It was a great pleasure to talk to the enthusiastic, erudite and welcoming Tommy Serafinski recently on Tommy’s Outdoors Podcast. Listen to the podcast with Simon Mustoe.
It’s vitally important that we keep an open-mind when it comes to our future and behaviour. There are countless actions we can take to improve our lives and rebuild ecosystemsHow ecosystems function An ecosystem is a community of lifeforms that interact in such an optimal way that how ecosystems function best, is when all components (including humans and other animals) can persist and live alongside each other for the longest time possible. Ecosystems are fuelled by the energy created by plants (primary producers) that convert the Sun's heat energy More alongside wildlife. Everyone has a role to play and all ideas should be welcomed. This is vital as society transitions to a renewed relationship with nature. Tommy is courageous, respectful and polite enough to embrace the fact that we don’t always need to agree on everything. If we did, this would be a dull world where nothing ever changes for the better.
Tommy’s Outdoors is a refreshing contrast to the often vitriolic opinions that permeate conservationWhy is animal conservation important? Animal conservation is important, because animals are the only mechanism to create biodiversity, which is the mechanism that creates a habitable planet for humans. Without animals, the energy from today’s plants (algae, trees, flowers etc) will eventually reach the atmosphere and ocean, much of it as carbon. The quantity of this plant-based waste is so More. Many of these only serve to amplifyAmplification (of nutrients and energy). Animals consume plants and other animals and in doing so, reintroduce important energy-containing nutrients back into the environment, at even higher concentrations and in patches. Amplification of energy is driven by migration and happens at every scale, from insects moving daily in and out of your vegetable patch, to African wildebeest herds and the seasonal More individual voices. But they do little to foster new and innovative ways to improve our world.
“Maybe one of the most interesting and thought-provoking books I’ve ever read. One of those milestone and groundbreaking books that describes concepts that we will hear more about in years to come.”
– Tommy Serafinski
Listen to the podcast with Simon Mustoe
In his book, “Wildlife in The Balance”, Simon lays out the case for animals being the most important ingredient of the ecosystem. He outlines the critical importance of keeping the planet’s energyEnergy and nutrients are the same thing. Plants capture energy from the Sun and store it in chemicals, via the process of photosynthesis. The excess greenery and waste that plants create, contain chemicals that animals can eat, in order to build their own bodies and reproduce. When a chemical is used this way, we call it a nutrient. As we More inputs and outputs in balance and the role animals play in ensuring this balance. This connection of ecology with physics is one of the most unique and forward-thinking aspects of this book.
To extend this thought, it contains one of the most comprehensive and compelling explanations of why the climate crisis and biodiversityWhat is the definition of biodiversity? When we ask, what is the definition of biodiversity? It depends on what we want to do with it. The term is widely and commonly misused, leading to significant misinterpretation of the importance of how animals function on Earth and why they matter a great deal, to human survival. Here I will try to More crisis are in fact one and the same — neither can be solved separately.
After reading this book, I started to question many things that I had thought to be unequivocally true.
