I am passionate about cats. I love their fluid grace and their shape pleases me. Not for me the slavish neediness of dogs, I prefer the take-me-as-I-am independence of a cat. And in my eyes the leopard, queen of cats, is the pinnacle of animal splendour. Those gorgeous rosettes, that unfathomable, yellow stare… In short, there is almost nothing I would not forgive a cat. But there came a time when my profound admiration for all creatures feline suffered a punishing blow. Livi

I’m generally a watery person, but I’ve always liked forests and in my fourth decade of life I have especially come to appreciate the beauty of individual trees. There’s a mulberry tree in my garden at home, for example, with large leaves and drooping branches, the sight of which gives me pleasure on a daily basis. I’m sitting within the green shade of its umbrella-like embrace as I write. The Avatar, so-called by staff after the blockbusting film, is the most impressive tree

I recently returned from a two week visit to the heart of Manu National Park in southeastern Peru. Cocha Cashu is the name of a small cluster of rustic buildings that make up the Biological Research Station for which I work. It is also the name of the oxbow lake on whose shore the Station nestles: cocha is the Quechua word for lake and Cashu refers to its cashew nut shape. Though rubber tappers and loggers navigated the nearby Manu River - parent of the lake - a century ago,