Category: Nature

– Friedrich Simony, View from the East of the Hoher and Niederer Dachstein, 1885

Albumen print, 18.2 x 24 cm, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Bildarchiv, Vienna

– Olafur Eliasson, Cartographic series IV, 2007 (1 of 25 parts)

As a natural point of view, I want to show that destruction is needed in order to have a circle of life. One could hardly conjure a better image of uninhibited destruction. Yet, rather unexpectedly, we find that some forest fires are actually an engine of growth. The pines and oaks that burn depend on the fire to release their seeds and enable regeneration. But there are others benefits from the fire. It reduces dead vegetation, minerals return to the soil, new growth is low to the ground and accessible to animals for food and burned area are suitable for new species of animals.