FigsBook

A book by @shanahanmike about how fig trees have influenced humanity and the world about us. See link below for details

[FigsBook @FigsBook]

This is a tale of gods and monsters and queens and kings. It's a story of rainforests and wildlife; of folklore, faith and science. It is also one of awe.

For these trees will BLOW your mind.

They shaped us and our world.
Their powers can help us.
We neglect them at our peril.

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

Fig trees are renowned for supporting hundreds of species of fruit-eating animals but they are also vital to many insectivores too. Read about it here in my latest dispatch from Planet Ficus: https://t.co/frs81FGLzN

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

I wrote about why protecting and planting strangler figs is important for the future of forests
https://t.co/rav0rqTfht

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

At Planet Ficus, I wrote about new research that has revealed a previously unknown phenomenon taking place in forest canopies. The findings are striking. (link in reply)

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

In my latest dispatch from Planet Ficus, I tell a story of conflict and coexistence — and claims of religiously motivated ecocide.
https://t.co/Ulv8cAemCY

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

Living bridges. Flying foxes. A tennis superstar. A lost temple. An animated banyan. Ladders for primates — and more! Just another month on Planet Ficus

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

60,000 people are expected to visit this tree today. Read why in my latest dispatch from Planet Ficus. https://t.co/E0u9bgmJc7

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

My latest roundup from Planet Ficus includes: figs saving howler monkeys in Mexico, sacred figs of Sudan and Egypt, figs protecting penguins in Australia, culturally important fig species in Myanmar and Nigeria, heritage figs in India, and more.

[FigsBook @FigsBook]

https://t.co/x7jiPmwRVv

[FigsBook @FigsBook]

Living bridges. Flying foxes. A tennis superstar. A lost temple. An animated banyan. Ladders for primates — and more! Just another month on Planet Ficus

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

Looking for gift ideas? My book takes readers on a journey to rainforests, volcanoes and ancient temples to discover the mind-blowing story of the strangler figs and their kin, which have shaped our world and our species in many extraordinary ways. https://t.co/NEbmgcH7Pv

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

It's a question that keeps coming up... The answer may surprise you https://t.co/ZiOwbUqR0N

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

I’m sharing an interview I did a while back with Michael Metivier of Chelsea Green Publishing (CGP) about how I got sucked into tropical forests and the bizarro world of strangler figs. https://t.co/jEzmJfUymd

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

New at Planet Ficus: strangler figs regenerating burned forest in Indonesia, plans to restore hornbill habitat with figs, conflict over a fig tree in Kenya, the passing of the ‘Mother of Trees’, + grassroots movements defending heritage trees in India. https://t.co/OnsCZOvKCN

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

Here’s my latest dispatch from Planet Ficus. Come for the orangutan, stay for the hornbills! https://t.co/q4vQ8AFC7j

[FigsBook @FigsBook]

Looking for gift ideas? My book takes readers on a journey to rainforests, volcanoes and ancient temples to discover the mind-blowing story of the strangler figs and their kin, which have shaped our world and our species in many extraordinary ways. https://t.co/90h5m1dzEm

[FigsBook @FigsBook]

A thread of gifs to explain my existence.

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

1) One day in July 1999, while suffering mild hallucinations as a result of having taken malaria pills, I nearly drowned in a lake in the crater of an active volcano in Papua New Guinea. Why?

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

The landmark legal judgment they won sets a precedent for balancing development with environmental integrity.

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

I wrote about the recent victory of citizen activists (@chevellabanyans) in India who took on the government to show that road widening and century-old trees are not mutually exclusive.
https://t.co/PX5BBTkQly

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

In her 114 years, Saalumarada Thimmakka planted thousands of trees, loving them as if they were her children. She passed away yesterday. Here is my short account of her life and legacy. https://t.co/v8h4ezMmaV

[Mike Shanahan @shanahanmike]

New research in Borneo explores how an Iban community’s taboo against harming strangler figs — born of belief in forest spirits — preserves life above and below the canopy, linking belief, ecology and an ancestral sense of reciprocity with nature.

https://t.co/LcjNkkpPLr