The field awaits us!
“Take the commuter train, get off at the first station beyond your city and walk through the nearest forest, riverbank or fields: the possibility of enjoy in nature it is basically in the gaze”, explains Jose Luis Gallego, naturalist, environmental communicator and writer to Traveler.es.
Nature, that great unknown friend to whom we turn, many times without permission, we plunder and destroy heartlessly, but which at the same time offers us and gives us everything she has, is the object of new book of Jose Luis Gallego , 'Enjoy nature' (Alianza Editorial, 2018) .
You only have to see how it has come to contaminate the sea of plastics without us apparently putting a remedy or how we have led to the extermination of some beings as beautiful as the Iberian lynx . Let's not forget that we can avoid it with small gestures in our day to day.
The forests, the great lungs of the world.
We know that nature is there, its wonderful landscapes, its animals... but, Do we really know how to enjoy it? Jose Luis Gallego gives us some keys in his book.
This devoted lover of nature and his beings shares in his book some of the moments of happiness that he has lived with them. " It is a catalog of experiences and teachings to inspire the reader to enjoy life outdoors in full contact with the beauty that surrounds us".
For example, a wonderful walk when it falls Autumn in the forests of the Iberian Peninsula . “Could you keep one of them?” we asked.
And he answers: “from the heights of Sierra Nevada, Gredos, Picos de Europa or Pyrenees , to the pastures of Extremadura, the Mediterranean pine forests or the juniper groves of the Castilian moors. Beech forests, marshes, deserts, river canyons, Atlantic islands, cereal steppes, alpine lakes... it is impossible to collect all the beauty of this wonderful place that we are fortunate to inhabit ”.
You don't have to go far to enjoy it.
Do you remember those walks in September to pick blackberries or that walk early or late on the beach during the summer? 40 are the moments that Jose Luis has collected for you to rejoice in nature and contemplate it -after reading it- with different eyes. For example with a night of owls. The writer pushes us to explore the woods at night to contemplate these beings so interesting or tour Castilla y León to discover the habitat of the wolf, one of the most endangered animals in our country.
Do not feel frustrated if when reading you find yourself in the city surrounded by cars, tall buildings, people and asphalt. Do not panic! “ It is not necessary to go far to enjoy nature. as i said Gerald Durrell , distinguished naturalist and the best environmental communicator that has ever existed, the luck of being a naturalist is that we are able to enjoy equally in the great Masai steppe, contemplating a herd of elephants, than watching a group of sparrows from the balcony of our apartment ”, José points out.
The most common mistake we make is that we often know how to value it, and we have already seen the benefits it can bring to our health with just 30 minutes of daily contact with her.
“ We have distanced ourselves so much from nature that we are less and less affected by what happens to it . That is why it is so important to reestablish contact with our natural environment,” he tells Traveler.es.
Nature needs us and we need her too.
DECALOGUE TO ENJOY IN NATURE
“For too long we have understood our natural resources as a free and inexhaustible bar in which we could satisfy all our needs. Now we know that the planet does not give for more , that's why the key is to recover respect, loyalty and love for nature ”.
How? Here is a decalogue to enjoy it well:
1. Goes unnoticed. Silence in the field can provide the best observations.
two. Collaborate with nature. You can recover contaminated space from forests or beaches.
3. Do not take anything that does not belong to you, much less kill an animal. Leave everything as you found it.
Four. Respect the beings and the wild flora that inhabit it.
5. Keep the secret if you are lucky enough to see an animal's nest or lair.
6. Always make sure what the allowed itineraries are.
7. Respect crops, rural properties...
8. Be guardian of your forests, they are everything.
9. Report if you see negligent attitudes.
10. The welfare of animals, plants, etc. It should ALWAYS be above our personal enjoyment.
How should we enjoy nature?