Life on Earth

Tidal flats in both Australia and the Philippines play a crucial role in sustaining marine life, supporting communities, and preserving biodiversity. Experiencing Buruanga’s tidal flats firsthand highlights the delicate balance between nature and livelihood, emphasizing the need for conservation in the face of climate change.

Every year the short-tailed shearwaters leave the shores of Tasmania and head back to Alaska, leaving their young behind. No-one has told them how to get there. It just blows your mind that it's even possible, writes BirdLife Tasmania Convenor Karen Dick.

The Panay Peninsula, a biodiversity haven in the Western Visayas, hosts the Northwest Panay Mountain Range and rare species like Walden’s hornbill. Declared a natural park in 2002, it thrives through PhilinCon’s community-led conservation efforts, including restoring the Sibaliw Research Station to sustain ecological research and preservation.

The forty-spotted pardalote is one of Australia's most endangered birds and is only found in tiny pockets of white gum woodland on Tasmania's east coast. Ecologically, it's probably one of the most remarkable birds on the planet, says wildlife ecologist Dr Sally Bryant. That's because it farms its own food.

Living where we do now, we are very, very much connected to place, writes the Chair of the Friends of North Bruny, Simon Allston. It's a magical place and a really special place to live. It's increasingly obvious it's an extraordinary place on a planetary level, and we're doing everything we can to look after its precious natural environment.

The ground parrot is one of only three ground-dwelling parrots in the world, says wildlife ecologist Dr Sally Bryant. It is a fantastic species about which she knew little when she started a two-year project to assess its conservation status. That project taught her about sound.

You can never replace looking into the eyes of a little pademelon or something in the pouch, or holding a devil or hearing their noise at night, writes acclaimed Tasmanian wildlife scientist Dr Sally Bryant. There's nothing that will ever replace those natural connections.

For writer Tim Winton, it's no secret the World Heritage-listed Ningaloo coast in his native WA is a place he feels intrinsically linked to, and duty-bound to protect. Here, he describes the power of eco-tourism over big industry and why we should leave our wild special places as we find them.

Acclaimed writer Tim Winton grew up in suburban Perth. But the call of the bush and the ocean was just over the fence. That proximity to wild Nature left a lasting impression and a deep, unshakeable commitment to looking after it. We forget that we are all connected to Nature, he says.

A lot of our music is very much to a beat that's super regular, and it feels quite grid-like. Through Nature, you can start to feel a pulse, writes Bruny Island composer and guitarist Julius Schwing. It's more like a cycle. The sound of Nature is as incredible as the visual aspect.

Benjamin Tacud is an irreplaceable figure in Panay's conservation community. His transformation to protector of the critically-endangered bird he once pursued, exemplifies the true spirit of conservation.

"It's just a place that you feel very alive and you feel nature feeling very alive around you," says specialist guide with Inala Nature Tours, Cat Davidson of Bruny Island in southern Tasmania. It has amazing, diverse habitat types, specialist birds and animals and a strong community. It is home.