#11/15 What is migration?
How does planet Earth work?
Billions of whales, birds, mammals and insects migrate from the north to the southern hemisphere and back each year. Also, every day, wildlife follows the sun. Bees go from hive to flower, caterpillars emerge to munch leaves, we emerge from our houses and forage in nearby shops.
For millions of years, animals have been transferring nutrients from one place to another, piling them up between valleys and ocean current corridors, storing and recycling materials ‘for a rainy day’.
This massive cooperative network stabilised our world and made us resilient to climate fluctuations. It is why we have no future, without sharing the planet with other animals similar to us.
The critical transportation function animals perform for each other is the foundation for our very existence and survival.
Fisheries and farming would not exist if there hadn’t been an abundance and diversity of animals transferring and concentrating nutrients in the past. Seabirds and fisherman alike, leave the land with a certain amount of time to make a living. It’s in their culture to behave this way. They expect to find food because they created this ecosystem together.
Twelve thousand years ago, humans had already modified 95% of the Earth and it was a time of great plenty, with abundant wildlife.
Animal diversity, planetary health, species survival and ecosystem stability have always been connected to our own wellbeing. The impact animals have is the only thing that allows us to exist.
