What can we do to support life on our planet?

By Jena Griffiths | March 14, 2021

Recently I listened to this fascinating discussion between Dr Sylvia Earle of Mission Blue and the makers of the Octopus Teacher documentary, Craig Foster and Pippa Erlich, co-creators of Sea Change Project, mediated by Will Travis of the Elevation Barn

A Discussion with Dr. Sylvia Earle and Craig Foster from My Octopus Teacher

Some takeouts: seeing yourself in relationship to nature

Sylvia Earle, “People need to see themselves in relationship to nature in a new way. Actually its a very old way, It’s learning that we’re connected. And we need to reconnect in a way that shows we have this opportunity armed with knowledge, to be able to make the right decisions at just the right time. Climate change is upon us. What we do to protect those forests means teh connection to protecting a stable climate, and capturing carbon, to maintaining the source of oxygen, homes for the great diversity of life.
If everyone can look around and say, I can help support Craig and Pippa and the team but what can I do in my backyard? That’s the other power of Craig and Pippa’s film – the Octopus teacher. Inspiring others to see what they can do in areas where they have some access.”

Says Craig Foster: ” We’ve received letter from all over the world of people saying they would like to do something in their back yard….Even in a city like New York the insect populations are fascinating. Insects are everywhere, birds are everywhere, trees are everywhere. You can do this anywhere.”

How can you support Sea Change? Listen 22 minutes in about the sea change science lab, wanting to get science papers out on all the stories combining eary day experiences with animals in the environment and turning this into very powerful science…to understaning the biodiversity of the great African underwater sea forests

Craig Foster: It’s this disconnection with the wild that’s the most dangerous thing on the planet, because when you disconnect you no longer care. It so sad that so many people, often not of their own doing, but from desperate circumstances, have become disconnected from the wild. And this is such a dangerous thing because then its so easy just to do very irresponsible things and not look after the Mother, teh mother planet that’s literally feeding us, allowing us to breathe every second, which is the life blood every second of our existence. IT’s so easy in a modern life to lose sight of that. What is interesting is so many people responded to that innate love that we all have for wild things and wild creatures. We have all got it. It comes from a deep evolutionary past. It’s there. We’ve got it. It’s just underneath the skin and we just need to light that fire and let people look after that thing that they do actually love. (approx. 30 min in)

Will Travis: “We all have a chance here. We all have an opportunity. Willful ignorance will not get us anywhere. (32.40)

Craig: “A lifetime is not enough to uncover all their secrets..changing eye color in a second to flash bright yellow. It’s such a wonderous creature to learn from and be humbled before.” (34.40)

39.10
Sylvia Earle: “It’s important to realise that every octopus, just like every human, is an individual. There are no two that are exactly alike. And I would expect you to see different behaviors. It’s true with fish. It’s true with cats and dogs. It’s true with all living things. It’s not just how many of a species there are. It’s realizing that everyone counts, in one way or another. And I’m tremendously excited that you brought this one personality into the spotlight.”

Craig: “They are enormously different Sylvia, from one individual to the next, you can’t believe how different the personalities are, on the scale of curiosity to fearfulness. Some are very curious and some are very fearful….and their moods change throughout the day too. You are absolutely right, you are dealing with these incredible individuals….it’s so difficult to get to adulthood this gives you tremendous respect for that animal. And to just take that life is terrifying. Each of these animals has gone through so much to get where they are.

6 minutes from Thomas Huebl related to this topic – on why we don’t respond to nature and what needs to be addressed to come back into relationship with nature.

Screen Shot 2021-03-14 at 19.31.59
And now a new book to help us walk this talk
I loved this conversation between Sounds True’s Tami Simon and Dr. Erin Yu-Juin McMorrow about her new book: Grounded

listen to this conversation here
“Healing the Soil, Healing Ourselves”

In the conversation McMorrow mentions all the micro organisms and fungi in soil that play a vital role in keeping us and our planet healthy and how we can play our part..

More about the book Grounded: A Fierce, Feminine Guide to Connecting with the Soil and Healing from the Ground Up.
Also check out this important conversation about life as collaboration and community and the importance of biological diversity for personal, social, and ecological health. This conversation took place between Charles Eisenstein and Dr Zach Bush, and MD who focuses on the relationship between, brain/gut health, the microbiome and soil science. They discuss the inventive fecundity of life, the role of viruses in sharing genetic information, and more. Charles Eisenstein’s podcast or on soundcloud Transcript

How can cows be part of the solution?

rich humus after a few weeks

I really believe that cows and other animals can play an important role in removing carbon from the atmosphere. Here’s my Earth School interview with Thomas Rippel in 2015 on how cows can be part of the solution to climate change, to help store carbon in the soil rather than in the air, through bringing back ancient methods of composting, made possible through small scale animal husbandy to enrich and increase the microorganisms that make up a healthy soil.

More recently Kultureland eG an organization that people can donate land to, or fund, for land to be put in the hands of people focused on soil regeneration.

A great idea re collective buying power, where each human can buy the land needed to support one or more people (currently about 2000 square metres per person/ approx €6000 in Europe.) This organisation enables one to buy shares for collective purchase of the land so that the soil can be protected by people who put their hearts into this matter.

 

Other people doing excellent work in this regard are Rob Herring & Ryan Wirick, the makers of the film the Need to Grow regarding some brilliant ideas from Michael Smith to accelerate the regeneration of soil using Algae AquaCulture Technologies (AACT) and the development of the Green Power House (GPH)

More about what happened after events documented in the film. Updates on a rebuild in Norway.
How you can get involved by growing your own food while enriching the soil.

How algae can help reduce carbon in the atmosphere – Algae world news
High quality, low carbon protein from microalgae

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Topics: climate change, ecology and nature, Environment | 1 Comment »

One Response to “What can we do to support life on our planet?”

  1. ferahtia.Fs Says:
    April 18th, 2022 at 11:34 am

    Thanks so much for the information

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