Our fragile, beautiful planet is a complex web of pathways, tracks and migratory routes that underscore the interconnectedness of all life, whether visible to the eye or microscopically minute.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Migration has always been an essential survival tactic, for insects or birds, fish, animals, even humans.
The first humans, for instance, are thought to have left Africa in search of better food sources and safer environments. (What’s changed?)
Particular wader birds spend the northern summer gorging on mosquitoes in Siberia and fly south to feast on the mud flats in Australia over our summer months.
Salmon fish move upriver to spawn.
Monarch butterflies migrate taking a number of generations to reach their destination only to return three or four generation of travel later to their starting point.
My interest in this complex story was initially a personal family record of migration.
With growing maturity I realised human migration was an ancient tale of courage, endurance and hope.
That interest developed a political dimension.
Our town’s warm welcome and practical and generous support for a group of Vietnamese boat people is a wonderful memory and a source of inspiration in today’s world.
How interesting that as I searched the web for links to great stories of migration I should discover that Australia has signed two important agreements (with China and with Japan) that aim to protect birds crossing international boundaries, and similar agreements with other countries are being discussed.
Would it be too great a step to recognise that safe migration is the right of all life and essential to the maintenance of our amazing planet?
Migration stories to lift the heart:
Monarch butterflies - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpffQtKN-gk
Bogongs - http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2002/11/14/2583232.htm
Father Goose - http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/11/harris.php
Fly Away Home trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ui9th4nhvoY
Moullec’s geese - https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/bird-man-flying-france-microlight-spd/
Waders - http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2000/03/01/2685071.htm
American migratory bird map - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/03/bird-migration-interactive-maps/
