A new soundscape is out now.
“Sassafras” features field recordings from the threatened Styx Valley in Southern Lutruwita/Tasmania. The proposed logging coupe TN034G is featured in these recordings, with ancient old-growth forests full of myrtle, eucalypt and sassafras.
Many of the trees in the Styx Valley are hundreds of years old, providing vital habitat and nesting sites for a number of endangered species. Hollow-bearing trees allow many native species to breed and shelter from predators, with species now becoming threatened due to a lack of appropriate hollows. It takes over 100 years for a small tree hollow to form, and medium hollows for critically endangered swift waylitja/parrots can take over 200 years to form. These ecosystems are incredibly precious, and increasingly rare.
Field recordings are captured with an ambisonic microphone to include the gentle details of birdsong and wind through trees.