Category: Climate

Picture Parade Five Hundred and Twenty-Eight

The moon and the sun.

The following photographs were taken from our deck, looking Eastwards, yesterday morning.

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Geo. Monbiot’s Grim Message

Action regarding the climate crisis.

The following essay from George Monbiot is a difficult read but it is also a necessary read.

With the news that the polar ice caps are retreating, just read yesterday: “Polar ice caps and sheets are shrinking at alarming rates due to global warming, with Arctic sea ice decreasing by over 12% per decade and polar ice sheets losing 7,560 billion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2020. Greenland and Antarctica are losing hundreds of billions of tons of ice annually, significantly contributing to rising sea levels. [1234]”

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Alternating Current

Posted on 29th April, 2026

If this crucial circulation system shuts down, the civilisational impacts will be irreversible. So why isn’t it a top priority?

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 23rd April 2026

The poor and middle pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the very rich pay lawyers – and the ultra-rich pay politicians. It’s not an original remark, but it bears repeating until everyone has heard it. The more money billionaires accumulate, the greater their control of the political system – which means they pay less tax, which means they accumulate more, which means their control intensifies.

They reshape the world to suit their demands. One of the symptoms of the pathology known as “billionaire brain” is an inability to see beyond their own short-term gain. They would sack the planet for a few more stones on the pointless mountain of wealth. And we can see it happening. Last week delivered the biggest news of the year so far, perhaps the biggest news of the century. But partly because billionaires own most of the media, most people never heard it. We might find ourselves committed to a civilisation-ending event before we even learn that such a thing is possible.

The news is that the state of a crucial oceanic circulation system has been reassessed by scientists. Some now believe that, as a result of climate breakdown changing the temperature and salinity of seawater, it is more likely than not to collapse. This system – known as the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) – delivers heat from the tropics to the North Atlantic. Recent research suggests that if it shuts down, it could cause both a massive drop in average winter temperatures in northern Europe and drastic changes in the Amazon’s water cycles. This could help tip the rainforest into cascading collapse and trigger further disaster.

Amoc’s shutdown is likely also to cause an acceleration of sea level rise on the east coast of the US, threatening cities. It could also raise Antarctic temperatures by roughly 6C and release a vast pulse of carbon currently stored in the Southern Ocean, accelerating climate catastrophe.

Even when the countervailing effects of generalised global heating are taken into account, a further paper proposes, the net impact in northern Europe would be periods of extreme cold – including events in which temperatures in London fall to -19C, in Edinburgh to -30C and in Oslo to -48C. Sea ice in February would extend as far as Lincolnshire. Our climate would change drastically, with the likelihood of far greater extremes, such as massive winter storms. Rain-fed arable agriculture would become impossible almost everywhere in the UK.

This shift, on any realistic human scale, would be irreversible. Its speed is likely to outrun our ability to adapt. Amoc shutdowns, driven by natural climate variability, have happenedbefore. But not in the era of large-scale human civilisation.

The first paper proposing that Amoc might have an on-state and an off-state was published in 1961. Since then, many studies have confirmed the finding and explored potential triggers and likely implications. Until recently, Amoc collapse caused by human activity fell into the category of a “high impact, low probability” event, devastating if it happens, but unlikely to occur.

Research over the past few years prompted a reassessment: it began to look more like a “high impact, high probability” event. Now, in response to last week’s paper, Prof Stefan Rahmstorf – perhaps the world’s leading authority on the subject – says the chances of a shutdown look like “more than 50%”. We could pass the tipping point, he says, “in the middle of this century”.

So why is this not all over the news? Why is it not the top priority for the governments that claim to protect us from harm? Well, in large part because oligarchic power has championed a model of climate impact that bears little relation to reality: that is, they have a hypothesis about how the world works that is completely detached from scientific findings. This model underpins official responses to the climate crisis.

It began with the work of the economist William Nordhaus, who sought to assess the economic effects of global heating. His modelling suggests that a “socially optimal” level of heating is between 3.5C and 4C. Most climate scientists see a temperature rise of this kind as catastrophic. Even 6C of heating, Nordhaus suggests, would cause a loss of just 8.5% of GDP. Climate science suggests it would look more like curtains for civilisation.

As the eminent economists Nicholas Stern, Joseph Stiglitz and Charlotte Taylor have argued, the mild effects Nordhaus forecasts are merely artefacts of the model he has used. For example, his modelling assumes that catastrophic risks do not exist and that climate impacts rise linearly with temperature. There is no climate model that proposes such a trend. Instead, climate science forecasts nonlinear impacts and greatly escalating risk.

The likely impacts of high levels of heating include the inundation of major cities, the closure of the human climate niche (the conditions that sustain human life) across large parts of the globe, the collapse of the global food system and cascading regime shifts – that is, abrupt transitions in ecosystems – releasing natural carbon stores, potentially leading to a “hothouse Earth” in which very few survive. Never mind a few points off GDP: there would be no means of measurement and scarcely an economy to measure.

Bizarrely, the modelling also applies discount rates to future people: their lives, it assumes, are worth less than ours. In other words, it has taken a method used to calculate returns to capital and applied it to human beings. As the three economists point out, “it is very difficult to find a justification for this in moral philosophy.” Moreover, climate impacts disproportionately affect the poor – but under the models, their lives are also priced down.

Unsurprisingly, models of this kind, Stern, Stiglitz and Taylor note, have been seized on by “special interests” such as the fossil fuel industry to argue for minimal responses to the climate crisis. And it’s not just the oil companies. Bill Gates, who claims to want to protect the living planet, has given $3.5m (£2.6m) to a junktank run by Bjorn Lomborg, who has built his career on promoting Nordhaus’s model, thus helping to downplay the need for climate action. Nordhaus was awarded the Nobel Memorial prize for economics for his pernicious nonsense – and it is deeply embedded in government decision-making.

A billionaire death cult has its fingers around humanity’s throat. It both causes and downplays our existential crisis. The oligarchs are not just a class enemy but, as they have always been, a societal enemy: a few thousand people can destroy civilisations. It’s the billions v the billionaires, and the stakes could not possibly be higher.

http://www.monbiot.com

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Until I came to live in the the USA permanently, in 2010, I used to live in South Devon, near Totnes. Thus the AMOC was very familiar to me and the local population. AMOC stands for Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Much more information on AMOC may be read on the WikiPedia site.

Although the future of the AMOC is uncertain, many scientists are concerned that the AMOC will weaken.

The above article by George Monbiot is potentially frightening. As Monbiot says at the end; “… a few thousand people can destroy civilisations.

What we need is a few thousand people to make this the number one priority! Not tomorrow but today!

Another Bela poem

I am so impressed by Bela’s poems!

Here it is:

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Ungovernable

We need not allow age to define us
unless we hunger to be named
by something outside ourselves.

Mother Nature is as old as time,
yet remains a woman of mystery—
unmapped,
unmastered,
not to be taken lightly.

While many elders
have been pressed into a mold, 
muffled by expectation,
cinched into compliance—

she rises.

She takes back her ancient names:
crone, hag, witch—
titles once meant to diminish,
now worn like iron and bone.

She will not shrink.
She will not bow.

Lately, she has been speaking.

Heavy tropical rains—
record-breaking—
islands flooding,
the ground unable to drink
what the sky insists on unleashing.

And today—
thunder.

Lightning.

Rare here.
Almost unheard of.

Rain fell in sheets,
fire-hosing off corrugated roofs
into earth already swollen,
already saturated.

And then—

CRACK.
FLASH.
BOOM.

The sky split.

The dog and I
jettisoned from our bodies—
he barking, pacing,
drawn to the door
but unwilling to cross the threshold.

This was not weather.

This was visitation.

The center—
ripped out of the moment,
out of the body,
out of the small illusion of control.

This is what elder women become
when the blinders fall away:

not gentle,
not contained,
not agreeable.

We become weather.

We become voice.

We become the force
that cannot be managed
by the structures that once confined us.

Ungovernable.

Unapologetic.

Unsilenced.

We rise—
not in defiance alone,
but in remembrance.

And we will not be silenced again.

before the storm ~ bj 2026

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To my mind that is the power and beauty of nature – it is ungovernable.

Picture Parade Five Hundred and Fourteen

My deer friends!

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These are the deer in our garden. I feed them every morning and they have become good friends. However, taking the photos was tricky as I had to use a zoom lens and I did not have a tripod with me.

Hedgerows

That’s right – planting hedgerows!

For many years I lived in South Devon, England. I never thought twice about hedgerows because they were so common.

Then today I read an article in The Economist about Brexit and the one thing that was favourable was this “Brexit delivers a win for British wildlife.

Here’s a small extract from the magazine:

No other country matches the rich heritage of hedgerows that weave across the damp (ideal for hedges) British Isles. Since the Bronze Age, Britons have reared sheep and cattle and have used hedges to mark the boundaries of fields and keep livestock in place. Some of these ancient bushes still stand. In West Penwith, one such prehistoric hedge, a gurgoe, might be over 4,000 years old. Most, though, were planted in the 18th century, when landowners enclosed the commons, an event that turned the country into a chequerboard of small, irregular fields. America, by contrast, passed a law prohibiting private landowners from enclosing public land in 1885, protecting its open ranges.

Here in Oregon hedges are not so common. But I did some research as to the cause and came upon this article by Oregon State University.

I trust it may be shared with you.

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A Guide to Hedgerows: Plantings That Enhance Biodiversity, Sustainability and Functionality

Pami Monnette and Jude Hobbs

EM 8721 | Revised June 2020, Reviewed 2023

An aerial photo taken above Forest Grove shows hedgerows bordering the urban growth boundary and used as buffers between fields. 
Photo: Justin Smith, © Oregon State University
This young hedgerow bordering a field features native plants that provide habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators.
Photo: Janet Donnelly, © Oregon State University

We see them at the edges of farm fields or along roads: long rows of trees, shrubs, flowers and grasses known as hedgerows. They are living fences with the ability to grow food, shelter wildlife, save water, manage weeds and look beautiful all year round.

Hedgerows are sometimes called shelter belts, windbreaks or conservation buffers. These layers of plant life enhance the beauty, productivity and biodiversity of a landscape. 

Hedgerows originated in medieval Europe and are enjoying a modern resurgence. People in England planted hawthorn cuttings and allowed them to grow about 6 feet. They were bent and trained to fill gaps in the trees, yielding a living fence. They called these fences “hagas” or hedges, form the word “hawthorn.” As the birds settled in the hawthorns and dropped seeds. more plants sprung up. Today, many farms in England are surrounded by ancient hedgerows that shelter beneficial organisms and conserve soil and water. 

Hedgerow plantings were uncommon in the early United States. In the 1930s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Shelterbelt Program briefly supported planting trees for windbreaks to prevent soil erosion in the Midwest. Today, as interest surges in sustainable farming methods, more people are turning to this age-old practice.

Hedgerows can serve several ecological functions. Among their many benefits, hedgerows:

  • Enhance ecological biodiversity.
  • Offer food for livestock, humans and wildlife.
  • Provide habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators.
  • Facilitate water conservation.
  • Provide windbreaks.
  • Help manage invasive weeds.
  • Provide erosion control and improve soil health.
  • Support the health of aquatic habitats.
  • Enhance carbon sequestration.
  • Create borders and privacy screens.
  • Reduce noise, dust, chemical drift and other types of pollution.
  • Diversify farm income.
  • Generate year-round beauty.

Let’s look at these benefits in detail.

Benefits of hedgerows

Enhance ecological biodiversity

Biodiversity describes the variety of life forms within a specific ecosystem and the relationship of these organisms to one another and the broader environment. Hedgerows can be designed to attract a wide variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and plants, many of which offer beneficial relationships to each other. They also create more edges, or “ecotones,” between different habitats, which increases species diversity. Trees and shrubs provide shelter for larger mammals, and nesting sites and perches for raptors, which are important predators of rodents. Dense or thorny shrub thickets can offer songbirds a refuge to escape predators as well as a place to nest. The diverse composition and structure of a hedgerow creates a functional habitat where species experience vital interconnections with one another and the environment.

Offer food for livestock, humans and wildlife

Hedgerows provide undisturbed refuge for species of all kinds, creating wildlife corridors, travel lanes or habitat islands. Hedgerows help protect wildlife from predators and provide sheltered access to riparian zones or other water sources. These corridors are especially important in fragmented landscapes, such as fields where only a single crop is grown. Hedgerows provide shade to reduce heat stress and help to block wind currents. These measures support a healthier wildlife population. Berry-producing plants encourage insectivores, such as birds, that also prey upon common crop pests. The hedgerow habitat creates cover for wildlife so they can feed, nest and care for their young.

Provide habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators

Planting a variety of flowering trees, shrubs, forbs and perennial plants provides insect habitat, and nectar and pollen sources throughout the year for beneficial insects and pollinators. Plants in the family Umbelliferae attract parasitic wasps; predator flies such as hover flies, lacewings and ladybeetles; and true bugs, like ambush or minute pirate bugs. Flowering plants in this family include coriander, dill, fennel, parsnip, parsley and carrots. These plants are useful in the kitchen and are also very attractive to pollinators. Over 75% of successful production of food requires pollination. Increasing plant habitat for pollinator species improves fruit set, size and quality, as well as general biodiversity. Pollinator habitat also attracts beneficial insects, which prey on many crop pests. Increasing the numbers of beneficial insects can help farmers manage crop pests and cut down on insecticide use.

Facilitate water conservation

Hedgerows retain water and reduce evaporation by reducing wind speed and providing cover over the ground surface. Plants also catch and store water in their root systems, leaves and branches, slowing the rate of excess rainwater entering waterways and reducing the risk of flooding. Decaying matter from the roots, stems and branches of hedgerow plants increase the organic matter in the soil over time. This increases the soil’s ability to absorb and retain water. Planting hedgerows on hillsides helps conserve water and soil by reducing erosion. If planting near adjacent cropland, periodic root pruning can reduce competition for nutrients and water.

Provide windbreaks

Properly designed hedgerows can reduce wind speed by as much as 75% and improve crop performance. This is especially effective when plantings reach a density of 40%–50% and are planted perpendicular to the prevailing wind. Wind-resistant trees usually have flexible, wide-spreading, strong branches and low centers of gravity. Wind-tolerant shrubs often have small, thick or waxy leaves or very narrow leaves or needles, to help control moisture loss. Wind can disturb pollination and damage fruit and flowers when plant parts thrash against each other. During times when soil is exposed, a windbreak can protect topsoil from erosion. Crops under wind stress also put energy into growing stronger roots and stems, resulting in smaller yields and delayed maturity. Strong winds also cause lodging of grain and grass crops, bending the stems and making harvest more difficult. Winds dry out crops on the field edges, increasing pests such as two-spotted spider mites.

Help manage invasive weeds

Hedgerows planted along roads or between crop fields may prevent weed seeds from blowing into the field. The weed seed pods collect on hedgerow plants, where a farmer could remove and burn them. Hedges can prevent millions of weed seeds from entering the crop field. As hedgerows mature, these plantings displace invasive weeds. If well maintained, this weed management lasts the lifetime of the hedgerow.

Provide erosion control and improve soil health

Rain, irrigation, clean cultivation and vacant field borders can all increase erosion potential in an agricultural system.

Hedgerow plantings can significantly reduce the amount of soil erosion on a landscape. They can also provide a barrier to filter out pollutants, such as pesticides, and slow down sediments and organic material that can flow from farm fields into waterways. This is accomplished by increasing the surface water infiltration rate and improving soil structure around the root zone. This, in turn, decreases fertilizer runoff from farm fields. The biomass that plants shed acts as a soil conditioner and can enhance plant growth. In urban or suburban environments, hedges similarly reduce pollutants from neighboring sites.

Support aquatic habitat

Hedgerows can provide shade to riparian areas. Shade reduces water temperatures, prevents water evaporation and improves watershed quality. Though many factors influence watershed temperatures, studies have proven that lowland streams bordered by trees and tall shrubs exhibit cooler temperatures. The hedgerow’s latitude, stream aspect, leaf density and the height of its vegetation from the water surface all affect water temperature.

Enhance carbon sequestration

During photosynthesis, trees, shrubs and grasses absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, allowing the carbon to become part of the plant’s tissue. As plants die or shed tissue — either through natural processes or pruning — the carbon that was stored in the plant breaks down and enters the soil. Plants store relatively large amounts of carbon in their biomass, helping to offset some of the effects of climate change. A tree can absorb as much as
48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year and can sequester, or store, 1 ton of carbon dioxide by the time it reaches 40 years old.

Create borders and privacy screens along roads and between properties

Hedgerows are attractive borders and can block undesirable views. Evergreens offer year-round screening. When selecting plants, consider the height at maturity for optimum screening. Evergreens can be pruned to control height and density. Plant a diverse mix of species to help protect against damage from a single pest or disease.

Reduce noise, dust, chemical drift and other types of pollution

As hedgerows mature and become dense, they can create barriers to reduce noise, dust, chemical drift and other pollutants. Open canopy trees are effective barriers to dust and pesticides; air and particles slowly filter through them instead of depositing clouds of pollutants on the other side of the hedge.

Plant hedges as close as possible to any areas where pollutants are a concern. This can help alleviate neighborhood conflicts where agriculture intersects with urban areas.

Hedgerows can act to contain contaminants from urban or suburban environments and keep them from entering agricultural areas.

Diversify farm income

Trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants in a hedgerow can also serve as sources of income. Potential products include nuts, fruits, berries, leaves, flowers, seeds, bark and medicinal herbs. You can grow plants to be propagated as seeds, rootstock, cuttings and transplants. Other potential crops are nursery stock and floral materials, including ferns, broadleaf evergreens, flowers and willows grown for craft material and furniture. You can grow fruits, berries and nuts for food. Hedgerows can shelter bees and encourage a higher pollination rate. Consider planting trees for secondary wood products such as lumber, veneer, firewood, chips for bedding and mulch. Game birds such as quail, pheasant and sage grouse are attracted to hedgerows. Managed hunting can provide a potential source of food and off-season revenue for landowners.

Generate year-round beauty

Hedgerows in the landscape add continuous beauty. You can design a hedge for year-round interest, considering the color and texture of leaves and bark, bloom color and timing, and the general growth habit or form of plants.

Hedgerow design
Graphic: Kerry Wixted with graphics from Tracey Saxby, IAN Image Library, courtesy of the Integration and Application Network, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Native red-flowering currant adds beauty to a hedgerow.
Photo: Janet Donnelly, © Oregon State University

Establishing and maintaining hedgerows

Whether in rural or urban settings, the principles of planning a hedgerow are the same: Evaluate the site, determine what you would like to accomplish with the plantings, match the right plant with the right place, and properly prepare the site.

Design

There are many essential components to consider when designing a multifunctional hedgerow. The first step is to observe the site where the hedge is to be planted and take into consideration the ecological and environmental conditions listed below. These elements influence the design, plant selection, location and the size of the area to be planted. Although a single line of trees will provide some benefits, four or more rows of plants are optimal for windbreaks, water and soil conservation, wildlife habitat and general biodiversity. When it works for the situation, place plants tallest at maturity in the center row, with shorter ones inter-planted between and along the edges. A diverse selection of plant sizes and characteristics is most beneficial. When possible, orient rows perpendicular to prevailing winds.

Hedgerows following land contours create meandering lines on the landscape, producing a natural appearance and larger buffer for wildlife habitat. If the goal is to attract pollinator species, reserve approximately one half-acre for every 40 acres planted in crops.

Plant selection

Plant a wide variety of multi-tiered plants for maximum habitat. Avoid varieties that are susceptible to common pests and diseases and choose plants that are non-invasive. Some perennial species such as blackberry can provide excellent wildlife habitat and food crops but are highly invasive and require frequent maintenance. See the plant lists on page 7 for plantings suited to the Pacific Northwest.

When selecting plants, consider the conditions plants need to survive in specific habitats:

  • Range: place of origin (indigenous, native/non-native).
  • Hardiness zones: frost dates.
  • Light requirements: sun or shade.
  • Size of plants at maturity, growth.
  • Soil type (pH, fertility, erosion concerns).
  • Drainage.
  • Water movement and moisture needs.
  • Planting time.
  • Bloom time: seasonal interest.
  • Day length.
  • Productivity.
  • Tolerance to heat, cold, salt, drought, pollution, wind and wild or domestic animals.
  • Evergreen or deciduous.
  • Plant structure: form or shape, texture, leaf and bark type.
  • Edible or poisonous: what parts.
  • Insect and disease resistance.
  • Plant size, costs and availability.
  • Maintenance needed.
  • Allellopathy: a chemical inhibitor of one plant to another which can impact germination or plant growth.

Ultimately, place plants together that have similar soil, water, sun and drainage needs.

General planting recommendations:

  • Plant trees and shrubs about 6 to 8 feet apart in rows 8 to 10 feet apart.
  • Plant one or two rows of tall trees flanked by a row or two of shrubs. A 20-foot wide hedgerow can have two rows of shrubs flanking a row of trees.
  • Hedgerows work best for wildlife when they are wider than 20 feet.
  • Depending on the site’s prevailing winds, a winter windbreak could have at least two rows of evergreen trees and a row of deciduous trees or shrubs. A summer windbreak could have at least one row of tall deciduous trees and a row of deciduous shrubs.
  • Make sure the planting holes are deep and wide enough to accept and cover the roots of each plant. Be sure to water in each new planting.
  • In a small area, place a 3-inch layer of straw mulch or cardboard around each tree and shrub after planting to discourage weeds and encourage plant survival.

Soil preparation

Soil preparation is one of the keys to plant survival. On a smaller site, an easy way to establish planting areas in existing grass or pasture is to apply a thin layer of compost or manure, followed by several layers of cardboard, and mulch such as straw or leaves. Worms are attracted to the manure and will work over the winter to decompose grasses and fertilize the soil. However, this method may not be practical on a large scale. In this instance, prepare the area for planting by tilling the ground in spring and planting an early cover crop such as crimson clover, followed by buckwheat. In late summer, till or disc in the cover crop and replant an overwintering cover crop such as crimson clover, field peas or vetch. Cover crops improve soil fertility, reduce weeds, stabilize the soil and attract beneficial insects. Till again the following spring and install the first set of plantings for the hedgerow.

Another option for sites with high weed pressure is solarization. Closely mow the ground and put down UV-stabilized anti-condensation greenhouse plastic in midsummer for several weeks to kill the weeds. After solarization, remove the plastic and follow with a fall planting.

Planting time

In more temperate environments, fall planting allows roots to become established before foliage emerges and gives plants the benefit of winter rains. In extreme cold climates, early spring may be the ideal time for planting. At the time of planting, apply amendments such as compost or manure as a top dressing.

Irrigation

To increase the success rate of your hedgerow planting, provide supplemental water for the first two or three years. Irrigate once a week during the heat of the summer during the first year. For the second year, water every two weeks. In the third year, irrigate once a month. Irrigation needs depend on the location and the plants selected. Be sure to water deeply to encourage deep root growth. Most hedgerow plantings may not survive if they do not get supplemental water in the first few years. Water can be supplied by swales, furrows, flood, drip irrigation or hand watering. If the hedgerow is next to cropland, overhead irrigation from the crop can be extended to water the hedge.

Keeping out weedy plants and destructive wildlife

One of the biggest challenges in establishing a hedgerow is keeping unwanted plants from taking over the new plantings. There are a variety of techniques to inhibit these weedy plants. The simplest method is to leave alleys between plant rows for mowing, cultivation or mulching until plants are well established. Ideally, an area 6 to 8 feet wide around the hedgerow should be mowed, flailed or tilled for weed management, fire protection and rodent control. It is also important to mulch heavily with a minimum of 3 inches of leaves, straw, sawdust or cardboard around each plant. As plants mature, they will eventually shade out most annual weeds. This is the ideal time to infill with low-growing, shade-tolerant plants.

If needed, protect plants from beaver and nutria with hardware cloth, and use partially buried plastic-coated cardboard or tubing around tree trunks to protect from voles and mice. If applying pesticides, follow the label in order to protect riparian zones along rivers, creeks and ponds from contamination.

Managing a hedgerow in the first few years is similar to managing a crop. Good weed management during establishment results in less labor to control weeds in seasons to come.

Cost of establishment

Planting hedgerows does not have to be expensive. Seedling plants are available at low cost, and you can propagate new plants from existing plantings. The larger the plant, the sooner it will reach maturity, which is especially important in creating a fast-growing privacy screen. This can be achieved by purchasing dormant bareroot plants and 1-gallon potted plants or larger. Remember, these larger plants will most likely require summer irrigation. Government programs are available to assist landowners with hedgerow development. Many counties have tax exemption programs for riparian lands, along with wildlife habitat conservation and management programs. See “Incentive programs to help with hedgerow establishment” and Estimated Costs To Establish Pollinator Hedgerows, in “Resources,” pages 9–10.

Conclusion

A hedgerow is a long-term commitment. With proper planning and care, it will take approximately four to eight years to establish a hedgerow and 30 or more years for it to reach maturity. To encourage success, draft a plan with planting installments for each year, depending on your goals and budget.

Hedgerows in rural agricultural or urban settings provide many benefits that increase over time, including the opportunity for supplemental income. With benefits for wildlife, humans and the planet, hedgerows are a practice that has stood the test of time.

Hedgerow plants

Hedgerows can contain native and non-native plants, although plants should not be invasive. The following trees, shrubs, groundcovers and perennial plants are appropriate for hedgerows in the Pacific Northwest. Remember to consider proper site selection and plant requirements. Plants that tolerate wet soil are indicated by an asterisk (*).

Sun-tolerant plants under 25 feet

  • Arbutus unedo Strawberry tree
  • Aronia Chokeberry Schubert
  • Baccharis pilularis consanguinea Coyote brush
  • Ceanothus velutinus Tobacco brush
  • Cornus stolonifera Red twig dogwood
  • Diospyros kaki Japanese persimmon
  • Diospyros virginiana American persimmon
  • Elaeagnus multiflora Goumi
  • Elaeagnus umbellata Autumn olive
  • Ficus carica Fig
  • Fuchsia magellanica Hardy fuschia
  • Lonicera caerulea Blue honeyberry
  • Lonicera involucrata Twinberry
  • Malus fusca West Coast crabapple
  • Malus sp. Apple
  • Morus Mulberry
  • Myrica pensylvanica Bayberry
  • Oemleria cerasiformis Osoberry
  • Philadelphus lewisii Mock orange
  • Prunus avium Cherry
  • Prunus domestica Plum
  • Pyrus pyrifolia Asian pear
  • Ribes sanguineum Red-flowering currant
  • Ribes divaricatum Black gooseberry*
  • Ribes nigrum Black currant*
  • Rosa nutkana Nootka rose
  • Salix fluviatilis Columbia River willow*
  • Salix hookeriana Hooker’s willow*
  • Sambucus cerulea Blue elderberry*
  • Spiraea douglasii Western spiraea*
  • Vaccinium corymbosum Blueberry*
  • Vaccinium ovatum Evergreen huckleberry
  • Viburnum opulus Highbush cranberry

Sun-tolerant plants 25+ feet tall

  • Abies grandis Grand fir
  • Acer macrophyllum Bigleaf maple
  • Alnus rubra Red alder*
  • Arbutus menziesii Madrone
  • Asimina Pawpaw
  • Calocedrus decurrens Incense-cedar
  • Castanea Chestnut
  • Chrysolepis chrysophylla Golden chinkapin
  • Diospyros virginiana Persimmon
  • Fraxinus latifolia Oregon ash*
  • Juglans regia English walnut
  • Picea species Spruce
  • Pinus ponderosa Ponderosa pine
  • Populus trichocarpa Black cottonwood
  • Prunus subcordata Klamath plum*
  • Pseudotsuga menziesii Douglas-fir
  • Quercus garryana Oregon white oak
  • Robinia pseudoacacia Black locust
  • Thuja plicata Western redcedar

Groundcovers

  • Fragaria chiloensis Strawberry
  • Gaultheria shallon Salal
  • Mahonia nervosa Oregon grape
  • Polystichum munitum Sword fern
  • Vaccinium vitis idaea Lingonberry

Vines

  • Lonicera Honeysuckle
  • Akebia Five-fingered akebia*

Plants for pond edges

  • Typha latifolia Cattail*
  • Ledum glandulosum Labrador tea

Plants that tolerate shade

  • Chrysolepis chrysophylla Golden chinkapin
  • Cornus nuttallii Western flowering dogwood*
  • Corylus cornuta Hazel*
  • Physocarpus capitatus Ninebark
  • Polystichum munitum Sword fern
  • Sambucus racemosa Red elderberry*
  • Prunus virginiana Chokecherry

Plants for partial shade to shade

  • Acer circinatum Vine maple *
  • Amelanchier alnifolia Serviceberry
  • Berberis aquifolium Oregon grape
  • Gaultheria shallon Salal
  • Cornus stolonifera Red-osier dogwood
  • Holodiscus discolor Oceanspray
  • Lonicera involucrata Twinberry
  • Oemleria cerasiformis Indian plum
  • Philadelphus lewisii Mock orange
  • Rhamnus purshiana Cascara sagrada
  • Taxus brevifolia Western yew*
  • Vaccinium ovatum Evergreen huckleberry

Edge plantings

  • Achillea millefolium Yarrow
  • Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Kinnikinnick
  • Berberis nervosa Cascade Oregon grape
  • Calendula officinalis Calendula
  • Cichorium intybus Chicory
  • Foeniculum vulgare Fennel
  • Fragaria chiloensis Wild strawberry
  • Gaultheria shallon Salal
  • Lavandula angustifolia English lavender
  • Medicago sativa Alfalfa

Nuts

  • Carya illinoinensis Northern pecans
  • Carya ovata Shagbark hickory
  • Castanea Chestnuts
  • Ginkgo biloba Gingko
  • Juglans ailantifolia Heartnut
  • Juglans regia English Walnut
  • Xanthoceras sorbifolium Yellowhorn

Plants for arid environments

Plantings around vineyards

Some flowering plants attract specific kinds of beneficials, for example, carnivorous flies (Oregon sunshine), predatory bugs (stinging nettle) and Anagrus wasps (sagebrush). Research shows trends of reduced pest abundance and increased beneficial insect diversity and abundance in vineyards with a diversity of native flowering plants compared to vineyards lacking native plants.

  • Artemisia spp. Sagebrush
  • Chrysothamnus, Ericameria Rabbitbrush
  • Eriogonum compositum Northern buckwheat
  • Eriogonum niveum Snow buckwheat
  • Eriogonum elatum Tall buckwheat
  • Clematis ligusticifolia Western clematis
  • Eriophyllum lanatum Oregon sunshine
  • Crepis atribarba Slender hawksbeard
  • Asclepias speciosa Showy milkweed
  • Achillea millefolium Yarrow

Arid trees

  • Juniperus occidentalis Western juniper
  • Larix occidentalis Western larch
  • Picea pungens Blue spruce
  • Pinus flexilis Limber pine
  • Pinus edulis Pinyon pine
  • Pinus ponderosa Ponderosa pine
  • Pinus nigra Austrian pine
  • Populus trichocarpa Black cottonwood

Shrubs

  • Artemisia tridentata Big sagebrush
  • Atriplex canescens Four-wing saltbush
  • Cercocarpus montanus Mountain mahogany
  • Chamaebatiaria Desert sweet millefolium
  • Ericameria nauseosa Rubber rabbitbrush
  • Cornus stolonifera Red-osier dogwood
  • Mahonia repens Creeping Oregon grape
  • Potentilla fruticosa Shrubby cinquefoil
  • Prunus emarginata Bitter cherry
  • Prunus virginiana Chokecherry ‘Schubert’
  • Purshia tridentata Antelope bitterbush
  • Rosa woodsii Woods’ rose
  • Shepherdia argentea Silver buffaloberry
  • Shepherdia canadensis Russet buffaloberry

Herbaceous perennials

  • Antennaria species Cat’s ears
  • Anaphalis margaritacea Pearly everlasting
  • Aster alpinus Dwarf alpine aster
  • Aurinia saxatilis Basket of gold
  • Delosperma species Ice plant
  • Echinacea purpurea Purple coneflower
  • Ericameria nauseosa Rubber rabbitbrush
  • Erigeron annuus Fleabane daisy
  • Eriogonum umbellatum Sulfur buckwheat
  • Eriophyllum lanatum Oregon sunshine
  • Kniphofia uvaria Torch lily
  • Lavandula angustifolia English lavender
  • Linum lewisii Flax
  • Penstemon pinifolius Pineleaf penstemon
  • Rudbeckia species Black-eyed Susan
  • Salvia dorii Purple sage
  • Sedum spurium and album Stonecrops
  • Sphaeralcea munroana Globemallow
  • Rosa woodsii Woods’ rose
  • Yucca glauca Narrow leaf yucca

Groundcovers

  • Juniperus Savin juniper
  • Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Kinnikinnick
  • Sedum Stonecrop
  • Sempervivum Hens and chicks
  • Thymus pseudolanuginosus Wooly thyme
Jason Lueker, a horticulture student, helps maintain the hedgerow at the Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture at Oregon State University in Corvallis.
Photo: Hannah O’Leary, © Oregon State University
Mulching in a hedgerow’s early years controls weeds, which helps the plants become established.
Photo: Hannah O’Leary, © Oregon State University
A hedgerow at a Willamette Valley farm combines tall trees with shrubs and flowering plants.
Photo: Janet Donnelly, © Oregon State University

Incentive programs to help with hedgerow establishment

Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program

In exchange for removing environmentally sensitive land from production and establishing permanent resource-conserving plant species, farmers and ranchers are paid an annual rental rate along with other federal and state incentives. This program is administered through the USDA Farm Service Agency and local Soil and Water Conservation districts.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program

This program provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers in order to address natural resource concerns and deliver environmental benefits such as improved water and air quality, conserved ground and surface water, reduced soil erosion and sedimentation or improved or created wildlife habitat. The program is administered through the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service via local field offices.

Resources

Agencies

Books and publications

  • Earnshaw, S. Community Alliance with Family Farmers. Hedgerows and Farmscaping for California Agriculture: A Resource Guide For Farmers.
  • Guard, J.B. Wetland Plants of Oregon and Washington. 2010. Lone Pine Publishing.
  • Imhoff, D. and R. Carra. Farming With The Wild: Enhancing Biodiversity on Farms and Ranches. 2011. Sierra Club Books.
  • Kruckenberg, A. Gardening With Natives of the Pacific Northwest. 1982. University of Washington Press.
  • Lee-Mäder, E., J. Hopwood, M. Vaughan, S. Hoffman Black and L. Morandin. Farming with Native Beneficial Insects: Ecological Pest Control Solutions. 2014. Storey Publishing.
  • Link, R. Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest. 1999. University of Washington Press,
  • Mader, E., M. Shepherd, M. Vaughan, S. Black, G. LeBuhn, Attracting Native Pollinators. 2011. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.
  • Martin, A., H.S. Zim, A.L. Nelson. American Wildlife and Plants: A Guide To Wildlife Food Habits. 1951. Dover Publications.
  • National Center for Appropriate Technology, Oregon Tilth and The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Conservation Buffers in Organic System: Western States Implementation Guide. March 2014.
  • Pojar, J. and A. MacKinnon. Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast. 2016. Lone Pine Publishing.
  • Rodriguez, O. and R. Dufour. A Pictorial Guide to Hedgerow Plants for Beneficial Insects, ATTRA — Sustainable Agriculture Program.
  • Rose, R., C.E.C. Chachulski, D.L. Haase. Propagation of Pacific Northwest Native Plants. 1998. Oregon State University Press.
  • The Xerces Society. Estimated Costs To Establish Pollinator Hedgerows.

Pollinator guides and publications

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This is a fantastic resource and my hope is that it will be read far and wide. We find it very inspiring here in Southern Oregon.

Picture Parade Five Hundred and Five

A few photographs from our property.

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Even in the middle of the winter there are still wonderful sights to be seen!

Picture Parade Five Hundred and Three

Scenes of our property after a night of very heavy rain, taken on the 21st December.

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All taken by yours truly using a Nikon D750.

A worldwide myth.

An incredible fact, as in the truth, that almost nobody will accept.

Until the 22nd November, 2025, that is last Saturday, I believed this lie. A lie that spoke of the dangers, the hazards, the imminent end of the world as I believed it; as in Climate Change!

Very few of you will change your minds, of that I’m sure.

Nonetheless, I am going to republish a long article that was sent to me by my buddy, Dan Gomez.

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Latest Science Further Exposes Lies About Rising Seas

By Vijay Jayaraj

It’s all too predictable: A jet-setting celebrity or politician wades ceremoniously into hip-deep surf for a carefully choreographed photo op, while proclaiming that human-driven sea-level rise will soon swallow an island nation. Of course, the water is deeper than the video’s pseudoscience, which is as shallow as the theatrics.

The scientific truth is simple: Sea levels are rising, but the rate of rise has not accelerated. A new peer-reviewed study confirms what many other studies have already shown – that the steady rise of oceans is a centuries-long process, not a runaway crisis triggered by modern emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).

For the past 12,000 years, during our current warm epoch known as the Holocene, sea levels have risen and fallen dramatically. For instance, during the 600-year Little Ice Age, which ended in the mid-19th century, sea levels dropped quite significantly.

The natural warming that began in the late 1600s got to a point around 1800 where loss of glacial ice in the summer began to exceed winter accumulation and glaciers began to shrink and seas to rise. By 1850, full-on glacial retreat was underway.

Thus, the current period of gradual sea-level increase began between 1800-1860, preceding any significant anthropogenic CO2 emissions by many decades. The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2025 critical review on carbon dioxide and climate change confirms this historical perspective.

“There is no good, sufficient or convincing evidence that global sea level rise is accelerating –there is only hypothesis and speculation. Computation is not evidence and unless the results can be practically viewed and measured in the physical world, such results must not be presented as such,” notes Kip Hansen, researcher and former U.S. Coast Guard captain.

New Study Confirms No Crisis

While activists speak of “global sea-level rise,” the ocean’s surface does not behave like water in a bathtub. Regional currents, land movements, and local hydrology all influence relative sea level. This is why local tide gauge data is important. As Hansen warns, “Only actually measured, validated raw data can be trusted. … You have to understand exactly what’s been measured and how.”

In addition, local tide-gauge data cannot be extrapolated to represent global sea level. This is because the geographic coverage of suitable locations for gauges is often poor, with the majority concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere. Latin America and Africa are severely under-represented in the global dataset.  Hansen says, “The global tide gauge record is quantitatively problematic, but individual records can be shown as qualitative evidence for a lack of sea-level rise acceleration.”

A new 2025 study provides confirmation. Published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, the study systematically dismantles the narrative of accelerating sea-level rise. It analyzed empirically derived long-term rates from datasets of sufficient length – at least 60 years – and incorporated long-term tide signals from suitable locations.

The startling conclusion: Approximately 95% of monitoring locations show no statistically significant acceleration of sea-level rise. It was found that the steady rate of sea-level rise – averaging around 1 to 2 millimeters per year globally – mirrors patterns observed over the past 150 years.

The study suggests that projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which often predicts rates as high as 3 to 4 millimeters per year by 2100, overestimate the annual rise by approximately 2 millimeters.

This discrepancy is not trivial. It translates into billions of dollars in misguided infrastructure investments and adaptation policies, which assume a far worse scenario than what the data support. Because we now know that local, non-climatic phenomena are a plausible cause of the accelerated sea level rise measured locally.

Rather than pursuing economically destructive initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the basis of questionable projections and erroneous climate science, money and time should be invested in supporting coastal communities with accurate data for practical planning to adapt to local sea level rise.

Successful adaptation strategies have existed for centuries in regions prone to flooding and sea-level variations. The Netherlands is an excellent example of how engineering solutions can protect coastal populations even living below sea level.

Rising seas are real but not a crisis. What we have is a manageable, predictable phenomenon to which societies have adapted for centuries. To inflate it into an existential threat is to mislead, misallocate, and ultimately harm the communities that policymakers claim to protect.

This commentary was first published by PJ Media on September 10, 2025.

Vijay Jayaraj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO₂ Coalition, Fairfax, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor’s in engineering from Anna University, India.

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I shall be returning to this important topic soon. Probably by republishing that 2025 Study referred to in the above article.

I hope that you read this post.

Thank you, Dan.

Picture Parade Four Hundred and Ninety-Two

Such a wonderful moon and, again, many thanks to Unsplash.

The 2025 Harvest Moon so called because it is the first full moon after the Autumn Equinox.

Photo by Ganapathy Kumar on Unsplash

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Photo by Austin Tate on Unsplash

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Photo by Rachel Faller on Unsplash

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Photo by Michael Hamments on Unsplash

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Photo by Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash

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Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

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Photo by Justin Wolff on Unsplash

Gorgeous beyond words.

More about Jane Goodall

An article published by The Conversation is offered today.

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Jane Goodall, the gentle disrupter whose research on chimpanzees redefined what it meant to be human

Jane Goodall appears on stage at 92NY in New York on Oct. 1, 2023.
Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Mireya Mayor, Florida International University

Anyone proposing to offer a master class on changing the world for the better, without becoming negative, cynical, angry or narrow-minded in the process, could model their advice on the life and work of pioneering animal behavior scholar Jane Goodall.

Goodall’s life journey stretches from marveling at the somewhat unremarkable creatures – though she would never call them that – in her English backyard as a wide-eyed little girl in the 1930s to challenging the very definition of what it means to be human through her research on chimpanzees in Tanzania. From there, she went on to become a global icon and a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Until her death on Oct. 1, 2025 at age 91, Goodall retained a charm, open-mindedness, optimism and wide-eyed wonder that are more typical of children. I know this because I have been fortunate to spend time with her and to share insights from my own scientific career. To the public, she was a world-renowned scientist and icon. To me, she was Jane – my inspiring mentor and friend.

Despite the massive changes Goodall wrought in the world of science, upending the study of animal behavior, she was always cheerful, encouraging and inspiring. I think of her as a gentle disrupter. One of her greatest gifts was her ability to make everyone, at any age, feel that they have the power to change the world. https://www.youtube.com/embed/rcL4jnGTL1U?wmode=transparent&start=0 Jane Goodall documented that chimpanzees not only used tools but make them – an insight that altered thinking about animals and humans.

Discovering tool use in animals

In her pioneering studies in the lush rainforest of Tanzania’s Gombe Stream Game Reserve, now a national park, Goodall noted that the most successful chimp leaders were gentle, caring and familial. Males that tried to rule by asserting their dominance through violence, tyranny and threat did not last.

I also am a primatologist, and Goodall’s groundbreaking observations of chimpanzees at Gombe were part of my preliminary studies. She famously recorded chimps taking long pieces of grass and inserting them into termite nests to “fish” for the insects to eat, something no one else had previously observed.

It was the first time an animal had been seen using a tool, a discovery that altered how scientists differentiated between humanity and the rest of the animal kingdom.

Renowned anthropologist Louis Leakey chose Goodall to do this work precisely because she was not formally trained. When she turned up in Leakey’s office in Tanzania in 1957, at age 23, Leakey initially hired her as his secretary, but he soon spotted her potential and encouraged her to study chimpanzees. Leakey wanted someone with a completely open mind, something he believed most scientists lost over the course of their formal training.

Because chimps are humans’ closest living relatives, Leakey hoped that understanding the animals would provide insights into early humans. In a predominantly male field, he also thought a woman would be more patient and insightful than a male observer. He wasn’t wrong.

Six months in, when Goodall wrote up her observations of chimps using tools, Leakey wrote, “Now we must redefine tool, redefine Man, or accept chimpanzees as human.”

Goodall spoke of animals as having emotions and cultures, and in the case of chimps, communities that were almost tribal. She also named the chimps she observed, an unheard-of practice at the time, garnering ridicule from scientists who had traditionally numbered their research subjects.

One of her most remarkable observations became known as the Gombe Chimp War. It was a four-year-long conflict in which eight adult males from one community killed all six males of another community, taking over their territory, only to lose it to another, bigger community with even more males.

Confidence in her path

Goodall was persuasive, powerful and determined, and she often advised me not to succumb to people’s criticisms. Her path to groundbreaking discoveries did not involve stepping on people or elbowing competitors aside.

Rather, her journey to Africa was motivated by her wonder, her love of animals and a powerful imagination. As a little girl, she was entranced by Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1912 story “Tarzan of the Apes,” and she loved to joke that Tarzan married the wrong Jane.

When I was a 23-year-old former NFL cheerleader, with no scientific background at that time, and looked at Goodall’s work, I imagined that I, too, could be like her. In large part because of her, I became a primatologist, co-discovered a new species of lemur in Madagascar and have had an amazing life and career, in science and on TV, as a National Geographic explorer.
When it came time to write my own story, I asked Goodall to contribute the introduction. She wrote:

“Mireya Mayor reminds me a little of myself. Like me she loved being with animals when she was a child. And like me she followed her dream until it became a reality.”

In a 2023 interview, Jane Goodall answers TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s questions about chimpanzee behavior.

Storyteller and teacher

Goodall was an incredible storyteller and saw it as the most successful way to help people understand the true nature of animals. With compelling imagery, she shared extraordinary stories about the intelligence of animals, from apes and dolphins to rats and birds, and, of course, the octopus. She inspired me to become a wildlife correspondent for National Geographic so that I could share the stories and plights of endangered animals around the world.

Goodall inspired and advised world leaders, celebrities, scientists and conservationists. She also touched the lives of millions of children.

Two women face each other, smiling and holding a book
Jane Goodall and primatologist Mireya Mayor with Mayor’s book ‘Just Wild Enough,’ a memoir aimed at young readers. Mireya Mayor, CC BY-ND

Through the Jane Goodall Institute, which works to engage people around the world in conservation, she launched Roots & Shoots, a global youth program that operates in more than 60 countries. The program teaches children about connections between people, animals and the environment, and ways to engage locally to help all three.

Along with Goodall’s warmth, friendship and wonderful stories, I treasure this comment from her: “The greatest danger to our future is our apathy. Each one of us must take responsibility for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for living things around us, especially each other.”

It’s a radical notion from a one-of-a-kind scientist.

This article has been updated to add the date of Goodall’s death.

Mireya Mayor, Director of Exploration and Science Communication, Florida International University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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That comment by Jane that was treasured by Mireya is so important. “The greatest danger to our future is our apathy. Each one of us must take responsibility for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for living things around us, especially each other.