Sunday, 17 JuneWe left Florence 12 days ago. The time has rushed by as our journey comes towards an end. We left Florence at about 5.30pm, after collecting the film camera from being repaired. From there we drove through to Milan, where we began our Italian journey on 14 May. It was a brief, one night, stay in Milan and then on to Lugano in southern Switzerland. There we spent time with the Grilli family, who Emma had spent 3 months with until joining us when we arrived in Italy. After 5 nights in Lugano we drove to Dornach, near Basel, for 3 nights, then down into France. We arrived in France on 13 June, spending two nights in a tiny place called Chichilianne in the Rhone Alps region, then one night in another small village in the Puy de Dome region, south of Clermont-Ferrand. We're now near yet another tiny village called St. Cyprien, in the south central area of France. Tomorrow I am meeting with a local farmer who I met at the market this morning. This may well be my last interview on this journey.
We have done a lot of travelling but I have managed some interactions with people as well as continued to reflect on lessons from this journey. I have talked increasingly about the importance of finding ways of working harmoniously with our earth, with the natural world. This is a contrary view to the well know British scientist, James Lovelock, who developed the so-called Gaia hypothesis. More recently he has expressed his concerns about the state of the earth and has suggested a planned retreat from nature. I disagreed with this view before and disagree even more strongly now. The many people we have met in different places and their very positive actions support a different approach that is focused on an intelligent and heart-felt re-engagement with nature. Everything we have, all of the wonderful results of the industrial revolution and our modern technological revolution, have been derived from the earth in some form or another. We cannot so easily retreat as Lovelock thinks. I prefer to look at the leader of the Karen village in northern Thailand and his very smart 16 year old daughter, to the Buddhist monk north of Bangkok, to the work of Ajarn Yak in Thailand, to a wise 78 year old man in northern Viet Nam, to wise local leaders in Nepal, to the work of Sekem in Egypt, and more recently to the inherent understanding of our place in landscape, in nature, that is visible in parts of Europe and in the work on the best farmers here.
In the parts of Italy we visited, Switzerland, and now in France we see landscapes where there is a history of understanding the importance of forest and water management. In all the places we've been in these countries I have seen hills covered with trees that in New Zealand and many parts of Asia have been stripped bare. In Switzerland, water catchment areas are forested. In New Zealand, when I gave a talk to a Regional Council a couple of years ago I was considered naïve to suggest that planting trees was the most important thing we could be doing as an adaptation to climate change. Everywhere I've been, every place I've seen, every person I have spoken to over the last 4 months has reinforced this view. In Europe I see the legacy of centuries of understanding the importance of managing whole landscapes. We don't have this legacy in New Zealand. What we do have is a freedom of choice that many other countries and people do not have any more. But for how much longer?
It is very clear to me now that there is a great, unrealised, opportunity to develop truly effective responses to climate and other global changes by simply opening our eyes and ears to the very good things that people are already doing all over the world. In fact I believe we must do this. Things are now moving too fast for the politicians and scientists to keep up. People are already acting, some are already well ahead in their work and thinking.
Scenes from rural France
Making hay in the Rhone Alps region.
The lush countryside in the Puy de Dome region.14 JuneToday we visited a place called Terre Vivante (www.terrevivante.org). This organisation has existed since 1979 when the magazine 'Les Quatre Saisons' was launched by seven passionate ecologists. In 1994 they began the development of a 'discovery centre' focused on demonstrating practical ecology. We visited this centre, with its blend of forests walks, gardens and demonstration sites, on a day when a bus load of school children was there to explore, experience and learn. Their presence strongly reinforced the value of providing a living learning environment for all age groups, aimed at demonstrating positive, attainable, actions for a sustainble 21st century.
In the evening I met with Remy Bacher, the editor of Les Quatres Saisons magazine. I told him how impressed I was with the Terre Vivante centre, with practical examples of the very simple solutions to the many environmental problems we have in the world. I also talked about the importance of local people who provide leadership and an example for others to follow. This has been evident everywhere we have been. Remy said that not just Terre Vivante but increasingly the Trieves area as a whole, in the Rhone Alps where Terre Vivante is located, is providing an example for the rest of France. More an more people are aware of the work of Terre Vivante, of the high proportion of organic farmers in the area, and of a very beautiful and well balanced environment.
Terre Vivante is an excellent educational and resource centre with practical examples for sustainable living in the 21st century.
11 JuneAs we drove through Switzerland, from Lugano to Dornach, it was evident everywhere that the Swiss understand the importance of trees in the landscape and in managing water catchments.
10 JuneThrough our wonderful hosts, the Grilli family, I was introduced to a local farmer. Renzo was not born to a farming family, but became a farmer nearly 40 years ago. His motivation was to live and work with the land, with the natural world. He and his family are alpine farmers, During the winter period they move down to their winter house and their stock are housed. In the summer period they move to the summer house, above the tree line, where the stock are able to free range on the herb pastures. Renzo was a bit reluctant to be interviewed and filmed, but he generously agreed. He talked about the dramatic reduction in snow cover that they now experience every winter. The winter rest period, which he considers important for the earth, animals and people, is no longer as it was. The climate is changing and nothing is predictable in the way that it was in the past. This is very unsettling and I think stressful for a family that has worked very hard over a long period. What more can they do than they already are, working and living in a very balanced way?
A view towards Lake Lugano, southern Switzerland, showing a forested water catchment area.
The Swiss have a very clear understanding of the importance of forest cover in water catchments, even with small streams.
There is a long history of winter rest and summer grazing in high alpine areas of Switzerland. This is beginning to change with higher temperatures and significant reductions in snow cover.
The summer farmhouse, with small terrace restaurant for walkers, where Renzo and his family live while they graze their animals in the alpine herb fields.
Renzo, a man who came to live and work with nature 40 years ago and is now finding that he can no longer follow the seasonal rhythms of the past.5 JuneBefore leaving Florence my colleague, Professor Marco Bindi, and I talked about possibilities for collaboration. My very strong interest is to work to develop interactions between local people in different parts of the world. I increasingly see this as a real possibility and something that could help provide true leadership for the future.
