Hi Mike, Interesting article which brings three things to mind. In Australia the Stranglers are widely associated with the remaining world heritage Rainforests which have been devastated over the years by land clearing, timber harvesting etc. While the Stranglers you write about are like island hopping retreats for wildlife, in Australia the emphasis must be on retaining vegetated corridors for all wildlife species to move across the land. Finally the connection between humans, culture, wild native species is so true and our oldest living culture on earth is testimony to the ancestral oneness between First Nations People, their country and nature, all equally part of a living systemic entity we depend on and must respect and protect, a truth so often ignored.
Hi John. Yes, corridors are important too. I wrote here about how people in the Malaysian state of Sabah are using fig trees to create habitat corridors connecting remnants of forest: https://planetficus.substack.com/p/how-fig-trees-could-revolutionize It was in Australia that the idea of using fig trees to accelerate rainforest regeneration was first tested.
Hi Mike, in Australia fruit bats defecate during flight so having isolated Ficus allows for the seed dispersal to occur over a much wider area. There was an interesting article on the many benefits of having a mixed species forest https://theconversation.com/eloge-des-feuilles-mortes-carburant-indispensable-des-ecosystemes-243962 one could say the same for the dispersal of seed mass.
Thanks for sharing the article Theodore - it was interesting.
Fascinating. Thanks for sharing, Mike.
Hi Mike, Interesting article which brings three things to mind. In Australia the Stranglers are widely associated with the remaining world heritage Rainforests which have been devastated over the years by land clearing, timber harvesting etc. While the Stranglers you write about are like island hopping retreats for wildlife, in Australia the emphasis must be on retaining vegetated corridors for all wildlife species to move across the land. Finally the connection between humans, culture, wild native species is so true and our oldest living culture on earth is testimony to the ancestral oneness between First Nations People, their country and nature, all equally part of a living systemic entity we depend on and must respect and protect, a truth so often ignored.
Hi John. Yes, corridors are important too. I wrote here about how people in the Malaysian state of Sabah are using fig trees to create habitat corridors connecting remnants of forest: https://planetficus.substack.com/p/how-fig-trees-could-revolutionize It was in Australia that the idea of using fig trees to accelerate rainforest regeneration was first tested.
Great story.