Something of the marvellous in nature (From Gazette & Herald)

Something of the marvellous in nature

A MORNING walk in the peace of the countryside can be a time for reflection and there is no doubt, in my case, it regularly provides inspiration for the contents of this column.

This morning, my thoughts turned to something more grand than the birds of the air or the wintering trees around me; I thought about the way nature has always provided for the human race, and indeed for everything else living on this wonderful planet, whether human, animal or vegetable.

So much we receive from nature is absolutely free, even if some of those benefits have now been harnessed by mankind for our continuing use.

Without the sun, for example, nothing would exist, for it provides light and heat at absolutely no cost to us.

Likewise, the air is free, another essential for life on earth and the third most important ingredient is water.

That arrives free of charge from the heavens to form our seas, lakes and rivers, and they in turn provide more life and food which we can harvest for our benefit.

It follows that it is virtually impossible to categorise all the free benefits we receive from nature.

The way those necessities are managed throughout the world varies according to the climate - people

living in the Sahara desert harness nature's gifts in a way vastly different from those near the North Pole.

Much more locally, nature has provided us with the means of building and heating our homes.

The basic necessities, ie stone and timber, are provided by the earth and even if we say that some modern houses contain a lot of plastic, we must remember that that originates from oil which, of course, comes from the ground.

Coal and gas also come from the earth, even if it is necessary for them to be exploited for our benefit.

In the first instance, before farming was formalised, our food was provided by nature.

The seas, lakes and rivers offered all manner of edible creatures and plants and continue to do so. Our ancestors simply went out and helped themselves but we tend to rely on the fishing industry, although some of our fish, such as salmon and trout, now come from inland fish farms.

Nonetheless, water which is so important to our lives in its own right, also provides us with added sustenance.

Water must surely be the most beneficial of all things on earth. Without water, the ground would not produce our food.

Down the ages, we have taken vital food supplies from the ground, at first merely helping ourselves to growing plants and then learning how to cultivate the earth so that our needs were constantly met. Such harvesting cost us nothing, apart from the labour and tools required.

Even today we can walk into the countryside and help ourselves to food from the landscape, if only in small portions like hazel nuts or mushrooms!

In thinking of food from the countryside, we cannot overlook the amazing range of herbs which grow throughout the world. We have learned to harvest these for our medicinal needs, much of our knowledge being handed down by ancestors.

Also down the ages we have learned to domesticate animals, persuading the horse and even the mighty elephant to help us plough, travel and fight wars.

We have made the cow vital by supplying milk, meat and leather, and we have made the most of many other creatures, such as pigs, goats, sheep, poultry and even rabbits.

Even if such creatures were provided free in the first instance, we now need other people to process their benefits on our behalf. Few of us can milk a cow, for example, and even fewer would wish to kill one for their personal meat supply.

Here in England, our forefathers quickly realised that many wild creatures were wonderful, and indeed important, additions to our diet.

Deer, wild boar, fish, rabbits and hares have all been hunted for food, as have a range of so-called game birds such as pheasants, partridges and grouse.

Whilst some of these creatures were later reared in farms, warrens, pheasantries or even dovecots, the appeal of hunting them in the wild has never dwindled. People still hunt deer and rabbits or go fishing.

The point about hunting creatures in the wild is that they were freely available for our use, but the need to protect them led to our early poaching laws in which close seasons were provided.

They allowed the creatures, which included fish, to multiply as nature desired.

Precisely when man learned to domesticate animals for his own use cannot be determined with precision, but like so many aspects of nature, we have taken it upon ourselves to harvest it for the benefit of all humankind.

In pondering upon what nature has provided, we must always remember that what nature has given, nature can also take away. That begs the question of whether nature controls itself or whether it is managed by a superior intelligence.

Updated: 10:43 Wednesday, February 02, 2005