BioWise living - Nature reconnect

26/12/2024

So how fascinating is this? Such a small world. I'd taken guests on an immersion last Wednesday, one of whom is a recent sustainability graduate. She took a photo of the coral tooth fungus, sent it to her friend, a fellow Stellenbosch University graduate and microbiologist...and guess what....he's the person who actually named this fungus! Turns out it is a novel (not been previously identified or documented) and endemic species (Hericium ophelieae sp. nov) which he named after his sister. It gets a bit more interesting...I first spotted this fungus on the 8th of November 2022 (the photo on the left) and first posted about it on Facebook on the 13th of November 2022. His team's research paper was submitted on the 17 Nov 2022, Accepted on the 10 Mar 2023 and Published online: 21 Mar 2023. Such synchronicity with the dates and rather exciting to have spotted it at the time of it being named!

It's particularly interesting to see how the fruiting body has changed over the years - I am assuming it is the same species - as it is on the same tree and fruiting more or less in the same spot if memory serves me correctly. I didn't see it fruit in 2023 (that's not to say it didn't, I just may not have been in the forest at the right time), and it was super exciting to see it again now. I'm intrigued to see the difference in growth form...maybe influenced by the ongoing decomposition happening inside the tree. This coral tooth fungus was found by the researchers growing on Ironwood, Stinkwood, Cape Beech and Cape Holly trees - I'm not sure which tree this particular fungus is growing on - the trunk of the tree is significantly decomposed so the bark is no longer visible.
You can access the research paper by B. Van der Merwe, P. Herrmann & Karin Jacobs at this link (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21501203.2023.2191636)

22/12/2024

I love it when the forest serves up surprises - like coming across this songololo (isn't that a great name) or millipede feeding on a Ganoderma bracket fungus. I knew millipedes to be detritivores (feeding on on decaying organic material like leaf litter, wood and other decomposing vegetation), but I wasn't aware, until fairly recently, how much fungi forms an important part of their nutrient intake. It's so funny how it works - when you learn of something for the first time, it somehow opens up doorways to finding examples or witnessing the phenomenon. This is now my 3rd direct sighting of a millipede feeding on fungi - but with the other two sightings, it was mushrooms past their sell-by date that they were nibbling on. This is the first time seeing them feeding on a bracket fungus - but Ganodermas are known for their medicinal properties - perhaps the songololo was in need of some meds? Animals like gorillas have been known to consume these fungi for self-medication (a 2002 study by Cousins and Huffman titled "Medicinal Properties in the Diet of Gorillas), so who's to say millipedes might not be doing the same? As a wise bard once wrote..."There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio..."

21/12/2024

Spotted this beauty in the forest yesterday - it's a Coral Tooth Fungus and is simply gorgeous. Aptly named, it's intricate coral-like structure looks like it could be equally at home in the ocean. It's a saprophytic fungus....feeding on decomposing organic matter, helping to break down dead wood and recycling nutrients back into the system. It's a fairly rare sighting and this one is growing on a really old tree, one that has undergone significant decomposition. I wonder if this might not be the particular niche that coral tooth fungi occupy....that of stepping in after others have 'softened' up the wood to do the last bit of decomposing - although there will be countless other recyclers no doubt contributing....of the microscopic kind. The economy of the forest hinges on all these saprophytes and it's incredibly special seeing them at work and seeing how the system functions so brilliantly, ensuring there is no depleting or running out of minerals and nutrients. We'd do well to heed and be guided by the countless lessons to be learned from the functioning of a forest.

19/12/2024

I wonder how you feel about these images that relate to recent ABC news story highlighting the boom in solar farms (details below)? One is tempted to be heartened by it, but I must admit, I find it somewhat horrifying. For me, it highlights the shortcomings of 'sustainability' where all that we're actually hell-bent on sustaining is our current energy-guzzling lifestyles and justifying it with the fact that we're using 'renewable energy'. But we fail to consider that the materials used to make the solar panels are anything but renewable (and recycling of these panels is generally not happening) and that the energy required in the construction and distribution is staggering, not to mention the ra**ng of the oceans that's going to take place to access the rare metals used in the panels and batteries. Our relationship to energy hasn't changed - if anything it's going to pick up pace, fueled by the stated 'cheapness' of solar panels which clearly does not factor in the environmental costs. We hear of people cutting down the temperature-regulating, cooling, life-giving trees around their homes for the solar panels on their roofs which are, no doubt, going to be used, in part, to power the air conditioners. Some of the images in the ABC story are heartbreaking - rows and rows and rows of solar panels on massive solar farms....turning living landscapes into dead ones (even deserts are living)....so that we can continue to guzzle more and more energy. If we are to truly consider the future that our children and grandchildren are going to live in, we surely have to start focusing NOT on how much more can we produce, but HOW MUCH LESS CAN WE USE. Radically reducing our energy needs (by, for instance, tapping into passive design options for heating and cooling) and then meeting our radically reduced energy needs with the least amount of solar panels, which we don't buy, but rent (like cellphones) and that get returned for resource recovery and recycling....surely that is what we should be doing? And just as we need to change our relationship towards energy, so do we also need to change it towards Water (how much less can we use as opposed to how much more can we produce) and Waste (how to not produce waste in the first place...and turn all 'waste' into a resource).
The top photo is of the proposed Kerian Solar Farm in Malaysia (source not provided), and the other is from Pexel
The ABC news story can be found at this link (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-18/survey-of-the-worlds-solar-shows-global-boom/104006096)

14/12/2024

Food for thought...quite literally. How often do we consider the mileage that our food has undertaken in order to get it to our plate? This infographic by Waste Ed is a great reminder of the simple changes we can make to 'shorten our individual food chains'. Garden to plate is tops and you don't have to have copious space. More than enough potatoes, and sweet potatoes, for instance, can be grown within the footprint of an old laundry basket, a tyre, layering tyres on top of each other to increase your crop....or in old material shopping bags. And these can be grown then on top of hard surfaces even. Sunny windowsills work wonderfully for herbs. It is said a bed no larger than a door can support a family of 4 if the right combination of veggies are planted. And there is much to be said for the therapeutic nature of our hands working the soil - horticulture therapy it's called. How about letting this infographic be your guide and make a start at bringing your food chain closer to home.

12/12/2024

ANNOUNCEMENT...if you'd like to meet Fruzz, I'll be giving a reading at the Friends of the Knysna Libraries' Christmas Fair at Cearn Hall on Leisure Isle at 10.30 tomorrow morning, the 13th of December...in the children's section of the library. There'll be stalls and tea and cake on offer...so why not enjoy an outing to Leisure Isle and support a great cause. Copies of the Fruzz books will also be available.

12/12/2024

Had an amazing sighting recently on the Kingfisher Trail when a Narina Trogon settled on a branch only about a meter away from where we were standing on the boardwalk. Before I could get my cell phone out to take a photo, he'd flitted off to a more distant branch, but it was fantastic to see him so up close and personal. They're typically very elusive with only their distinct call alerting one to their presence....and sometimes a flash of red....but here he was, perching on the branch and sitting so calmly it almost appeared odd. We felt deeply privileged to be granted this sighting and moment of connection and even though I only managed to take a photo after he'd moved off a bit (can you spot him?), it will always be a reminder of that moment. You'll be surprised by how much presents itself in a forest when you walk unhurriedly, quietly and receptively. Walking in that manner is a form of forest bathing and it is truly an enriching experience.

11/12/2024

Amazing photo taken by a special friend of mine on their smallholding - Petra is also one of those people who chooses to share her space with Nature and their tree-filled property has resident boomslang who go about their business, fulfilling their role and purpose in the ecosystem and adding beauty and diversity to this living world of ours. Yes, I know, many of us have an inherent fear of snakes, but if, for a moment, you can overcome that fear, understand that they're not out to get you and just bear witness to their remarkable features and capabilities - perhaps you might be awed by how they move and climb with no limbs, see beauty in the intricate patterns on their bodies, be marvelled by their super-charged smell sensor triggered by their tongue gathering chemicals from the air and spare a thought why some ancient cultures saw snakes as symbols of transformation and rebirth and others viewed them as protectors. Perhaps the rebirth symbolism was linked to the practice of skin-shedding which enables snakes to grow and shed themselves of parasites...and here is where the photo comes in...quite something to see - this is highly likely the discarded skins from the same snake shed over time! They've certainly grown to an impressive length in this time. Many thanks, Petra, for capturing this and sharing the photo...but mostly for setting such an example of how to live in relationship with the rest of the living world - respecting, embracing, communicating with and valuing.

10/12/2024

How devastating and heartbreaking is this? If this appalls you, please keep an eye and ear out for any petitions doing the rounds and add your voice to the global outcry. Our voices are heard and public pressure can bring about change. There is also a heartfelt appeal from Jane Goodall on Instagram - what an amazing woman who is still making her voice heard (you can find the video clip of Jane Goodall at this link (https://www.instagram.com/p/DC1_1kHgUF4/ )
This article was published by Oceano Graphic Magazine

The outgoing Iceland government has issued new permits allowing 209 fin and 217 minke whales to be killed each year for five years.

30/11/2024

Food for thought.
Thanks, Dave, for sharing this image. Not sure who originally posted this, but this pretty much says it as it is!

18/11/2024

Had a lovely walk around Kwendalo, the holistic wellness centre (and centre for learning) in Plettenberg Bay. Kwendalo means 'place of nature' and their tagline is "Nature. Nurture. Nourish" and it was fabulous to see just how much that has been intentionally incorporated into the design, layout and running of Kwendalo. You're barely aware of the bustle of the N2 on the one border as there is such a wonderful air of calm and tranquility that permeates throughout, beautifully enhanced by the sound of flowing water from the various ponds and water features. It's something of a paradise for birds and I loved the simplicity of the one gently-nested bird hide I visited which had put to good use the Spanish reed that needed to be removed. Then there were the bee hives consciously placed to provide shade in summer, warmth in winter and water close by; and the veggie garden, passionately tended by Hope and Linda, with its great diversity of crops that provides the on-site Green Cafe with fresh produce for their delicious meals, as well as being sold at Old Nick Village's market on a Wednesday and at the Kwendalo farm shop on a Friday. I loved the fact that the veggie patch understandably had measures to deter porcupine (a fence) and cut worms (tubing around beetroot seedlings) to protect the crops, while the adjacent Chakra garden, providing a space for growth and meditation. is available to Nature to freely forage. That kind of sharing of territory and resources in recognition that the rest of Nature has needs too is simply stunning and a great example to follow.

14/11/2024

Ahoy there all PE folk - am very excited to be holding the next launch/book reading of Fruzz and the Fabled Planet at Fogarty's Bookshop in Gqeberha next week Thursday, the 21st of November at 17:30. Looking so forward to being in my old home town, sharing my passion for the 'fabled living planet' and seeing old friends and family. Do hope you'll join us for what I hope you will find an entertaining experience!! For those interested in attending, please remember to RSVP - details on the attached flyer. And, of course, many thanks to Teresa and her Fogarty's team for hosting the reading!!