Are you familiar with the luscious fresh fig or perhaps you have only ever eaten the dried version? Figs are a nutrition powerhouse as a source of fibre, calcium, potassium and vitamins.
Not only do they nurture us, they also help store carbon in a special way. There are Kenyan fig species that can store carbon by turning themselves partly to stone by creating calcium oxalate crystals. These crystals, with the help of bacteria or funghi, will be transformed to calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate contains inorganice carbon which stays sequestered longer than the organic carbon that trees usually store.
Of course we’ve long known that trees are great in so many ways from producing oxygen to providing shade and of course, absorbing carbon in the air. But it is still exciting to find out there are additional ways that nature can help us out that we were unaware of.