Pioneering restoration of Tiritiri Matangi
The pioneering restoration of Tiritiri Matangi'Saving Britain's Island' is a short film about island conservation, by ZSL PhD student, Joshua Powell. Produced by Matt Jarvis with the assistance of camera operators Benjamin Harris (UK) and Ben Sarten (NZ)Funded by the British Ecological SocietyIn early 2021 a film crew from the UK visited Tiritiri Matangi to produce a short documentary. The film would target audiences in the UK as an introduction to island conservation. Tiritiri Matangi was chosen because the pioneering restoration project has inspired similar projects around the world. The film explores how these techniques can be used to help protect biodiversity in the UK Overseas Territories. Click to watch the short film 'Saving Britain's Islands' on YouTube
Ancient Tiritiri Matangi: Adventures in "Deep Time". The Fungi
Ancient Tiritiri Matangi: Adventures in "Deep Time". The FungiAuthor: John SibleyDate: 16/06/23We have been travelling through “Deep Time” from the dawn of Earth’s history when living things first appeared, some 4,000,000,000 years ago (4,000Mya or 4Ga). It is thought the Fungi evolved about 410Mya just before the land was colonised by plants. Today they form one of the most diverse kingdoms with varied ecologies, lifestyle strategies and morphologies (outward shapes). Their members include single-celled yeasts, filamentous fuzzy moulds and familiar mushrooms. Although once classified with the plants, they share more features (including genetics) with the Animal Kingdom. Part of our fascination with fungi is that they have a secret “hidden life” in the earth beneath our feet, emerging above ground only to disperse their spores into the air – popping up overnight as a wonderful variety of “fruiting’ bodies. Some of these “mushrooms’ are very poisonous to humans while others are delicious to eat! Yet other fungi raise our bread, brew our beer, flavour our soy sauce and cheese, and cure our ills (antibiotics and statins etc.) It is estimated that this hidden fungal horde with their vast subterranean network of feeding threads at least equals and perhaps exceeds the biomass of the more visible Plant…