Making Friends With Trees 2 -

The guardians of our ancient forests share their concerns for our future​

Scientist Jessica Ward - jones - from the Fenner School of Environment and Society - ANU, talks of her favourite trees with the snow gum. To her, they are close friends, and the fear of losing them is genuine.

Jessica is a guardian to the snow gum, Eucalyptus pauciflora, that grow in large stands across the crest and crown of the alpine mountain range near Canberra.

On the summit of Mount Gingera in the Brindabella Ranges, Jessica, a young research scientist, stands alongside one of the most influential snow gums on social media; the Mount Gingera Gum.

It is a contorted, spiralled muscular plant with steely white and smooth grey skin. The tree has thick arms veiled with iridescent reds, verdant greens, and hues of blue and lavender that bend and fold in the same direction as the wind that hurtles across the mountain tops at 100km/hr speeds.

Standing with ABC journalist Dr Ann Jones, Jess has tears in her eyes as she conveys the heartbreak she feels at the risk of losing her friends; she is speaking about her gum trees.

"They feel like my friends"; the thought of losing them pretty concerning and pretty upsetting," says Jess.

The dieback of the snow gums is massive, stretching 400km across the Alpine wilderness, and we risk the collapse of an entire ecosystem if they go extinct. And right now, things are not looking promising.

A plant thousands of years old, adept at surviving where no other plant could, is suddenly in mass die-off, and the reason is rapid climate change.

Resources and Links.

https://www.abc.net.au/education/catalyst-the-hardy-snowgum/14003054

Watching Australia's Favourite Tree Episode 2 in view https://amp.abc.net.au/article/101314218

Guest Contributor: Emily Rack Business Name: Horatio’s Jar Emily has dedicated her life to researching and understanding matters of the mind, body-, and the human experience. Her discoveries and research focus on cultivating tools and dialogue that encourage us to live in peace and harmony here on earth. Her current focus is the environment and human connectivity, conservation, environmentalism, botany, biology-, and the practice of 'Nature Bathing'.  Emily is a writer, digital content creator, seasoned photographer-, and visual artist. Follow her work on Instagram @hj_horatiosjar ——- PUBLISHER’S DISCLAIMER: The publisher of this blog post (Digital Schools PTY LTD) works in partnership with the school as a 3rd party provider to help build and maintain the school website. Digital Schools sources a range of experts who provide products and/or services to educational institutions and we work with them to produce and publish topical information in the form of blog posts that we think  may be relevant, interesting or topical to families within the community. The views, opinions and content listed in this blog post are that of the guest contributor and/or publisher (Digital Schools). It should be noted that whilst the publisher and guest contributors are acting with the best intentions and in the best interests of the school and their community to provide helpful or interesting information, sometimes the content may not necessarily reflect the views of the school. The information in this blog post is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, consult your own physician.  The school and the publisher of this blog post  are not responsible for any person reading or following the information in this article who may experience adverse effects. Any references to external websites or sources are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement by the school or publisher in any way and the publisher and/or school cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information listed. If you have feedback on any content on this platform, you can submit it to the publisher using the feedback link provided at the bottom of this page.