OFFLINE is a series of 16 original artworks designed by INSTAR for the National Forest. Celebrating a brave new future, where we are as plugged into nature as we are technology. #OfflineForest
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ROUTER- Badger Badgers have a fantastic sense of smell. They use it not only for communication, each animal possessing a distinctive signature scent, but also to find food, ROUTING out earthworms of which they can consume up to 200 in one night.
HACKER - Great spotted woodpecker Great-spotted woodpeckers eat a variety of foods including spiders, seeds and even the nuts hanging from garden feeders, but their favourite food is wood-boring insects, which they HACK from under the bark of trees.
MEGABYTE - Stoat Stoats have one of the animal kingdom's most powerful BITEs and are one of the UK’s most successful predators, hunting birds and small mammals, sometimes even amphibians and reptiles. Their main food source tends to focus on rabbits, animals which can be up to eight times their own size.
ONLINE - Garden spider Garden spiders are commonly found hanging ON LINEs of silk, or waiting for prey to entangle itself in their web. Very common in gardens, these spiders can also be found in wilder locations such as woodland and grassland. You can easily identify them by the dotty white cross on their large abdomen.
SOFTWARE - Lime hawk moth caterpillar Sporting a superb blue horn at its rear, this large velvet SOFT, yellow striped lime green caterpillar is often seen climbing down the trunks of lime trees in order to bury itself in leaf litter, where it will pupate over winter.
NEWORK- Fly agaric Fly agaric, like all mushrooms, are the visible fruiting bodies of vast NETWORKs of underground mycorrhizal fungus, which amazingly, allow trees to communicate with each other through a further network of tiny threads called mycelium.
LIKES - Banded demoiselle Stunning metallic green females and blue males hover around stretches of water throughout the summer, the males sporting distinctive thick black bands on their wings. When mating, Demoiselles lock together to form a perfect heart LIKE shape.
INFLUENCER-Tree Trees INFLUENCE our daily life in endless ways. They provide material for buildings, musical instruments, tools and furniture, and inspire us through stories and literature. They shelter and feed countless other species and importantly they also remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere whilst providing oxygen for us to breathe. Oh and they look beautiful too.
SCANNER - Tawny owl Tawny owls are ambush predators, waiting silently on the branches of trees, SCANNING the woodland floor for prey such as mice, voles, rats and even moles. Their eyesight is thought to be 100 times better than human vision, being able to spot prey from over 500 metres away.
BROWSER- Fallow deer All species of deer are herbivores, and more specifically, BROWSERS, which means that they feed mainly on shoots and leaves of high growing woody plants such as trees and shrubs.
MICROPROCESSOR- House fly If flies didn't exist we humans would be in a lot of trouble. These MICRO garbage disposal machines PROCESS much of our waste, breaking down organic material and releasing nutrients back into the soil through their digestive process. Flies are also fantastic pollinators, in many cases being more efficient than bees.
HARDWARE - Cockchafer There are believed to be over 400,000 species of beetle in the world, making up at least 20% of all known living species. The forewings of all beetles have evolved into a HARD shell made of a substance called chitin, a common material in the natural world which can also be found in bird beaks, butterfly wings, mollusc shells and crustaceans.
SERVER - Song thrush The throaty repetitive song of the Song thrush is one of the true sounds of a summer evening and it is in the early days of summer that the chicks will hatch. They are SERVEd a mixed diet of worms, caterpillars and slugs, even fruit if the weather dries up and no worms surface.
RETURN- Cuckoo Cuckoos are a migratory species that RETURN to the UK from Africa every year. Their epic 4,000 mile flight can take just two weeks, part of which involves crossing the Sahara desert in one 50 - 60 hour flight.
STREAMING -
Three-spined stickleback
Found in ponds, rivers, STREAMs and lakes, sticklebacks are carnivorous fish that eat other smaller fish, invertebrates, tadpoles and larvae. They are identified by the stiff spines along their back and during courtship, the male is identified by his bright ruby red throat and belly.
ESCAPE A walk in the woods can improve our physical health, boost wellbeing, stimulate the brain and imagination and reduce the effects of stress and anxiety. When we take time to ESCAPE technology and the pressures of modern living and get closer to nature, we build a closer relationship with it and in doing so begin to care for it more.
Millions of trees such as oak, birch and lime have been planted in the National Forest over the last 30 years. These huge new areas of woodland, together with ponds, orchards, meadows and hedges provide vital habitat for a whole range of creatures, great and small. A complex, forest-wide web of life.
The National Forest is one of the UK’s boldest environmentally led regeneration initiatives, spanning 200 square miles of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire. The central part of the Forest covers the former Midland Coalfield, where tree planting and habitat creation have transformed a scarred landscape from black to green.
But the story of the National Forest goes beyond the trees, to one of imaginative and ambitious sustainable development. Working with local communities, businesses and landowners, the Forest demonstrates it is possible to grow a positive future together.
we-are-instar.co.uk nationalforest.org