Australia's ancient trees make England look quite young. Writer Dave Witty was amazed when he moved here from England and discovered the diversity of species and the age of our forests.
Dave has written an evocative account of particular trees he encountered around Australia and the textured histories he found when he dug around their roots. Dave shares the stories gathered under and around these trees, and the role of different species and why they played these roles in our history.
He writes that the very old grand trees that have survived in urban areas remind us that “elegance can be found not just in human architecture but in nature as well. They bear the scars of quiet endurance”. Yet somehow, “they have gone unnoticed by our collective gaze.” Dave hopes that all might change. And he argues trees are great facilitators of empathy.
Guest: Dave Witty, author of What the Trees See: A Wander Through Millennia of Natural History in Australia, published by Monash.
Image Details
ca. 1880 Workers unload sugar mill equipment at the wharf, River Street in Mackay. The ship moored at the wharf is tied to the Leichhardt tree. At left, a group of men stand atop a horse-drawn wagon ready to heave equipment onto their load. At right, a bullock team waits and a ship's mast is visible in the background. This tree was the only survivor of Nauclea orientalis that once were prolific in the area. But it still remains growing there today.