community
nature’s
masterclass
Lessons in balance, teamwork, and symbiosis
Partnership and collaboration are not exclusive to human beings. In fact, nature has proven that it is far more adept than we are at teamwork. Practising the art of coexistence every day, nature’s countless species work in harmony to create and maintain a healthy ecosystem. And while it doesn’t always appear on the surface to be harmonious, there’s an enduring and intuitive wisdom inherent in the natural order. Butterflies need certain trees and plants to survive, and plants depend on insects, rodents, and small mammals to disperse their pollen and seeds. Every life form plays an important role. But nature isn’t just passively balanced – it’s a system of active cooperation in which many species work together, often to both of their benefit. This cooperation keeps the wheels of nature turning – in the form of animal and avian families, teamwork between plants, and inter- species alliances. The more you look, the more
you see – from sociable weavers operating as a unit and living and building together in the pursuit of protection and community to plants that thrive from growing in close proximity to one another. In technical terms, there are different types of symbiosis. Mutualism (where both species benefit) includes processes like the pollination of plants by insects, or the ubiquitous bush pair of oxpecker and plains game. Commensalism is where one species benefits and the other is unaffected – like an orchid growing on the branch of a tree or a bird nesting in its hollow. One of the biggest lessons we can learn from these partnerships is how important it is to look at the whole picture – and the links, connections, and dependence between different forms of life. Effective conservation, put another way, should aim to preserve nature’s balance as well as the well-being of individual lifeforms. Because the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
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