of Africa's most imposing cliffs due to its archaeological and ethnological as well as geographical characteristics. The escarpment culminates in Mali's highest peak, Hombori Tondo.
Photo: Havard Solstad
The massive rock ends here, after journeying the full 150 km through Dogon land. One of the world’s most impressive cliffs, it can be compared to those of the Grand Canyon and other better-known sites.
Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Photo: Bill Boaden
Wycoller is a small village in Lancashire, England. Even though it seems to be a typical English village, this settlement dates back more than a thousand years, having being established in the 10^th century. Little wonder, then, that today this little village and all its treasures are protected from the outside world: for example, traffic is not allowed into Wycoller – which was forgotten by time, but not by men.

Almost abandoned during the 20^th century, Wycoller is being repopulated these days, now that people have realized its immense value. The place is becoming a cherished tourist destination for those travelers who love to see a piece of the past with their own eyes.

Clam Bridge

Photo: Bill Boaden
Clam Bridge is a picturesque construction that has defied time and all natural hazards, and is thus able to stand today, more than a thousand years after its construction – a treasure for the entire community.
Clam Bridge is not huge, it is not beautiful, nor it is an architectural wonder. This unique block of stone was arranged over the stream in an unknown past, supposedly more than 1,000 years ago, by some folks who never even considered the possibility that their simple structure would one day become famous all over the world. How did it survive until this day? This is the real wonder.
Other very old bridges of the world had the genius of their builders on their side: Roman architects, for example, built extremely resistant bridges, made of huge blocks of stone, cut and fixed with the help of technology that amazes us to this day.
Yet, the small Clam Bridge did not have this advantage. It was simply through a combination of factors like its remote location, the mild climate and maybe the lack of events in the area that this rudimentary bridge, which comes from ancient times, has managed to stand firmly to this day.

Clapper Bridge and Pack-Horse Bridge

Photo: Jenny Beaumont
Clapper Bridge and Packhorse Bridge are located close to each other, and both date centuries back. Packhorse Bridge is believed to have originated some 800 years ago, but it has been rebuilt many times in that time span.
A clapper bridge is a common name, defining a very old bridge design that consists of a flat piece of granite, supported by a rock or on a pile of rocks. Due to their simple structure, many people have the impression that these types of bridges must be truly ancient, but the truth is that even though many are indeed very old, none of them is known to have been erected earlier than the Middle Ages.
Clapper Bridge in Wycoller is believed to have been put together later, in the 18^th or 19^th century, though some do not agree with this theory and place the bridge back in medieval times.
Bridges are not the only attractions in Wycoller: the ruins of Wycoller Hall, which was built in the 16^th century, are very interesting to visit. Especially if you consider that the castle stood as an inspiration for Charlotte Brontë (who lived nearby) when she created Ferndean Manor, from her famous novel Jane Eyre.
The bridges of Wycoller village and the settlement itself will probably remain untouched for centuries to come and will delight tourists and travelers in the future as they do today. It is up to us to preserve them and to make sure that what nature spared, man will not destroy.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4,5

Photo: Joseph Dunsay
Garret Mountain is a Passaic County park in Woodland Park, NJ just 16 miles from New York City, NY. It has athletics fields, picnic grounds, fishing areas, jogging and hiking paths, and an equestrian center. A neighboring public rifle camp serves gun enthusiasts.
Because Garret Mountain is high and near the boundary of the New Jersey Highlands, visitors can enjoy views ranging from the Manhattan skyline to forested mountains. There are coin-operated viewers at the
northeast side of the mountain where people can see the city of Paterson, NJ, the surrounding suburbs, and the forest beyond.
Photo: Joseph Dunsay
Although Garret Mountain is close to urban development, it contains wildlife such as deer and turkeys. Frequent encounters with humans have made the fauna relatively tame: they don't run away when people pass by them. Caution is still necessary when looking at these animals, however, because they could react dangerously if anyone comes near enough to make them feel threatened.
Photo: Joseph Dunsay
The hiking trails at Garret Mountain lead to rarely used wooded areas. Once inside these forests, hikers won't see any sign of development. The trail is rather short, but it offers peaceful solitude. Unlike the situation on better known trails, it is possible to sit along the trail for an hour or two without seeing another soul.
Photo: Joseph Dunsay
Lambert Castle is a historic building in Garret Mountain Park. This estate was once owned by a 19th-century immigrant from the UK who worked his way up Paterson's silk industry. Today, Lambert Castle is a museum with an eclectic collection that includes items from Paterson's history. The interior has a multistory, sunlit central atrium and baroque decorations. There is a small fee for entering the building, but visitors can tour the grounds for free. The balcony and patio at Lambert Castle have beautiful masonry and a view of midtown Manhattan.
Photo: Joseph Dunsay
A walkway from Lambert Castle leads up a steep hill to an observation tower. From this tower, sightseers can gaze at all of Manhattan and Bergen County, NJ. An unofficial footpath paved by the shoes of countless hikers leads south from the tower into the woods. A recently renovated landscape leads west from the observation tower to the rest of Garret Mountain. Anyone unable to climb a steep slope can drive between Lambert Castle and the observation tower via circuitous roads.
Photo: Joseph Dunsay
Garret Mountain offers a unique blend of urban and natural sights, and it hosts a range of recreational facilities. Nature lovers can trade crowded metropolitan life for the isolated woods of Garret Mountain; lambert Castle is a cultural destination. An afternoon at Garret Mountain is definitely a pleasant option for locals.
Sources: 1, 2

Photo: JK-Netzwelt
Most ecosystems now reflect the presence of people, from pristine Arctic lakes to deserts. This could be indisputable evidence that humans have altered the atmospheric, geologic, aquatic and living systems on the planet. This should not be surprising. It is unlikely that 7 billion people inhabiting the planet would fail to alter it. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the changes have been so great that many scientists now believe we are entering a new epoch of time, the Anthropocene – meaning “New Man” – Epoch.

Photo: friendsoffamilyfarms
While the Industrial Revolution is often considered the time when our influence on the planet became irreversible, the agricultural revolution began to change our landscape thousands of years ago. When early man domesticated animals and learned how to use tools, he learned how to grow his food. Trees were an important source of fuel and wood, and as populations started to increase, deforestation began on a massive scale. In 1086, William the Conqueror found less than 15% of the natural forest remained across the entire country of England. In China, during the Han Dynasty over 2,000 years ago, 56 million people needed trees for fuel and land for the people. Cedar trees once lined the road between Baghdad and Damascus through what is now a desert landscape. As those forests were growing, they pulled massive amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere and stored it in trees. By cutting down the trees, the carbon began to return to the atmosphere.
Soon the water cycle was disrupted. People began to cluster in small cities, often built near water sources. They learned how to harness the power of water, manipulating the flow of rivers to suit their needs. Eventually, huge earth dams were built to control the flow of water and the courses of rivers were modified. To grow more food to feed the people, farmers began irrigating their fields, pulling water out of the rivers. As a result, rivers that had been around for thousands of years are now often dry. The once-massive Aral Sea in the former Soviet Union is now a shadow of what it once was. Cleared forests could no longer hold in the water, and erosion became a problem. When dams failed, flooding became an issue. While the strongest winds of Hurricane Katrina missed New Orleans, the failure of several levees devastated the city, killing over 1,000 people.
Photo: Dental Ben
Today, pockets of earth are made up of huge concrete and steel cites. Entire ecosystems have been destroyed to make room for urban centers that continue to sprawl beyond their borders. We have to dig deep into the Earth to supply the concrete and coal needed to build our cities. So many plants and animals have been sacrificed in the name of urbanization that we now face a new mass extinction. As we search for more oil, gas and coal to fuel our cities, more ecosystems are disrupted.
The Alberta tar sands are one of the most controversial sources of energy of this century. Such deforestation in Canada could rival deforestation in the Amazon Basin. In order to continue with its tar sands, Canada will fail to meet its 1997 Kyoto commitments and is refusing to sign any further accords. In the United States and England, a controversial method of releasing natural gas out of rocks known as 'fracking' is compromising drinking water supplies, releasing toxic chemicals into the environment and causing small earthquakes.
Photo: Jasonwoodhead23
Even the vast oceans are being affected by humans. As pollution increases, the water becomes more acidic, affecting the lowest level in the food chain and threatening oceanic diversity. In the Pacific Ocean, high levels of plastics rotate around the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. As the Earth warms up, the Arctic icecap is shrinking, which raises sea levels, threatening coastal areas and increasing the frequency and intensity of storms. We now also send so much fertilizer down rivers that dead zones are on the rise in the ocean and are visible from space.
Photo: Alan Vernon on Flickr
The most discussed human-induced change to the planet, however, is global warming. Carbon that was naturally deposited into the Earth over millions of years is being returned in less than two centuries. Unfortunately, while we have been debating the harmful effects of the carbon cycle, the nitrogen cycle has been ignored. The fixing of nitrogen from the atmosphere into useful compounds is increasing rapidly. About 40% of nitrogen in the protein we eat today comes from artificial fertilizer. Without this artificial fertilizer, there could not be seven billion people on the planet. But excess nitrogen is dumped in our ecosystem at a rapid pace, entering our water systems and causing undesirable growths. Nitrogen feeds thousands of toxic algal blooms, pulling oxygen out of the aquatic system and leading to dead zones. Nitrogen pulled from the atmosphere was also used in many bombs for 20th-century warfare.
Photo: Dr. Richard Murray licensed under Creative Commons
One thousand years ago, conventional wisdom placed the Earth at the center of the universe. As our understanding increased, we realized that the Earth was billions of years old and just a small part of the universe. As we learned about evolution, homo sapiens were placed on a single twig of the tree of life. The Anthropocene Epoch reverses this trend, making humans central to the workings and elemental in the forces of the natural world. It is this knowledge that leads us to think that we are severely modifying the planet.