Just a very short and quick note to remind you that Earth Day takes place on April 22, 2012. Earth Day 2012 has many activities lined up just for this special day. I hope that you like this beautiful photo from NASA. How do you plan to celebrate the earth on Sunday?
HAPPY EARTH DAY TO YOU!!

Don’t you just love beautiful spring flowers? Blooming, colorful flowers are what makes spring so enjoyable and new. Each of these beauties has been photographed by Kaldari. 1/ Creeping Jacob’s Ladder, 2/ Nashville Mustard, 3/Pyne’s Ground Plum, 4/Virginia Spring Beauty, 5/Birdseye Speedwell, 6/ Wood Anemone and 7/Virginia Bluebell. Which flowers have you noticed in your area lately? Welcome to spring!

thank you to: wikimedia commons / Kaldari

Gaëlle Villedary, based in Marseille, created the 1400 ft. public art work Tapis Rouge for the French village of Jaujac. Tapis Rouge celebrates the 10th anniversary of Art and Trail nature works. This “carpet” of grass is a pedestrian walkway through the village that commemorates the nearby natural environment hoping to foster a closer connection between the two. As an in-situ installation, Tapis Rouge, works conceptually and physically as it successfully ties together the surrounding natural environment with this picturesque village. What do you think?

thank you. Gaëlle Villedary, Landezine, Inhabitat, images © David Monjou

As 2011, the International Year of the Forest, comes to an end, please enjoy this magnificent video “Of Forests and Men” from Yann-Arthus Bertrand. Wishing you a most happy 2012!

video: thanks to Good Planet

An inspiring video that is worth seeing! Fantastic talent Benoit Millot frequently makes environmentally oriented films combined with advertising and branding. This time out he has created a sensitive and beautiful short about the useful fabric linen. Beautiful images, simple music, an inside look at something frequently not considered. Wonderful shots that engage the viewer in the making of linen from plant to fabric. Enjoy! And let me know what you think.

video: thanks to Benoit Millot and Good Ideas

2011 is the U.N. International Year of Forests. The United Nations has a series of films, forums and other things in the works for this year. Closer to home, nestled in the Oakland Hills is a hidden gem, the East Bay Regional Parks Redwoods. In the l800s, it was used for logging. It’s a small forest and home to many redwoods. Join
naturalist Linda Yemoto as she talks about the yearly journey of ladybugs during the winter season. Hope you enjoy watching these beautiful and fascinating bugs!

African Penguin populations declined substantially from 1900 to 2000 – from 1.5 million to less than 150,000. Current data shows that as of 2009 there may be around 52,000 left.

Not much bigger than 70 cm (2.5 ft.) and weighing around 5 kg (11 lbs.), these really cute birds are truly vulnerable and as of 2010 are listed as endangered.  Noticeable by pink glands around the eyes that assist with cooling in hot weather, the penguins are known for their nervous constitution and mate for life.  These expert swimmers are one of two flightless birds on the African continent (the other being the ostrich).  African Penguins live on 24 islands and are native to  Namibia, South Africa, Angola and Mozambique with occasional sightings in the Congo and Gabon.  80% of the birds reside on only 7 islands.

What threatens the penguins?  In the past declines were due to the stockpiling of eggs for food and guano as fertilizer.  As of now, depletion of fish stock, habitat destruction and oil spills are the greatest threats.  Current conservation efforts include protected status by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and Convention on Migratory Specis (CMS).  However, further measures and efforts will be necessary to ensure the future survival of these birds.

photos: thanks to Wikimedia Commons and thanks to View from the Bay for the video
sources: IUCN Red List, BirdLife International, Wikipedia, Arkive