From the CEO: A lesson from the Daintree, backed up by Marvin Gaye

By Peter McDonald, MEA CEO

I have little doubt that in life there are some people who are smarter or know more than others. But I have no doubt that none of us come close to holding the intelligence of nature, and if we step back and look there’s so much that our human society can learn from it.

Last month I took a short break and travelled to Far North Queensland. It was my first time, so as they say ‘when in Rome…’ I did a tour of Cape Tribulation and the Daintree Rainforest – apparently the world’s oldest rainforest. Our guide had an abundant knowledge, and the principle behind of one of his explanations as to how it has survived and thrived really resonated with me, and I think there’s a transferrable lesson in it for the Australian events industry.

Rainforest trees do not have deep root systems that bind them to the soil. Poor quality soils mean there is no benefit to roots going deep in search of nutrients. With plenty of water on the surface, roots also have no need to search for that. Rather, tree roots fan out from trunks at 90-degree angles and intertwine or even fuse with those of other trees to share water and vital nutrients, minerals, sugars obtained from decaying leaves, wood, and other organic matter on the forest floor, and effectively form a carpet that sits atop the soil, draping over the mountain ranges.

Landslips can occur when soils become waterlogged, heavy and unstable, and when they do often the soils remain in place but the remaining rainforest slides across the top of the soils descending to the bottom of the mountain range. The rainforest folds like a carpet as it slides down the mountain – and in the Daintree’s case all the way to the sea.

It’s the trees at the top of and higher up the mountain that underwrite the integrity of the ecosystem. Their success at life, health and strength enables the existence of other trees lower down the mountain side. The might of their root systems gives other trees something to leverage, and collectively the rainforest can act as one to deliver the wonder we observe and to exist for millions of years.

The parallel I see for our industry is that we need a successful and strong top end of town. We need big players, and we need them to thrive because it’s the fortitude of their foundation that guarantees the rigour of the tapestry that binds the larger event sector ecosystem. But likewise, they have a responsibility to the industry’s smaller players, to look out for them, for there’s a collective fate. Without the network of the bottom end of town’s roots, the sector’s size, coverage, and reach is smaller and its own support network compromised.

That’s a weird concept in a competitive environment. But it gets down to the old saying that the value of the whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts.

The risk to the delicate system that is a rainforest is widescale clearing. Doing so destroys a process that allows vigorous growth on such poor soil. Essential minerals are not replaced by new decaying matter since there is no longer forest above to drop leaves and wood and a major break in the rainforest nutrient cycling system is imposed; something which takes generations to recover. It also leads to erosion.

Land clearing to a rainforest is what the pandemic has been to our industry. The closure of businesses and loss of workforce equates to an erosion which has duly weakened the greater sector.

So that the sector may resurge, we’re in a position where the bottom end of town has had to increase its reliance on the top end of town sending out its supportive root systems to re-establish the conjunctive network that produces the mutually beneficial healthy, flourishing, interconnected and strong events ecosystem that Australia has previously enjoyed.

The message is that a unified rainforest rises above the environmental and landform obstacles that can ultimately emasculate it by creating a ‘flying carpet’ of sorts that is steered from the top of the mountain. I think there’s something in that for all of us. Enter Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell:

Ain't no mountain high
Ain't no valley low
Ain't no river wide enough, baby
If you need me, call me
No matter where you are
No matter how far
Just call my name
I'll be there in a hurry
You don't have to worry
'Cause baby
There ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you

Likewise, the success and sustainability of our industry is heavily dependent upon a top tier that stands stall, leads and nurtures. While its mettle must be fostered, it has equal responsibility in that same regard if collectively our own ‘flying carpet’ is to conquer our analogous mountains, valleys, and rivers.

Source: Song – “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”

Artist – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell

Album – “United”