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Take an Immersive Journey Through an Ancient Rainforest’s Mycelial Network in ‘Fungi: Web of Life’

13 Dec, 2023

This post was originally published on Colossal



“Everywhere you look, there are stories unfolding around fungi, connecting all life in the forest. But of all the fungal species on Earth, we’ve only described about five percent,” says biologist Merlin Sheldrake (previously) in the trailer for the visually stunning, immersive new film Fungi: Web of Life.

Narrated by Björk, and produced by K2 Studios, the movie follows Sheldrake—who has devoted his career to the remarkable and mysterious world of mycelium and mushrooms—as he embarks on a journey through the ancient Tarkine rainforest of Tasmania. Timelapse cinematography reveals up-close details of rarely seen fungal phenomena, from the dispersion of spores to vast subterranean networks known fondly as the “wood wide web.”

 

All images © ‘Fungi: Web of Life’

The documentary comes face-to-face with the reality of habitat loss due to deforestation and the climate crisis. “We’re burning the library—a library of different ways to rise to the challenge of living,” Sheldrake warns. He visits scientists and designers at the forefront of their fields, discovering never-before-seen species and learning from mycelium to create new, sustainable products and environmental solutions.

Fungi: Web of Life is currently showing in five theaters across North America, including IMAX Victoria at the Royal B.C. Museum in Vancouver, with numerous releases scheduled across the U.S. and the U.K. next year. Find a screening near you and learn more on the film’s website.

Sheldrake also authored the bestselling book Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds. You might also enjoy the astonishing mycological photography of Barbora Bartokova in the Czech Republic or collaborative duo Danny Newman and Roo Vandegrift in Ecuador.

 

A gif of timelapses showing growing mushrooms.

A still from a film about fungi, showing the undersides of a cluster of blue mushrooms.

A gif of a timelapse of mushrooms growing.

A still from a film about fungi, showing a cluster of delicate, bright pink mushrooms.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Take an Immersive Journey Through an Ancient Rainforest’s Mycelial Network in ‘Fungi: Web of Life’ appeared first on Colossal.

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Government consulting on sustainable investment labelling

Government consulting on sustainable investment labelling

The Australian Government is starting consultation on sustainable investment product labelling, which is designed to give investors more confidence to put more capital to work in sustainable products.

The federal government said the release of this paper is a key step in implementing its Sustainable Finance Roadmap — designed to help mobilise the capital required for Australia to become a renewable energy superpower, modernising the financial markets and maximising the economic opportunities from net zero.

This consultation paper seeks views from investors, companies and the broader community on a framework for sustainable investment product labels.

These labels are designed to help investors and consumers identify, compare and make informed decisions about sustainable investment products to understand what ‘sustainable’, ‘green’ or similar words mean when they’re applied to financial products.

The government said a more robust and clear product-labelling framework will help investors and consumers invest in sustainable products with confidence and help tackle greenwashing.

This phase of consultation will run from 18 July to 29 August and help the government refine its design principles for the framework.

The consultation paper is available on the Treasury consultation hub.

Image credit: iStock.com/wenich-mit

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