Stories of a connected world.

Wildlife

Jaguar: connecting habitats beyond the photograph

A jaguar's spotted coat attracts attention, but survival depends on the landscape outside the photograph. Look beyond the portrait to water, prey and routes between habitats.

Wildlife

Orangutans: a forest is more than a single tree

An orangutan's world includes branches, fruit and resting places high above the ground. A tree drawn as only a trunk leaves much of that world out.

Wildlife

Elephants: following connections across a landscape

A photograph of elephants approaching water shows one moment in a longer journey. Seasons, roads, farms and other water sources lie beyond its frame.

Wildlife

Watching migrating birds without disturbing them

The closest photograph is not always the best observation. Quiet time spent without changing a bird's behaviour can be a valuable record.

Wildlife

Wolves: reading an ecosystem without a simple story

Predator stories are often presented as a single chain of cause and effect. A careful account asks what other changes happened at the same time.

Species Conservation

Sea turtles: why dark beaches matter

A coastal light can seem small to a person while changing the surroundings used by nesting turtles. Habitat comes before the wish to see an animal closely.

Species Conservation

Mediterranean monk seals: the value of quiet coasts

Seeing an animal does not require entering its shelter. A coastline can be explored through questions about space, conditions and disturbance.

Species Conservation

Red pandas: connecting a species card to its forest

A red panda portrait often draws attention to the face and long tail. Understanding the animal also means asking about the forest around it.

Species Conservation

Vultures: following the work of scavengers

When an animal dies, the movement of nutrients through an ecosystem continues. Scavengers help us think beyond familiar ideas of attractive wildlife.

Species Conservation

Frogs and wetlands: an observation is not a diagnosis

A frog can prompt questions about both land and water. Its presence is a starting point for investigation, rather than a complete environmental assessment.

Plants

Wild orchids: photograph them and leave them in place

An orchid flower is only the visible part of a set of relationships. Its surroundings are part of the story even when they are outside the frame.

Plants

Giant baobabs: life around a remarkable tree

A large trunk can dominate a photograph. A better learning record also asks about flowers, visitors and the place where the tree grows.

Plants

Oak trees: habitat in bark, hollows and dead wood

A tree's value is not confined to living branches. Details that look untidy to people can be part of the habitat used by other organisms.

Plants

Mangroves: connecting land, seagrass and reefs

A shoreline is not a set of isolated boxes. A mangrove photograph can open questions about neighbouring coastal habitats.

Plants

Endemic plants: range and risk are different questions

A plant can be native, restricted to a region, or at risk. Those descriptions answer different questions and should not be used interchangeably.

Pollinators and Gardens

A pollinator garden starts with knowing the place

A garden plan should begin with the conditions of its own site. A list from another region is a research starting point, not a ready-made shopping list.

Pollinators and Gardens

Butterflies: nectar flowers and caterpillar host plants

A flower visited by an adult butterfly tells only part of its life story. Caterpillars may depend on a different set of plants.

Pollinators and Gardens

Native plants: match the species to the conditions

A plant being native to a country does not mean it will grow equally well in every garden or container there. Location is only one part of suitability.

Pollinators and Gardens

Flowers through the year: make a seasonal record

One colourful afternoon does not describe an entire flowering season. Repeated observations can turn an attractive scene into a useful learning record.

Pollinators and Gardens

Watching flower visitors: record the method too

A visitor landing on a flower gives you a behaviour to record. It does not automatically prove successful pollination.

Forest Ecosystems

The Amazon: explore a mosaic of habitats

The Amazon is often represented by an uninterrupted green canopy. A closer reading asks about water, seasons and the scale of the place being described.

Forest Ecosystems

Congo Basin peatlands: read forests and water together

Some landscapes cannot be understood by separating their trees from their water. Peatlands invite us to connect these parts of an environment.

Forest Ecosystems

Dead wood: small habitats inside a forest

A fallen branch can look like the end of a story. In a forest, dead and decaying wood can also provide places used by living organisms.

Forest Ecosystems

Forests in Türkiye: read an inventory with its definitions

A few trees seen during a walk cannot stand for an entire country's forests. Reports and personal observations work at different scales.

Forest Ecosystems

Forest layers: a drawing is a useful simplification

A forest is more than one surface of green. A diagram can help organise its structure while still leaving room for differences between forests.

Forest Conservation

Forest fragmentation: area alone does not tell the story

Two landscapes can contain a similar amount of forest while connecting it very differently. Mapping the gaps makes the comparison more useful.

Forest Conservation

Restoration: planting is a starting action, not an outcome

A photograph of newly planted trees records an action. To understand restoration, ask what changes afterwards and how they are measured.

Forest Conservation

A considerate forest walk: plan small decisions

Planning a walk means thinking about the choices made along the route. Small decisions about surfaces and waste can be prepared before leaving.

Forest Conservation

Forest visits: check current access and fire guidance

An old campsite photograph cannot show whether a fire is permitted there today. A responsible visit begins with the relevant current guidance.

Forest Conservation

FSC labels: read the scope of the claim

A label carries a specific claim rather than a complete account of a product's impact. Reading the exact wording is the first step.

Marine Life

Coral reefs: meet animals and their neighbours

A reef photograph can look like a garden of stone or plants. Learning what corals are changes the questions we ask about the scene.

Marine Life

Seagrass: flowering plants beneath the water

An underwater meadow has roots and relationships that a surface view may hide. Start by distinguishing the kind of organism being described.

Marine Life

Sharks: one name covers many different lives

A familiar group name can conceal large differences. A whale shark photograph should not become a description of every shark.

Marine Life

Marine litter: a location does not prove an origin

Finding an object on a beach tells you where it was observed. It does not by itself tell you who discarded it or where it began its journey.

Marine Life

Beach cleanups: know the limits of the task

A cleanup involves more than picking up everything that appears out of place. The area's rules and the limits of a volunteer task matter.

Rivers and Wetlands

The Nile: a river and its basin have different scales

A river photograph can be a useful introduction while showing only a small section. A basin map helps place that section in a larger relationship.

Rivers and Wetlands

Gediz Delta: explore a mosaic of wetland conditions

A wetland used by flamingos includes more than the place where a flock is visible. Water and salinity create different surroundings within the wider area.

Rivers and Wetlands

The Iraqi marshes: nature and cultural heritage together

A marsh landscape can connect environmental questions with the history of settlements. A single image does not capture all these values.

Rivers and Wetlands

River deltas: read water and land together

A delta changes through relationships between water, land and use. One beautiful or damaged-looking image is an incomplete explanation.

Rivers and Wetlands

Lakes and reedbeds: questions beyond the shoreline

Reeds at the edge of a lake invite close attention, but a shoreline view cannot answer every question about the wider wetland.

Historic Places

Baghdad: living heritage beyond the buildings

A book street can prompt questions about people, reading and the life of a city. Its photograph is a starting point rather than a complete social account.

Historic Places

Ephesus: tracing a city's changing relationship with the coast

The present view of an ancient city can hide its former relationship with water. A monument photograph needs a wider landscape context.

Historic Places

Petra: look beyond the Treasury facade

The Treasury is a memorable image of Petra, but a single facade is not the whole settlement. Roads, built areas and water also belong in its story.

Historic Places

Angkor: a park is larger than one temple

A temple can stand for a place in our imagination while representing only part of it. Exploring the wider area reveals a more careful account.

Historic Places

Machu Picchu: natural and cultural values in one landscape

Stone structures and mountains are often described separately. At Machu Picchu, looking at them together broadens the learning questions.

Heritage Conservation

Abu Simbel: conservation as an international process

The story of protecting a monument is a process involving choices and cooperation. Reducing it to one dramatic action loses part of the history.

Heritage Conservation

Göbekli Tepe: distinguish evidence from interpretation

Animal carvings encourage curiosity about the past. Their presence does not answer every question about a site's environment or purpose.

Heritage Conservation

Historic buildings: visitor behaviour is part of care

Care for a historic place includes the decisions made by its visitors. A habit learned elsewhere is not permission to repeat it on another site.

Heritage Conservation

Leave memories, not marks: caring for historic surfaces

A visit can become a memory without leaving a physical mark. Notes, drawings and appropriate photographs offer other ways to remember a place.

Heritage Conservation

Heritage photography: include context as well as a frame

A good heritage photograph needs an honest caption as well as a thoughtful composition. Access, culture and the actual place shown all matter.