We can find the deep biological connections between humans and the natural world right beneath our feet.

Today more than 90% of all plant species depend on mycorrhizal fungi. Globally, the total length of mycorrhizal mycelium in the top 10 cm of soil is around half the width of our galaxy. The intimate associations between plants and fungi form an ancient life support system that easily qualifies as one of the wonders of the living world.

Remember nature? While bully boys bloviate and grab power, it's helpful to remember that humans are just one strand in the intricate web of life—and no strand thrives unless the entire web does.

This week, Bioneers introduced me to the work of the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN), a scientific research organization dedicated to mapping, protecting, and harnessing the planet’s critical fungal networks. Their focus is on mycorrhizal fungi—microscopic, network-forming organisms that form symbiotic relationships with plant roots. These fungi are vital to regulating Earth's climate and ecosystems.

This website is the opposite of doomscrolling—call it lifescrolling. Mycorrhizal fungi have sustained life on Earth for over 450 million years. They are essential to ecosystem health, transporting vast amounts of carbon fixed by plants. Exploring their diversity and function is both mind-expanding and heart-opening.

WEBSITE: Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (SPUN)

We can find the deep biological connections between humans and the natural world right beneath our feet.

The parallel between human supremacy and white supremacy

“Ecology needs psychology; psychology needs ecology.”

"We are our world knowing itself. We can relinquish our separateness. We can come home again."

We need a new way of thinking to build resilient, sustainable communities in a rapidly changing world.