Who is Natureman?
Meet Nature Man – Chris Knowles. He has travelled to every continent (but not the poles!) in search of the world’s most incredible wildlife and habitats.
He’s been stalked by lions, survived malaria, swam with sharks, squeezed into a bat cave, sat on a scorpion and been savaged by a lemur! You name an animal and there is a good chance he’s spotted it, photographed it and studied it in great detail!
Chris has spent more than a year of his life living in rainforests all over the world. Who better to teach pupils about Rainforests, nature and habitats. He enjoys passing on some of the more interesting stories about his adventures during workshops!
Now over to Chris.
Let's talk Rainforests
I have been lucky to travel all over the world and visit some of the Earth's most biologically diverse hotspots; places where the forms of animals know no bounds. Yes, I'm talking about Rainforests!
What draws me to these special places? Well, it's the sheer diversity of life that can be found there. Grasshoppers that squeeze foam out of their heads, birds that echolocate, spiders that mimic bird droppings and if your lucky, you might even see a big cat!
Entering a Rainforest feels like walking into a steam room at a gym; the humidity surrounds you. The smell of fresh plants fills your lungs. Within a few minutes, you'll start to get bitten by the numerous small insects, it's unavoidable but a small price to pay to enter an environment as rich as this. Although life is abundant here but with so many animals inhabiting the same environment, the competition for survival is extreme.
That competition for survival has evolved over hundreds of thousands (maybe even millions) of years; it's why we can see animals with such extreme camouflage here. However, animals cannot adapt to deforestation.
The clearing of Rainforest for human purposes is destroying life on this planet in so many ways. Species are declining at an alarming rate - we need to do something to stop or reduce the impact as much as possible.
Operation Ocelot is a project from the World Land Trust, a charity that specialises in purchasing Rainforest for conservation. I've seen their work in Brazil and I was blown away with their reforestation projects.
The World Land Trust is asking the public to measure out their garden; then using Operation Ocelots online calculator to gain a donation amount to protect the same sized piece of land in a Rainforest. It's very affordable, my garden was around £20. This will have a real difference to thousands of species in a dire situation.
My garden supports songbirds, squirrels and the occasional hedgehog; however, my garden in a Rainforest would host Monkeys, Parrots, Snakes, Hummingbirds, Tarantulas, 1000's plant species and of course, maybe even that elusive big cat! It's a small price to pay to protect our global biological heritage!
Please enjoy a few of my photos of rainforests I've visited from around the world!