Australia’s Favourite Tree
Tuesday 16 August 8.30pm
Dr Ann Jones & Paul West travel across Australia to investigate the extraordinary lives of Australia’s oldest, largest & most unusual trees with a mission to find a candidate to crown Australia’s Favourite Tree!
Australia is home to over seven thousand species of native trees - they’re old, incredibly diverse and endlessly fascinating.
In this 2-part Catalyst special, Ann Jones and Paul West travel across Australia to meet scientists and First Nations peoples to investigate the clever and complex lives of some of our most iconic trees. But this is no ordinary tree hunt! Ann and Paul are embarking on a mission to find a candidate from each State and Territory, and crown one of them “Australia’s Favourite Tree”.
From high up in the tree-top canopy of Tasmania’s Huon Pine, one of the oldest living organisms on Earth, to Strangler Figs with 40-metre girths that thrive in our North Queensland rainforests, Ann and Paul uncover the role trees play in their environment, learn of their historical importance, and celebrate the incredible resilience of trees through climate change and deforestation.
After the tales of eight remarkable trees across Australia’s vast and varied landscape, a panel of expert judges will digest the facts and the stories, and at the end of the series they will crown… Australia’s Favourite Tree!