Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => The Environment => Topic started by: Andrew K Fletcher on 26/09/2005 12:02:15
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A Pocket Full Of Acorns in the Local News:
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi209.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb31%2FAndrew_K_Fletcher%2Ftarkatrail088.jpg&hash=e73b808006f5c8afc2b099a9a5e313b4)
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/857639/a_pocket_full_of_acorns/
Download the original Leaflet here: http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/Andrew_K_Fletcher/Trees/APocketFullOfAcorns.jpg
Please adapt this project as your own and distribute in your area or email it to a friend: It Works!
A Pocket Full Of Acorns
The messenger
In 1995 while driving home on a dual carriageway in Torquay, Devon, I saw
what appeared to be an injured bird three cars ahead. The cars in front of
me drove over the bird but did not hit it. Having pulled over and picked up
a beautiful green and red male woodpecker, I put him on the passenger seat,
ignoring the beeping horns of impatient drivers. Continuing home hoping that
I would be in time to save this unfortunate chap, I looked into his eyes as
they rolled back in his head as he gave his last breath. I held one hand on
his motionless breast in the hope that he still had some signs of life.
Saddened and angered I continued to drive.
About four or five minutes later, I caught a glimpse, In the adjusted
mirror, of what appeared to be a breath from the injured woodpecker, then to
my astonishment he began to come around dragging himself over and placing
his head on my lap, staring directly into my eyes. Jan, a friend who knows a
bit about wounded animals, nursed him back to health and we eventually
released him into a copse in the Westerland valley near Paignton in Devon. I
still to this day hear a woodpecker in the copse and wander if it is the
same chap that rested his head on my lap.
The message was very clear that day and will stay with me forever and is the
reason for the following offering.
A Pocket Full Of Acorns
Having recently been told the story of the old shepherd and a soldiers
chance meeting in France, during the war, I would like the chance to share
it with you.
The soldier watched as the shepherd attended his sheep, and was curious as
to his habit of dropping something into the soil and heeling it into the
soft earth. He was in fact planting acorns as he tended his flock, and had
been doing so for many years. As the soldier looked around him, he noticed
that all the trees he could see were in fact oak, from mighty oaks to
saplings. He later found that the old shepherd was entirely responsible for
the creation of this magnificent oak forest and all it's inhabitants.
One cannot help wandering why the human race does not see the wisdom in
replanting the trees that we have squandered. "For man has no deeper or
older debt than the one he owes to the tree.
In addition to mans devastation natural disasters frequent the Earth, like
the Dutch elm disease or the recent fires in Australia, Spain, Burma,
Indonesia and the USA. Or floods, mudslides and storms-often amplified by
the absence of trees wreak havoc as they level the last remaining remnants
of once great woods and forests. One such storm visited the UK one-day in
1987 and left a trail of destruction with the loss of over 19 million trees.
How simple it would be to follow the wonderful example of the French
shepherd and carry a forest in our pockets. Full of acorns, or cherry,
chestnut, horse chestnut, maple, beech, hazel, apple, or any other kind of
native tree seed we could turn this tide of destruction. Locating suitable
sites, even in built up areas is very easy, gaining permission to create
woodland takes time, but you will succeed if you are persistent. Use the
media to encourage landowners to join you and to invite people to bring and
plant their seeds and saplings. Design and Display a "Pocket Full of Acorns"
sign at the entrance to your site to indicate that this particular area is
to be transformed into woodland or forest.
Each time we visit the English moors to revel in the barren wastelands that
we call our "National Parks?" We should remember that these were once great
forests, teeming with life. Wild boar, bear, deer and wolf, to mention a few
all roamed what was once great forest. Our ancestors whose epitaph lays in
the stone remnants, littered all over these lands used fire in order to
drive the animals out of the trees so they could be killed in comfort, with
no regard for their actions or the future of our planet. Grasses were
planted to feed domesticated animals and to make bread, spelling doom for
all trees until the land became so impoverished man was forced to abandon
it.
Today in certain parts of the world like Indonesia this strange tradition is
still implemented. But I wander how many of us realise that the moors are
still moors because they are still burned in the same way. Perhaps not for
the same reasons but with the same devastating results!
Farmers in the UK are now forbidden to burn straw because of its affect on
our environment. Sooner or later all burning must stop. I have recently
visited Snake Pass in the Peak District, only to find dead and dying trees
and vast areas of soil erosion.
The native Australians like the ancient Egyptians have continued to burn
their land and have succeeded in reducing almost all of their land to
desert. When we realise just how simple it would be to take a pocket full of
seeds, from a tree, with us on our day out and heel them into the soft
earth, just like the old shepherd in France. I can't help wandering how long
it would take to re-forest the barren hills instead of trampling the fragile
earth with our designer walking boots.
Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat
Soon we will be thinking of Christmas. The Christmas trees are already
growing and will be ready for harvest, to adorn with decorations and take
pride of place in our home for a few weeks. When the feasting is over they
will be dumped in country lanes or tossed aside like the unwanted puppy.
Why don't we care for these trees that have been tended for so long?
Purchased with their roots intact, placed in a pot and kept moist over
Christmas they could easily be re-planted, so that in time we could visit
our Christmases past with pride knowing that they will remain long after we
have perished.
THE MEDIA should now realise that this is quite within their grasp to make
this happen. All it would take is a small announcement and who knows where
it will lead us? It has been known for sometime that violence can be linked
to the viewing of violence on t.v. There is nothing to say that the reverse
will not happen when viewing hope on our screens.
The press should also realise that in order to print future editions,
guarantees must be fixed in place now to ensure that timber supplies are to
be available into the next century. A commitment by Europe to replace it's
forgotten forests may go a long way to show by example, the futility in the
constant destruction of our environment. Or perhaps by replacing our own
forests we may reduce the demands imposed on the last remaining tropical
rainforest in the developing world. "Please find it in your hearts to give
it a try this year.
The vision
I can see school projects springing up everywhere around the World,
cultivating saplings and organising school trips to the peoples new forest!
In Britain we could visit the Dartmoor New peoples forest. Now that would be
something to be proud of.
Instead of a paper-chase, (a race where paper is left in a trail for others
to follow), we could leave a trail of tree seeds and instead of picking up
paper we could tread the seeds into the soil and leave a trail of trees
behind us. Remember though, not everyone is interested in our environment,
so be sure to gain permission before planting trees in sensitive areas.
The human race (which incidentally is being lost), has an in-built fear of
the forest and its darkness. Perhaps it is for this reason that we are
reluctant to allow its natural regeneration? Or perhaps we still hold the
miss-conception that greater profits are achieved by exporting live
horseflesh. Or perhaps hunting down stags in plus fours and high-powered
rifle is easier without the foliage for them to hide in?
The last fifty years or so have left nothing but devastation for our
environment. It need not be this way. All it will take is a little
understanding that a few seeds will make our world a better place for all
our children. It may yet even redeem us from going down in history as the
most destructive species of all time.
What can I do to help?
First and foremost, the next time you see a native tree full of seeds grab a
handful and give Mother Nature a helping hand. God knows she needs it now
more than ever before, (try not to plant damaged seeds).
You may edit and use this message to encourage the planting of trees. If you
are from another part of the world, translate, edit and reproduce this
message to suit your native species of trees. Or simply print it and
photocopy it. Distribute it by including it in your web page, or Email it to
everyone you write to.
Ask your school to locate some land and plant a woodland reserve. Ask your
local press, television and radio if they can help to locate land and spread
the word.
If you know of or are a member of an environmental organisation, contact
them and ask them to join us. The first such group to join is Surf To Save
in Cornwall.
"A Pocket Full Of Acorns is limited only by your imagination and other than
a few stamps and the odd photocopy will not cost you a penny. However if you
do not wish to take part in this project, then simply recycle this leaflet
by giving it to someone else, or pin it up on a school notice board, or
place it in a shop window. Please don't throw our planet away, it could
literally cost us the Earth!
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi209.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb31%2FAndrew_K_Fletcher%2FTrees%2FDenbury61.jpg&hash=b49af70d8a8088a4de8a92ecb429eff9)
Initial endorsements by the Devon Tree Bank, The World Conservation Union,
and the Forestry Commission.
Andrew Fletcher, 26 Berry Drive, Paignton, Devon, TQ3 3QW.From the
Originator of OASIS Irrigation.
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Another view of the effects of planting trees.
Planting trees may create deserts
00:01 29 July 2005
NewScientist.com news service
Fred Pearce
Related Articles
China: A land turned to dust
04 June 2005
Forestry Research Programme
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Planting trees can create deserts, lower water tables and drain rivers, rather than filling them, claims a new report supported by the UK government.
The findings - which may come as heresy to tree-lovers and most environmentalists - is an emerging new consensus among forest and water professionals.
“Common but misguided views about water management,” says the report, are resulting in the waste of tens of millions of pounds every year across the world. Forests planted with the intention of trapping moisture are instead depleting reservoirs and drying out soils.
The report summarises studies commissioned over the past four years by the Forestry Research Programme, funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development.
It agrees that, in some places, the environmental nostrum works: trees trap moisture from the air and bind soils that prevent floods, store water and nourish the environment. But it says that in other places, trees suck up moisture from the soil, evaporate water from their leaves, lower water tables, empty rivers and create deserts.
This matters especially when trees are planted specifically to protect water supplies, says chief author John Palmer of the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Greenwich, London, UK. Often, he says, “projects intended to improve water conditions in developing countries may be wasting massive amounts of money”.
Steady flow
Panama is currently seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from the World Bank to plant trees to increase water flow into the reservoirs that feed the Panama Canal. There is, Palmer says, no scientific justification for this plan.
But not everyone agrees. Robert Stallard, a hydrologist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama backs reforesting the canal’s watershed. He says forested watersheds may deliver less water, but they deliver it in a steadier flow.
Forests are not always bad, the authors concede. “We’re not saying they never produce water benefits or that they don’t have an important role in the ecosystem,” says Ian Calder from the University of Newcastle. “But if we are trying to manage water resources effectively, the simple view that more trees are always better is bad policy.”
Hurting not helping
The studies found that in the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, when fields were converted to forests to provide more water for reservoirs, they actually reduced water yields from the land, by 16% and 26% respectively.
In South Africa, the spread of foreign pine and eucalyptus trees across the country has cut river flow by an estimated 3%. The country is currently employing some 40,000 people to uproot many foreign trees. And it taxes plantation owners for their hydrological damage.
High in the mountains of Costa Rica, researchers found that forests do not harvest moisture from the clouds, as previously supposed. Chopping them down in many places barely alters rainfall, according to Sampurno Bruijnzeel from the Free University of Amsterdam, who contributed to the project.
Now it does not take rocket science to see who has a vested interest in propogating this absurdly biased view, What it fails to recognise is the locations in which trees are planted. No trees on the coastline means no moisture crossing onto the land and falling as rain = tinder ry trees inland and depleted ground water levels. Plant trees from the coastline working progressively inland and the rain will follow!!!!! Do scientists deliberately ignore the way that nature works or are they just dumb schmucks? :)
This picture shows clouds which have crossed from the ocean onto the land very close to the remaining few trees around the coast of Algeria which incidentally are ablaze.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fearthobservatory.nasa.gov%2FNewsroom%2FNewImages%2FImages%2FAlgeria_AMO_2007241.jpg&hash=d4893b6e938eb1f8344aea61da7d737d)
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Fantastic posts Andrew...thank you.
I too wonder why people just chuck away their Christmas trees...I find it distasteful to see them hewn all over the pavements for the dustmen to collect.
Thanks for the thought provoking posts.
Men are the same as women.... just inside out !! (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerogain.com%2Fforum%2Fimages%2Fsmilies%2Faction-smiley-075.gif&hash=84631c0c4a382b5e68463904b7b9fddf)
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Thank you Neil, have I inspired you enough to go out and plant a few trees with your children though? Or to pass on the project to your childrens school perhaps?
If everyone planted a single tree we would have 60 million new trees, just one tree in their whole lifetime would suffice :)
"The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct."
K.I.S. "Keep it simple!"
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Well, yes..I do feel inspired...you'll be pleased to know, we laready have trees planted on our behalf and I will most certainly do my best to spread the word.
Thanks
Men are the same as women.... just inside out !! (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.zerogain.com%2Fforum%2Fimages%2Fsmilies%2Faction-smiley-075.gif&hash=84631c0c4a382b5e68463904b7b9fddf)
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I had a moment of inspiration about three years ago when i chopped down a tree that was blocking the veiw from my kitchen window
How bad do i feel now[:(] Don't worry though because the tree got is own back.
The ladder slipped as i was removing a branch that got stuck between a pipe, and i broke my shoulder.
PS
If it can be helped never break your shoulder, its bloody painful,
All the hospital doctors did was give me a sling and a prescription for nerophen.
I would of thought that in this day and age they would have something a bit better than a simple sling to keep your shoulder immobile
Michael (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi11.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fa186%2Fukmicky%2Frofl.gif&hash=481319b762ee9d57cda15e90d2e83ee6)
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As a crazy tree-hugger, I will also point that there is a corolary to the concept of restoring the function of natural systems by planting trees. That related concept is to avoid the elimination of large areas of forested land without a very good reason to do so.
In Virginia, USA, I have noted that we sometimes get into big arguments about ideas such as wind turbines- large structures which harness wind to generate electricity. Some of us (not me) argue that these structures are eyesores and should not be built.
But when the Department of Transportation knocks down a hundred miles by 30 meters of forest to build a superhighway, who among us call it an eyesore? Well, me. And I also call it an inappropriate construction effort which destroys too much wildlife and watershed and replaces it with something which will result in the burning of millions of gallons of fossil fuel per year so that vehicles will travel at very high speeds, thus getting poor fuel economy and thereby contributing to global warming. All in the name of convenience and "economic development". The cost is too high. The trees would have done more for the human race than the highway ever will, if we had left them there.
I realize that this viewpoint will be considered silly by many. But please consider, If we knock down a million trees and plant a thousand, do we solve a problem?
chris wiegard
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Hi Chris. As one tree hugger to another, The recent mudslides in Guatemala echo many simmilar events from the past. And the general consensus is the trees were removed and hillsides were farmed, which amplified the loss of life.
Trees hold the fragiles soils on hillsides together, preventing mudslides.
Up the road from me there is a high sided embankment next to the road, which has been ok for around the last 18 years. Overgrown with trees, the roots hold the soils together.
Along come the local Council and remove the trees. I said to my wife, it won't be long before the bank collapses now, and sure enough it did, spilling out a large amount of red soil onto the pavement and into the road. Then along come the council again to slear the mess up. Some people have not got the brains they were born with!
In India, the Chipko Movement recognised their inevitable fate when the rains began to fail and rivers stopped flowing. This was due to progress, in the name of ripping down all of the forested area. The women chained themselves to trees, knocked spikes into the trunks to make a chainsaw useless, and literallly throwing themselves in front of the massive trucks that were being used to strip the hills of vegitation. Some women hung onto the lorries and were dragged down the road with bleeding feet. But they held firm.
The two legged termites, sent in armed people to threaten them and this also failed. Eventually, they backed off and the government withdrew its assault on thier lands. Now the Chipko movement has been actively reforesting the areas and the trees are once again establishing the canopy, and sure enough, the rains have fallen and the rivers and streams now flow all year round again.
Environment and Sustainable Development
Brief Description
From their origins as a spontaneous protest against logging abuses in Uttar Pradesh in the Himalayas, thousands of supporters of the Chipko movement, mainly village level women, have won bans on clear felling in an number of regions and influenced natural resource policy in India. The name of the movement comes from a word meaning "embrace". The women practiced satagraha - non-violent resistance, and interposed their bodies between the trees and the contractors' axes, thus becoming the environmental movement's first tree huggers. [Note: Did not participate in Study Conference in New York, 22-24 Sept. 1995]
Click here for a more detailed look at this community.
Contact Information
Sunderlal Bahuguna
Chipko Information Centre
P.O. Silyara via Ghansali
Tehri-Garhwal,U.P., 249155 India
Fax #: Delhi 91 11 4364914 or 4360784 Tehri 91 1376 84566
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002553186_floods11.htm
Mudslides devastate Mayans in Guatemala
By Krissah Williams
The Washington Post
PREV | of | NEXT
MOISES CASTILLO / AP
Two women cry in Panabaj, a traditional community of about 3,000 subsistence farmers in central Guatemala that was destroyed in last week's mudslides.
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PANABAJ, Guatemala — With a machete in one hand, Candelaria Ramirez Tiney, 67, chopped at the dried mud surrounding her small adobe house yesterday, trying to salvage whatever she could before abandoning the village where two of her eight children had been swallowed up and killed five days before.
With the other hand, Ramirez held a cloth to her worn, toothless face to block out the smell of rotting flesh. Her traditional Mayan cotton skirt and dress, hand-woven of bright blue, purple and pink threads, was caked with mud.
Nearby, two vultures waited on a field in this Mayan village where as many as 500 people, including entire families, are believed to have been buried alive early Wednesday when heavy rains following Hurricane Stan let loose an avalanche of mud, rocks and trees from three volcanoes surrounding the village.
"The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct."
K.I.S. "Keep it simple!"
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A Pocket Full Of Acorns
Soon there will be seeds on the trees again as Autumn Draws near.
This is the time to plant trees and seeds and grow seeds on in pots to plant out at your convenience. If every single person in the UK planted one tree in their entire life, we would have at least 60 million trees. And when those trees that we plant self seed and scatter their own seeds or share them with walkers who care about where they put their feet on this fragile earth of ours that 60 million trees could easily be 10 fold or even 20 fold more. All it takes is a little imagination and even the desolation on our huge swathes of moorland can become massive national forests. But this project is not limited to the United Kingdom. Imagine if this simple project were to be adopted by every country in the World. Perhaps we would all share the rainfall rather than some of us experiencing mudslides, others flooding and more and more countries experiencing drought disease and famine. Imagine an Ethiopian child sheltering from the rain while eating a freshly picked apple.
Imagine a desert carpeted in bluebells under the shade of massive woodland and teaming with life. Alas the fact remains that more and more forests are destroyed, more and more concrete and tarmac creating mile after mile of black and grey manmade deserts patrolled by polluting vehicles and even more brick and block built deserts lived in by the two legged termites responsible for felling the forests.
It need not be like this. Nature needs a little help if she is ever going to address the most devastating attack this planet has ever seen.
Please help to plant more trees or at least plant a single tree in your entire lifetime.
Andrew K Fletcher
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Oooh yes - plant as many trees as you can so I can have lots to eat! [:D]
Seriously, though, count me in. I shall collect some acorns as soon as I see some & I'll get the kids to plant them.
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I love trees and planted five big Leland Cypress in the back across my fence line! I planted them in 2004 they are three maybe 4 years Old and they are huge! Way over the tops of my barn! LOL
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Acorns all over the place now and many more tree seeds in the U.K. This is the time to involve a school for planting seeds for the future so come on guys n gals do your bit to help replace a few trees and print out the Pocket Full Of Acorns Project and take it into school to show your teachers and involve the school.
Mums and Dads, this means you also :) Grab a handful of seeds and grow a few on in pots for planting out later, or ask a land owner if they have a field that would look better covered in native woodland. We did it in Cockington in Devon! Now we have a woodland 25 feet high. Before it was a field with little top soil and plenty of small rocks. The names of everyone who helped plant the new woodland is preserved in a book at Cockington Manor for all time.
So Get your welly’s on and grab some seeds before the squirrels eat them all .
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Wonderful stories Andrew!
Cool Idea Andrew the Acorns are ready here in the states also! I love acorns. I used to like to go down under the oak tree and gather acorns..
Their used to be a local tribe who would send someone to school to make something to eat from the acorns that we gathered cookies or something.. I can't remember, but the other thing they made one was like a oatmeal or porridge dish.. very different but not bad! A acorn mush.
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Now the trees have gone
Roads turn into rivers as people fall and die
The only growth is concrete reaching for the sky
Desert winds blowing fan the mighty flame
Forest but a memory don’t even have a name
Ocean level rising, stinks of rotten fish
No longer do they live here or end up in our dish
Seagulls all live inland and gorge upon our tips
Pipelines belch out sewage exposing telltale slicks
Ever since the oil stopped flowing and gushing from the floor
Fresh water is the reason for which we go to war
Tankers held at anchor await the highest prices
Now the tides have turned and water is the crisis
Author: Andrew K Fletcher
SEED SUCCESS BRINGS GLOBAL BRANCH-OUT
Oak trees will be lining a Churston road thanks to the planting of 4,000 acorns and saplings by local volunteers. The mass planting along the four mile length of Kennals Road was the idea of ‘A Pocket Full Of Acorns’ organiser, Andrew Fletcher.
But he was disappointed that no representatives of the environmental groups he invited turned up. Mr Fletcher set up A Pocket Full Of Acorns ten weeks ago after hearing the story of the old French shepherd.
Each day the shepherd attended his flock, he carried with him a pocket full of acorns, planting them across the mountain side as he went. From this daily exercise a mighty forest grew. Mr Fletcher said: “It’s such a simple way of giving nature a hand. There is nothing cheaper than collecting a pocket full of seeds and planting them.”
His plan to plant out Kennals Road with local oaks had the backing of Torbay Borough Council. But invited conservation group representatives failed to appear.
Planting success
“All they had to do was to come along, poke a few holes in the ground with a stick and then drop an acorn in,” He said. Nevertheless buoyed by the planting success and an earlier one at Tebbit Copse on Telegraph Hill, Mr Fletcher is taking his green message around The Globe.
Mr Fletcher said: “With the destruction of the forests in the Third World and the increasing distances that people, mostly women, must walk to collect water and fire wood for cooking and warmth, it would be so easy to pick a handful of tree seeds and plant them on the way back to their villages.”
Recent meetings with representatives from the Pakistan and Saudi Arabian Embassies were very favourably received, he said.
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Western Morning News 4/11/94
Group sows acorn seeds for future
Environmental group OASIS has planted thousands of seeds in it's 'Pocket Full Of Acorns' campaign in the WestCountry.
The organiser has had two major planting schemes, one at Tebbit Copse, near Exeter, and the other at Kennals Road Churston in Torbay.
During the latter project which was completed on Tuesday, two and a half thousand seeds and saplings were planted along the road.
But the organiser was disappointed. The scheme failed to attract the involvement of any other environmental groups he had invited which included Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers and the International Tree Foundation (formally Men Of The Trees).
"Where were the friends when the earth needed them"? said Mr Fletcher
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IUCN The World Conservation Union 9/2/95
I am replying rather belatedly to your letter last year. I was most interested to read of your endeavours in encouraging tree planting on such a wide front. It is good to have enthusiastic people like you promoting the planting of tree seeds and saplings over such a wide area.
You should be very pleased with the extent of your influence. I have passed your notes on to my colleagues.
On the question of funding, while we are a conservation organisation, we are not in a position to provide funding to individuals. Most of our funds come from donor agencies and they are focused on conservation activities with our members and partners, largely in developing countries.
Many thanks for sharing your insights with us.
Dr Donald Gilmour Programme Co-ordinator
Forestry Conservation Programme
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‘A Pocket Full Of Acorns’ HERALD EXPRESS November 8 1994
Another project from OASIS. Trees are disappearing faster in the UK than in the Amazon. How can we lecture the Brazilians on saving their forests when we do not practice what we preach.
During the first world war a soldier was baffled when he observed a shepherd continually stooping as he walked and tended his flock near an oak forest. Investigation revealed he was planting acorns and he and his family were responsible for planting the oak forest over generations. Such sustainable agriculture must be applauded.
Each time we visit the moors here in the UK we are revelling in barren wastelands that we proudly call our national parks, and we should remember that these where once great forests, teeming with wildlife. Our ancestors used fire in order to drive out the animals and kill them in comfort, with no regard for the long term situation. Native Australians have burned their land into a massive desert and this strange custom is still implemented today, and can be seen in practice on our own moor lands.
A Pocket Full Of Acorns is seeking to extend from Devon into Cornwall, and is looking for anyone who has areas of land, large or small, who wish to use it to plant native trees. Unused areas of land or industrial premises on farms or small holdings, or even your own back yard are ideal.
If you wish to join the “Pocket Full Of Acorns Project”, come and see the “OASIS” Stall at Surf To Save.
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The names of everyone who helped plant the new woodland is preserved in a book at Cockington Manor for all time.
So they planted new tree's, then had their name preserved in a book. That is lovely, i just wonder if they realised a tree was felled so they could have their name in said book [;)]
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Paul I know this is said in humour, but we planted several thousand trees which kinda makes up for the one page in the book and a little more besides. And none of the people did this because they wanted their name in the book, They did it because they care about the future of our planet and the wildlife habitat we generated in the process. More a jesture or a thank you from the people working from Cockington who incidentally planted many more trees over time. Ever drove along a road and observed a tree full of apples in the middle of nowhere. Chances are someone like you threw an apple core from a car window into the soil by the road and a few years later we now have a regular supply of apples instead.
It is so simple to lend a hand to nature, just a little thought before an action. Farmers are turning away from livestock now with the recnt foot and mouth and blue tongue virus. This could prove a great opportunity to generate more natural woodlands on fields with poor top soil that are unable to sustain crops other than grazing. Trees thrive in these conditions and over time restore the top soil back to the land with foliage composting on the floor beneath them. They also provide timber for the future and can be financially viable with grant support.
Andrew
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Just in case you might have missed it :)
A Pocket Full Of Acorns Project in the local news. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/857639/a_pocket_full_of_acorns/
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My wife and I have Just been for a lovely walk with our dogs and planted 50 oak tree saplings which we tugged from under a parent tree that had self seeded, but the acorns fell on a grassed area frequently cut down so had no chance of survival beyond a few months. These rescued oaks were planted to replace many trees that had died or had been blown over, or in places where invasive species such as Rhododendron have been cleared so as to help our native tree species to get a foothold. In the same area there now stands an amazing woodland which used to be a barren field with poor top soil, we named it Peoplesfield after the large group of people who came to plant trees of their own when we asked the media to shout for volunteers.(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi209.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb31%2FAndrew_K_Fletcher%2FTrees%2FStover003.jpg&hash=c79ccbbfdbe630614a78daaf00f68aa6)
These trees now stand 24 feet and have completely transformed the field into a magnificent native woodland and it didn’t cost anything from the people who planted seeds and saplings. It was great watching families arriving with a fist full of forest and a pocket full of acorns all those years ago. The smile on their faces radiated the whole of Torbay and many come back to see how their trees are fairing. My fathers ashes are scattered in this field.
Can I ask you to plant at least one tree during this Autumn, it is very easy to do and there are thousands of saplings waiting to be lifted and transported to a place where they can grow out of harms way.(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi209.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb31%2FAndrew_K_Fletcher%2FTrees%2FDenbury51.jpg&hash=b3607e3c320e559844b18b65d2f99f95)
We are losing our way somewhat in this Environmental path we now face, perhaps a few more trees might go a long way to addressing the billions of trees us Two Legged Termites have devoured in our lifetime?
Please go out today or over the weekend and plant a tree or maybe twenty. Now is the best time for planting, nice and wet and as the leaves fall the trees devote more attention to establishing roots.
Andrew K Fletcher
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Another 20 oaks planted today in woodland where commercially grown trees have been removed close to the sea, this is an amazing place and has very few oaks among the predominantly soft wood plantation, which is currently being harvested. It is so easy to make a real difference to our environment; all it takes is that little step from being an environmentalist on paper to becoming an active ecological warrior. I will endeavour to plant a tree for every member on the message board before Christmas.
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I will plant one tree.. here in the next couple weeks! I love trees!
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Kudos. I have taken saplings from areas that I knew they wouldn't survive and planted them on our property. I had to fight with my husband to plant trees in the open field we bought (and don't use), till he agreed let 1/5 "go wild". He is concerned about lowering the property value.
I talked him into mowing no closer than five feet from the fence line that way the birds could deposit seeds from trees they like to eat. But after reading this I am going to plants some seeds and saplings around the fence to give them a one up. I shall also start carrying some seeds with me come early spring through summer. You have my word. Thank you for your encouragement. [^]
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Way to go Karen, knew you would not let our planet down :)
I will plant one tree.. here in the next couple weeks! I love trees!
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Kudos is all yours. I am glowing with the warmth that you are going to plant trees in your field. If it is a large field and you need help to convert it for free, contact the local media and ask them to locate some helpers giving instructions on where to find the saplings and seeds etc and they will come. Believe me they will come. It is fantastic to see the young and old helping each other to plant trees. Doing it this way also encourages more people to act rather than become innocent bystanders and will ensure that they will go on to plant many more trees.
We have a woodland here now with some of the trees standing 25 feet. The badgers have just moved in and a number of the trees have already been thinned out to make room for the ones that are doing the best. The field is called peoplesfield, named after all of the people that transformed it into the lush woodland it is today.
RESPECT And Kudos from Andrew and family
Kudos. I have taken saplings from areas that I knew they wouldn't survive and planted them on our property. I had to fight with my husband to plant trees in the open field we bought (and don't use), till he agreed let 1/5 "go wild". He is concerned about lowering the property value.
I talked him into mowing no closer than five feet from the fence line that way the birds could deposit seeds from trees they like to eat. But after reading this I am going to plants some seeds and saplings around the fence to give them a one up. I shall also start carrying some seeds with me come early spring through summer. You have my word. Thank you for your encouragement. [^]
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Recently acquired around 500 acres of clear-cut timberland- will plant close to 20,000 seedlings (mostly longleaf and loblolly pine) by the end of January. These will be thinned in 12 to 15 years, allowing growth of a sustainable forest.
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Part of the clearcut land currently being replanted
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Holding up a longleaf planted 7 years ago in a similar reforestation project
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Bass Are there any other native species that should be growing there also, like oaks, maple and other broadleaves? If so these can be a great asset to the soil quality and wildlife and also help to prevent fires from spreading rapidly, while greatly enhancing the appearance of the forest.
Here in the U.K. The forestry commission have realised the importance of hard woods mixed with commercial softwoods. The logic being that the hardwoods grow much slower and when the soft woods are ready for logging the landscape is not clear felled but holds a generation of highly profitable hard wood timber, while at the same time maintains the soil texture with deciduous leaf litter ready for the next cash crop of softwoods.
Your work is impressive. 500 acres is more than I can dream of planting out.
The pocket full of acorns project could be used to great effect with your 500 acres. Use the logic of the simple project to call for help to plant it out and ask people to bring in native saplings and seeds to plant among your softwoods. This would undoubtedly produce a wide variety of trees, resembling the ancient landscapes.
The woodlands we have planted in the U.K. look terrific and varied from holly, crab apple, field maple, oak, chestnut, ash, white beam, rowan, cherry.
Kudos to you also Bass. Nice to know people like you are out there making sure the soil does not end up in the river basins.
Andrew
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Andrew
We do plant hardwoods as well, but in fewer numbers. The hardwoods do better in the bottoms and wetter sites, the softwoods (especially the longleaf) are the climax trees in this area. Hardwoods are predominantly oak, maple and hickory.
I've really enjoyed learning more about forest management. Long-range plans call for thinning the trees at around 12 to 15 years and again around 28 to 30 years, then selective cutting afterward, relying on mostly natural seeding to replenish the forests.
My brother and I started doing this a bit of land at a time back in the early 90's, we now have several thousand acres under reforestation. We can produce enough income now from our past purchases to cover the cost of further land acquisition and reforestation.
In the top picture, you can see another 400 acre plot we planted in 2001- the green swath under the ridge in the background. My kids, who will reap the benefits of our program, are all becoming good land stewards. We also take part in a local program that takes local school children out on field trips to educate them on the value of trees.
My hat is off to you for your pocketful of acorns idea.
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Andrew
We do plant hardwoods as well, but in fewer numbers. The hardwoods do better in the bottoms and wetter sites, the softwoods (especially the longleaf) are the climax trees in this area. Hardwoods are predominantly oak, maple and hickory.
I've really enjoyed learning more about forest management. Long-range plans call for thinning the trees at around 12 to 15 years and again around 28 to 30 years, then selective cutting afterward, relying on mostly natural seeding to replenish the forests.
My brother and I started doing this a bit of land at a time back in the early 90's, we now have several thousand acres under reforestation. We can produce enough income now from our past purchases to cover the cost of further land acquisition and reforestation.
In the top picture, you can see another 400 acre plot we planted in 2001- the green swath under the ridge in the background. My kids, who will reap the benefits of our program, are all becoming good land stewards. We also take part in a local program that takes local school children out on field trips to educate them on the value of trees.
My hat is off to you for your pocketful of acorns idea.
Bass That is truly wonderful and your pictures are great as well as what you are doing to re-establish these forests. Amazing! Thank you!
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Way to go Karen, knew you would not let our planet down :)
I will plant one tree.. here in the next couple weeks! I love trees!
Your Welcome Andrew.. I really miss the redwoods they cut down around my house.. They were mixed also and at least it was not clear cut as some places.. They left the pine and oak and fur, as well as others smaller varieties which just grew there naturally also.. Pepperwoods too!
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Bass it has long been a compelling drive of mine to have a desert coastline reforested using waste water to fix the sand grains by replacing the organic material from human and farm waste, while irrigating with the relatively salt free grey water. The idea is that once the thermal barrier has been removed from the coastline, which is currently preventing moisture from crossing onto the land caused by heat generated on the hot dry sandy soils rising into the air forming an invisible thermal barrier.
Once removed / damped down with irrigation and established forest, the trees would milk the moisture from the ocean and become self-sustaining as the barrier moves further and further inland. Furthermore, the moisture rising from transpiring trees and vegetation would help to reduce the energy from the sun by helping to block out it's penetration to the soil along with the canopy cover, local temperatures would fall and during the night, rain would fall in areas that have not had rain for years.
It is also my take that the removal of the trees in the first place dramatically reduces the annual rainfall in clear felled areas, and when it does rain it has devastating effects with flash floods and mud slides.
In the huge clear felled areas you are reforesting, is there a record of the past rainfall from when it was forested and today?
Andrew
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“Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground”
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Andrew
we have regional rainfall totals- no local rainfall totals. Regional totals reflect weather/climate patterns of the southeast U.S. Don't know if there is any difference of not. We have, however, seen a dramatic increase in wildlife and more cover/forage is available.
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Bass any chance of a location and a summary of local land area, I.E location of inland water, coastline, river?
Or a location on Google Earth would suffice :)
Bass, you and your Bro are environmental heroes.
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What Bass and his Brother are up against.
http://www.fws.gov/carolinasandhills/longleaf.html
A disappearing ecosystem...
The longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem, the characteristic habitat of Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge, once covered approximately 90 million acres in the Southeastern United States. This unique ecosystem, shaped by thousands of years of natural fires that burned through every two to four years, has been reduced to fewer than two million acres, representing a 97 percent decline in this important ecosystem. Today, only scattered patches of the longleaf pine/wiregrass ecosystem occur, primarily in the coastal plains of the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas. About half of these surviving stands of longleaf pine exist on public lands.
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Andrew
Input Sylacauga, AL into Google Earth. We have lands to the southwest of Sylacauga in Coosa County, and also to the east in Clay County.
While I appreciate the accolades, we didn't do this for environmental reasons, we did it to produce income. But it's nice when responsible land stewardship and making a livelihood work in harmony.
Once the Longleaf reaches a certain height, we burn the ground litter/duff about every 5 years or so.
I'll be gone a couple of weeks, but will try to show more specific locations when I get back.
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Bass, I don't want to drift off topic, but I'm just curious. Do you guys have a kudzu problem in Alabama and if so have you been able to control it?
My parents live on almost 200 acres in Georgia and have a small section that is being overrun with this awful vine. So far they've had no luck getting rid of it. Some neighboring plots have been completely overrun with it.
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Carolyn
Kudzu, nasty stuff. We are constantly fighting it. Combination of trimming/cutting with herbicide application will work, but it usually takes several applications. We try to catch it before it can get out of hand.
Rumor is, if you sit and watch kudzu, you can actually see it grow. Tell your parents good luck.
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Thanks Bass, they've slowed it down with a few controlled burns and herbicides but haven't eliminated the problem. Not sure how much longer my Dad will be able to handle it alone....I'm afraid we're not much help while we're in Florida.
Haha...I think I have seen it growing there.
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Andrew-
Sorry for the delay, but here is a Google Earth view showing approximate land boundaries (outlined in red)- we don't own all the property inside the boundaries. Just heard today that about 700 acres damaged by tornado, guess I'll be heading to Alabama soon to help get salvage logging started.
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How bad was the tornado damage Bass?
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we lost close to 700 acres of trees- a strip about 1/4 mile wide by 4 miles long. We have managed to salvage all of the pine, and are in the final phases of salvaging the remaining hardwood. Will replant the area next winter- probably 80% longleaf and 20% loblolly pine. Hardwoods will naturally reseed.
With timber prices down and salvage operation, probably only got 1/4 the revenue compared to last year.
At least the revenue will barely cover the replanting costs. Can't fight mother nature, but she sure can make a mess of things.
Was down there two weeks ago, will post some pics soon.
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Thats pretty bad. Can you get the media to help with the replanting, there are thousands of people that would come to help out if you asked them to.
Man if I lived closer I would be there with my friends to help plant so I know others will be happy to come. Especially if you supply some free beers and refreshments.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeY1n-p2auU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeY1n-p2auU)
Let's put an end to global warming by irrigating the Desert coastlines of Africa and the Gulf's deserts by using the massive waste water generated by the developed countries to fertilize and reforest the coasts using the return ballast of super crude oil carriers. Al Gore et al use ill advised Bad Science in order to Introduce Even More Taxes in the name of protecting our environment. The rest of the world's politicians grab the opportunity of imposing heavy taxes and the people feel duty bound to pay these taxes. For the first time these greedy parasites have found a method of taxing that people feel duty bound to pay. Brilliant!
However, the real causes of global warming are not due to fuel consumption and air pollution. They are due to poor soil management. Stripping away forests and growing monoculture cash crops that impoverish the fragile soils is as old as the deserts themselves. In fact there are ample evidence of impressive civilisations that constructed the pyramids and long abandoned ancient cities, all built by humans that required feeding from the soils constantly removing the nutrients and organic matter until all that was left is sand grains. This folly is repeated over and over again and today is repeated on an unprecedented global scale. The massive tropical rain forests are fast becoming a memory. The deserts are expanding and the rain falls heavily in other places while some deserts no longer experience rainfall for several years at a time.
The real problems we all face today cannot be addressed by imposing taxes upon the people. You cannot tax the relentless sun and the rain clouds! But you can transform them into forests teaming with life, breathing oxygen, causing rain to fall and most of all cooling the planet by shielding the soil from the relentless desert sun.
At present there is an invisible thermal barrier along the hot dry coastline, which can be felt in aircrafts crossing from ocean to land and visa versa. In fact this thermal barrier is utilised by birds as they migrate along the coast without having to flap their wings gliding on the uplifting air currents.
This same thermal barrier also prevents clouds and moisture from crossing over onto the soil and falling as rain. This is the sole reason for the deserts in the first place, remove the vegetation from the coast and it stops raining! The forests in the central part of the continent or island become starved of life giving water and are set alight by lightning and Human’s lighting fires further adding to global temperatures. Nasa satellite photographs these man made fires which can be seen peppered on the surface in every continent of the globe.
Moisten the coastal soils while simultaneously replacing the organic material from human and animal bodily waste and we not only transform the sand grains into highly productive fertile soils, we remove the thermal barrier so that rain will once again fall on these parched lifeless lands.
Andrew K Fletcher
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Tornado damage photos:
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damaged trees
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looking down storm track
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my wife, Martha, inspects the damage
Storm completely destroyed approx. 700 acres of trees on our property- 1/4 mile wide by 4 miles long
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Bass, thanks for the pictures. Might be a great time to check out the roots for heavy metal traces, so all might not be lost.
Nature can be quite ruthless and when it is it makes our own environmental destructive traits seem like childsplay.
Were there any types of trees that faired better against the winds?
Hope you guys will continue your important land management and forestry work. We need more people like you for sure.
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http://www.moviesfoundonline.com/man_who_planted_trees.php
The Man Who Planted Trees, the story that inspired the Pocket Full Of Acorns Project.
A story that still brings a tear to my eyes,hope to my heart and tree seeds to the soils.
A Must Read for those who have not yet fallen under the spell of planting for the future.
Passage: The shepherd went to fetch a small sack and poured out a heap of acorns on the table. He began to inspect them, one by one, with great concentration, separating the good from the bad. I smoked my pipe. I did offer to help him. He told me that it was his job. And in fact, seeing the care he devoted to the task, I did not insist. That was the whole of our conversation. When he had set aside a large enough pile of good acorns he counted them out by tens, meanwhile eliminating the small ones or those which were slightly cracked, for now he examined them more closely. When he had thus selected one hundred perfect acorns he stopped and we went to bed.
There was peace in being with this man. The next day I asked if I might rest here for a day. He found it quite natural - or, to be more exact, he gave me the impression that nothing could startle him. The rest was not absolutely necessary, but I was interested and wished to know more about him. He opened the pen and led his flock to pasture. Before leaving, he plunged his sack of carefully selected and counted acorns into a pail of water.
I noticed that he carried for a stick an iron rod as thick as my thumb and about a yard and a half long. Resting myself by walking, I followed a path parallel to his. His pasture was in a valley. He left the dog in charge of the little flock and climbed toward where I stood. I was afraid that he was about the rebuke me for my indiscretion, but it was not that at all: this was the way he was going, and he invited me to go along if I had nothing better to do. He climbed to the top of the ridge, about a hundred yards away.
http://homepages.tcp.co.uk/~nicholson/theman.html
Johnny Appleseed who many of us have learned of was an astute environmental businessman who planted orchards ahead of the pioneers selling them at a profit. And there is nothing wrong with profiting from making the environment a better place in my opinion. He is now immortalised and has become a legend in his own rights. Planting a few seeds can make more than a few trees grow!
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geocities.com%2Ftanseyjim%2Fjabirthmonument.jpg&hash=5d7086e1710aec0d1d5eb18585224452)
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(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgallery.nen.gov.uk%2Fgallery_images%2F0711%2F0000%2F0282%2Fpb043422_mid.jpg&hash=0f72e22c1fcb1c50d349f386d145bccb)
http://www.serwis.wsjo.pl/files/katalog/A.Skotnicka.pdf
“A Pocket Full Of Acorns” To save the Royal Navy.
While being on leave or half-pay, Captain Cuthbert Collingwood loved walking
over the Northumberland hills with his dog, Bounce, and a pocketful of acorns. As Pope claims, Collingwood dropped them wherever he saw an appropriate place (2004: 35). “Some of the oaks he planted are probably still growing ready to be cut to build ships of the line at a time when nuclear submarines are patrolling the seas, because Collingwood’s purpose was to make sure that the Navy would never want for oaks to build fighting ships upon which the country’s safety depended” (Pope 2004: 35). His forethought was not unfounded, let alone, when the war with France was on the verge of breaking out, the shortage of oaks presented a serious danger for Great Britain. The amount of timber suitable for building ships of war, diminished in six major British forests from 234,000 loads in 1608 to 50,000 in 1783 (a load was 50 cubic feet, and 8 loads - 10 tons). The woods could then give birth to only 25 or 30 ships-of-the-line. By 1791 the annual consumption for merchant shipping only had risen to 167,000 loads, while the Royal Navy faced a demand of 218,000 loads for repairs and new constructions (see: Pope 2004: 36).
The country started to be combed in search for suitable timber, for British oak was claimed to be the finest and hardly prone to rot, and due to severe shortages, help from abroad was needed. British shipbuilders valued greatly Italian oak, so called “compass-timber”, from the Adriatic shores, because it grew with curves – perfectly suitable for the rounded frames of ships. Apart from that, beams from Gdańsk and Holstein were bought, whilst American and Canadian oak was never highly regarded by the reason of its vulnerability to rot (see: Pope 2004: 36). After having the wooden hull built, the ship needed her masts to be fitted, yards crossed, guns, shots and powder, sails canvas and rigging hung, and sheeting put to the bottom of the hull in the dry dock. Pinnaces, anchors, cables, galleys, coal and wood used for cooking, provisions and clothing sold by the purser together with a variety of other cargo had to be stored in a ship of war going to her sea voyage.
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Time is moving on and we will soon be gathering more seeds and saplings to plant out new woodlands or simply to enhance a garden or create a natural hedgerow. The original leaflet is now online to inspire a few more budding tree people to gather and plant trees for future generations and enhance places we visit.
We have a 20 feet woodland in Cockington now that was once a field that had most of its topsoil washed away by intensive farming. Now a woodland flourishes with wild deer, foxes and badgers.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi209.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb31%2FAndrew_K_Fletcher%2FTrees%2FAPocketFullOfAcorns.jpg&hash=fe242cd6e038f2fdc98ce5bfb4f88da7)
Printable version here: http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/Andrew_K_Fletcher/Trees/APocketFullOfAcorns.jpg
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Projects like this are always an inspiration, and sharing ideas and information all helps to inspire others.
This link might prove of interest to others, and it is a simple idea that can be replicated in any area where there are a few people who share a common interest in the environment and preserving that for the benefit of future generations and the native flora and fauna.
TRPD - Llys Trerobert Woodland & Wildlife Project (http://petcraftproject.proboards24.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=wildlife&thread=8063&page=1)
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Just learned of this tree planting project in the Sub Sahara scrub / semi desert areas and think you will find this amazing.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/09/06/2357361.htm
Revegetation project greens Sahara
By Bronwyn Herbert
Posted Sat Sep 6, 2008 7:23pm AEST
Updated Sat Sep 6, 2008 8:03pm AEST
Hundreds of millions of new trees have taken root in the Sahara over the last couple of decades (Reuters: Zohra Bensemra)
While climate change scientists warn of the increased desert in Africa in the future, researchers working with communities near the Sahara have managed to turn parts of the massive desert green.
Australians are part of the project which has seen hundreds of millions of new trees take root over the last couple of decades.
Project managers say it is no surprise that the West African region is capable of being revegetated, but even they are surprised by the scale of their success.
On the arid margins of the Sahara there has been a dramatic transformation under way - a greening of the desert.
Australian aid worker Tony Rinaldo has been there from the start, working with farmers in Niger since 1980.
"It's the difference between night and day because it was a barren wind-swept plain, and it was a very unpleasant landscape because it is extremely hot; there's no shade," he said.
"Even though I was involved in that process over 17 years I can't believe what I see, because as you travel through the countryside there's trees everywhere."
The project has been so successful that 5 million hectares of once marginal desert country is now productive land.
"I had to convince farmers that if you protected and pruned a certain number of these trees that are there then your crop yields would increase," said Mr Rinaldo.
"And that was a big battle.
"It probably took 10 years to have a significant mass, a critical mass of people that were practising that and made it safe, if you like; safe for others to practice without being ridiculed or feel out of place because they were doing something different."
Chris Ray from the University of Amsterdam has been studying land use in Africa for 30 years. He says it is no surprise that deserts' periphery could be revegetated, but he is shocked by the scale of success.
"We were surprised about the scale at which this is happening," he said.
"Five million hectares is not something small, it is bigger than the size of the Netherlands that I'm coming from."
He says the trees have significantly improved the land's productivity, and this has had flow-on effects.
"If you introduce more trees in the system you not only get soil fertility, you also get more fodder for your livestock," he said.
"And 20, 30 years ago all the manure was used as a source of energy in the kitchen, because there was little else.
"And now all the manure that is being produced by the livestock goes back to the fuel."
Australia's connection with the project continues. World Vision's Tony Rinaldo says they are now planting edible seeded acacias in the Sahara.
"These are traditional foods of the Australian Aborigines," he said.
"They act as an added wind-break; they fix nitrogen, and then in addition to that the seeds have 40 per cent carbohydrate."
They hope another 2 million hectares of desert land will be protected over the next decade.
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Hi Andrew - I also have a vested interest in trees (I have just completed my PhD at the Institute of Forest Growth in Freiburg) and I just want to point out that of course, in general, trees are a good thing, but they do have disadvantages too. For example, non-site adapted species can be detrimental to timber production and local ecology, and can also be very susceptible to pathogens and storm damage - for example the use of spruce in many central European countries. The use of the incorrect species can have a massive effect on the local hydrological cycle. For example the use of eucalypts in Spain and Portugal which can notably reduce the local water table. Also, in the generation of HEP (Hydro-Electric Power), for example in Wales where the removal of forests can improve the production of HEP since there is less water being removed from the system by the trees' evapotranspiration.
The decisions about how, where and how many trees to plant has profound consequences on the environment, and is not a decision that should be made lightly. I am in full support of improving the environment, but it needs to be a well considered approach, and one that does not jeopardise the future health and vitality of the associated ecosystems.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this subject.
While I agree that some species of trees are detrimental to the environment, Rhododendron for example in the UK are very invasive and poison the soil with their foliage along with completely blocking the sun from the soil. Trees are very good at recovering water from the atmosphere causing it to rain. One only has to look at areas where trees have been removed to confirm this. The Chipco Movement in India for example was formed because rivers and streams failed to flow in the mountains once the are had been clear felled. For many years they noticed failing rains and when the rains did fall the ground was unable to soak up the water so huge mud slides were common place. The valuable top soils began to move down to the rivers and coloured them.
Eventually the women strapped themselves to the huge trucks and drove spikes into the trees to make the chainsaws dangerous to use. Eventually they won and the clear felling stopped.
The women then went about planting hundreds of thousands of trees which are now established and the streams and rivers now flow again with clean water.
Remove the forest from the coastline and we see a huge reduction in rainfall. A small island, covered in mangrove forest off the coast of India was clear felled and other species, was stripped of the timber for fuel. Cattle were moved in to graze and in 7 years they turned an island that had ample rainfall and fertile soils into a desert that has no rainfall. The cattle bones are there as a reminder to people of the folly of degrading the land and soil by removing the forests. In fact this can be seen in many countries, including our own little islands. East Anglia is now experiencing poor soil management and rainfall is getting less and less each year.
What science fails to take into account is that trees transpiring moisture seed rain-clouds and cause it to rain by removing the thermal barrier we see evident on parched dry lands. A thermal barrier along the desert coastline prevents moisture laden clouds from crossing onto the land. This causes inland forest to become parched and fires destroy it. Replace the forest along the coastline using waste water and rain will once again fall!
So for now removing trees to accelerate water run off from the surrounding areas will undoubtedly improve the rapid flow of soil water to the reservoir via the rivers for hydroelectric power production. But the silt from the degraded soils will render hydroelectric power redundant in a very short timescale as the sediment stacks up behind the dam’s. Just as it has in many hydroelectric schemes around the globe!
The problem is as always the use of un-sustainable monoculture cash crops. Eucalyptus is very flammable, producing volatile oils that ignite and spread wildfires with ease. The sensible approach is to bring in diversity and include species that do not burn readily and provide fire breaks to stop the devastation now seen around the globe as fires spread rapidly due to lack of thought when planting them. Nature does not like monoculture cash crops and we should all learn from nature. Pathogens abound in the once massive tropical rainforests and did not appear to upset the balance. In fact they provide a mechanism for letting more sunlight into the forest floor to stimulate new growth. Again monoculture cash crops do not survive pathogen invasion well. Why do you think this is?
Jeopardising the full health and echo systems is something mankind is very good at. We in Britain have removed a massive amount of forest in the name of progress. The baron moors we revel in were once great forests teaming with wildlife. Now they are teaming with ticks and used to farm horseflesh. Could this be the type of management you are referring to?
What about the Sahara Desert? Once the bread basket of the world, now a wasteland 2.5 times the size of Australia. What about Australia? Managed by Aborigines who used fire to turn the whole place into deserts? What about the sheep farmers whose habitual destruction prevents and chance of nature recovering?
The deserts are expanding at a frightening rate. So if the rain once fell on these massive lands and breathed life into them but now does not fall any more. Where does all this extra rain fall? Yup you’ve got it. It falls where trees remain and wet weather is commonplace causing floods and mudslides, with devastating effects.
Mankind’s stupidity never ceases to amaze me. We will not rest until we have a blank canvas to bear our own epitaphs. Andrew K Fletcher
Hi Andrew - I also have a vested interest in trees (I have just completed my PhD at the Institute of Forest Growth in Freiburg) and I just want to point out that of course, in general, trees are a good thing, but they do have disadvantages too. For example, non-site adapted species can be detrimental to timber production and local ecology, and can also be very susceptible to pathogens and storm damage - for example the use of spruce in many central European countries. The use of the incorrect species can have a massive effect on the local hydrological cycle. For example the use of eucalypts in Spain and Portugal which can notably reduce the local water table. Also, in the generation of HEP (Hydro-Electric Power), for example in Wales where the removal of forests can improve the production of HEP since there is less water being removed from the system by the trees' evapotranspiration.
The decisions about how, where and how many trees to plant has profound consequences on the environment, and is not a decision that should be made lightly. I am in full support of improving the environment, but it needs to be a well considered approach, and one that does not jeopardise the future health and vitality of the associated ecosystems.
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Trees are very good at recovering water from the atmosphere causing it to rain.
Andrew - Trees don’t cause rain. Please can you explain this further with scientific references from peer reviewed journals, and not cases that are just anecdotal? With respectful thanks!
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Yes they do cause it to rain! Lets take a look at plastic trees, huge nets stretched out to harvests airborn moisture, they were designed to immitate the same observations of moisture dripping from natural leaf foliage.
The desert island created by man was not anecdotal! A video of the whole process was shown on BBC television. The connection with removing the trees and the soil degradation was noted in the documentary.
Many coastal forests milk moisture from the ocean. It is common here in Paignton for the temperature in the woodland to be several dgrees lower than the environment clear of trees. We walk the dogs frequently through these woods when temperatures soar and on accasions we see the trees dripping with water as mist shrouds the trees yet does not shroud the surrounding coastal area and clouds appear to roll around the coast rather than crossing on to the land.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.idrc.ca%2Fuploads%2Fuser-S%2F104810050515035.gif&hash=0c0078c78446ce6a22baca2cf0ad8594)
Plastic trees were used to great effect to immitate the real trees by providing a way to milk the atmosphere of airborn moisture. Introduction http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-26965-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
The frugal use of expensive water trucked in from distant wells was a way of life in the parched desert village of Chungungo, Chile — located in one of the driest parts of the world. In addition to being costly, the water was often contaminated, contributing to poor sanitation, ill health, and low food production.
Today, a simple technology collects water from fog, supplying villagers with two or three times more water than they once used and at a lower cost. What makes this possible is the persistent, extensive cloud cover (camanchacas) along the coast of Chile, which creates continual fog as the prevailing winds move inland across the mountains.
With IDRC funding, Chilean and Canadian scientists fashioned an inexpensive, sustainable water supply system by stretching polypropylene mesh between two posts -- like an oversized volleyball net. Precious water droplets form on the mesh as the fog passes through it. The droplets then run down into gutters that feed a reservoir and network of pipes in Chungungo.
Eighty collectors now supply Chungungo, providing an average of 10 000 litres of water per day. Meanwhile, a new prototype collector that is easy to build and maintain has been developed and tested. Twenty collectors based on the new design were installed on a new site in 1992.
The success in Chungungo has spurred interest in the technology elsewhere. Fogcatchers have been installed in Islay province and in the Manchay hills on the coast of Peru, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture's Instituto Nacional de Investigacion agraria y Agro-Industrial and Asociacion TECNIDES respectively. In Ecuador, systems are operating at Pululahua and Pachamama Grande. Sites in Namibia and South Africa are also being tested for their suitability.
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Thanks for that Andrew. It appears to me that what you are calling "rain" is the collection of water droplets / moisture held in suspension in the air that then condenses on the leaves and the rest of the tree strucure which then falls to the ground. I have absolutely no problem with this whatsoever, and I know of the Chilean forest that "captures" fog that you mention - but if the fog didn't form as a result of the air/sea combination, the forest would not be able to survive. But, this is not rain in the real sense of the word.
So, yes a forest can help capture moisture that is in the atmosphere and which can then form droplets on the trees which may then "rain" onto the ground, but they don't form rain-clouds. There are certainly instances where forests appear to drag cloud down, and this is the result of evapo-transpiration. I see it very frequently here in the Black Forest! These "clouds" remain highly localised and also remain at rather low elevations above the ground, and in fact rarely rise above the trees at all, or rather, when they do, they become dispersed and don't aggregate.
I think that it is a question of definition and semantics.
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Andrew - there is one other point that I would like you to expand on, please. (But no too much, I've got to find time to read it too!)
"Nature does not like monoculture cash crops"
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Monoculture cash crops impoverish the soil causing eventual soil erosion. Monoculture forestry causes fires by failing to add diversity. alternating the material that is deposited in the soil by including trees that drop the leaves alongside trees that remain evergreen allows the continuation of farming without depleting the soil further. This is why indigenous people who live in the rainforest can do so for thousands of years without damaging the environment. The forest quickly reclaims the small openings they clear and the villagers move on when the soil becomes unproductive in the clearings.
Clear felling severely damages the soils but with careful introduction of indigenous trees alongside the cash crops we can continue to harvest without causing the soil to be washed away in floods.
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Andrew - I would just be really careful about what seem to me to be very broad generalisations. You said that "nature does not like monoculture cash crops". Well, firstly, I don't think that "nature" really cares whether something is a cash crop or not. Secondly, there are many naturally occurring monocultures that are coincidentally also cash crops. In forest scenarios that are beech oriented, there is generally a 2 storey beech canopy - one of the overstorey, and the other of naturally regenerated trees. Beech operates in such a way that is detrimental to other species and therefore these stands are monoculture. However, I think that you are using the word "monculture" to define an anthropogenically altered forest, for example, a spruce forest. There is evidence that this type of monoculture is detrimental to ecosystems and to stand stability (either stable ecosystems or mechanical stability). However, there is also evidence that suggests that there are other forest types that are susceptible to damage. This can only be managed by species and structural dynamics. We cannot assess the effects against a natural forest (in Europe, at any rate) since they don't exist to any great extent. I agree that the use of indigenous species is a good thing, but, this is not going to be the case in several decades time. We will have to change our thinking away from current site adapted species to future site adapted species, and we can only speculate through the use of models as to how this will work, ie. which species and which structures. If we manage it correctly, we are able to make sure that the species that are used are not only site adapted/adaptable, but are also financially viable.
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With you all the way on this one Dent. I was referring to manufactured cash crops not naturally occurring cash crops but you made a good point about the beech tree forming it's own monoculture. Never thought of relating to monoculture like that before. Thanks
The potato famine in Ireland gives another insight into cash crops. When they fail it is often not without disastrous consequences.
The picture below is not unique and shows clearly how moisture rolls along a coastline due to thermals rising from the hot sands and black tarmac roads. At night when temperatures drop the clouds cross onto the land and rain falls as a result. Observed many times here in Devon.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg268.imageshack.us%2Fimg268%2F1093%2Foregonamo2006272op7.jpg&hash=bc9df78a11b96c0bd822f3c2f3a3458b)
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fearthobservatory.nasa.gov%2Fimages%2Fimagerecords%2F35000%2F35960%2Frabaul_amo_2008325.jpg&hash=fa0785682ed2baefa29af64e293f37eb)
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Little Sula planting trees for the future on televison news.
Autumn has arrived and the seeds are on the ground ready to be picked up and planted where trees have fallen or been chopped down.
We had a lovely stroll the other day through a woodland that is 11 years old and some of the trees are 20 feet tall, there are spindle, whitebeam, holly, ash, oak, crab apple, maple, hazle field maple, chestnut, hawthorn thriving, deer have moved in and wild flowers are beginning to settle in nicely. Trees have begun to self seed and more saplings are thriving ready to be transplanted out to new ground.
Please give a hand and start your own planting project.
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fs209.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fbb31%2FAndrew_K_Fletcher%2FA%2520Pocket%2520Full%2520Of%2520Acorns%2Fth_APocketFullOfAcorns99.jpg&hash=2b345a66c4f215acdab215c2cbb8da63) (http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb31/Andrew_K_Fletcher/A%20Pocket%20Full%20Of%20Acorns/?action=view¤t=1a66cd06.pbw)
Click on the image to view photographs of our new woodland in Cockington Devon
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You should try developing some heathland for your next project - I think it's the most endangered habitat in the UK now...
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You should try developing some heathland for your next project - I think it's the most endangered habitat in the UK now...
Only heathland because the trees have been removed in the first place. Maintaining heathland is practiced so doubtfully in decline although the constant burning of the gorse and small trees is adding to soil erosion.
So how do you propose to devolop more heathland?
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Now that's a good question, and one to which I really don't know the answer! I'm not sure of the successional stages that lead to heathland, or those that degrade it naturally.
It's obviously never going to be as simple as 'plant a load of heather and gorse'; proper management would need light grazing, occasional cutting and burning, removal of excess nutrients (i.e. from local agriculture) etc etc etc...
Actually, reading up about it, it seems that Devon is one of the most significant areas for lowland heath - I assume there are geological considerations...
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The problem with heathland and the moors is the grazing and burning required to maintain it. It is not a natural habitat but clearly a manmade habitat and as you say in Devon and Cornwall we have more than our fairshare of this useless landscape which could easily be put back to forest.
The burning adds to pollution and global warming and the grazing stock contributes methane although does add some fertility to the soils.
Certain areas like the spring bogs and streams are very attractive for visitors but many leave without taking their litter problem with them, a few weeks ago I collected a carrier bag full of litter and glass bottles that people had discarded in a few hundred yards from the car park among grazing Dartmoor ponies.
If we are to begin to address global warming we really need to consider replacing the forests we devour each day before considering to cut more trees down in order to provide more heathland, just my humble opinion mind.
Andrew
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Heathland is as important as forest, without a shadow of a doubt.
Grazing animals, natural fires and limited resources all occur naturally, so health lands are certainly a natural, rather than man made environment.
Forests are great, but support a different range of species to other environments. If we were to replace all of England's heath with forest, we would lose almost all of our remaining reptile species, a few species of ground bees, several other insects and probably a few birds.
Boundaries between one habitat and another tend to be the most species rich areas.
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Ye-es. However. I've always suspected planting trees was a footling way of approaching climate change (in the sense that it would never make sufficient difference to be meaningful. I've always vaguely meant to do the sums...
It turns out the very clever (and thorough) David Mackay has done the sums for me.
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c31/page_245.shtml
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c31/page_246.shtml
So we might as well stick to husbanding our forest and heathland environments to preserve diverstiy.
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Heathland is as important as forest, without a shadow of a doubt.
Grazing animals, natural fires and limited resources all occur naturally, so health lands are certainly a natural, rather than man made environment.
Forests are great, but support a different range of species to other environments. If we were to replace all of England's heath with forest, we would lose almost all of our remaining reptile species, a few species of ground bees, several other insects and probably a few birds.
Boundaries between one habitat and another tend to be the most species rich areas.
Nope, Heathlands are managed with fire and domestic grazing animals, nothing natural about them at all!
http://www.theheathproject.org.uk/news.html?newsId=20&page=3
Deserts are the end product of this stupidity.
One only has to look at Australia to see the end product managed now by sheep and dairy farming along with rabbit and native grazing animals.
Most of Australia is now desert. The credit given to the native Australian bushpeople. But the truth is they burned the vegetation to kill and cook the wildlife and rid the area of deadly snakes!
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Ye-es. However. I've always suspected planting trees was a footling way of approaching climate change (in the sense that it would never make sufficient difference to be meaningful. I've always vaguely meant to do the sums...
It turns out the very clever (and thorough) David Mackay has done the sums for me.
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c31/page_245.shtml
http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/withouthotair/c31/page_246.shtml
So we might as well stick to husbanding our forest and heathland environments to preserve diverstiy.
Rosy,
All depends on how you look at the problem, pull blinkers on and yes you will see straight ahead and yes the sums will add up to anything you want to focus on.
We are however not trying to completely offset the carbon from every person with just trees, the ocean lake and river sinks provide some “Co2 sucking” and as pointed out the minerals also provide some Co2 sucking.
Let us also remember that trees are very good at burying their own timber in the root systems which remain underground long after the above ground timber has been utilised.
And let us also remember the foliage dragged below ground by earthworms or foraged by moulds and deposited below the soils enriching them.
But most of all let us remember that shielding the suns energy from reaching the soils and drying it out contributes to keeping the climate cool and the transpiration in the air also blocks out a lot of the sun’s energy.
So it is nonsensical to try to separate the carbon emission trade off without considering the huge amount of water storage the prevention of soil erosion by the root system and of course the production of fruits, animal fodder, shelter, increased moisture, reduced temperature micro climates created by the trees and habitats for wildlife and humans. And then there is also that valuable age-old useful product called timber.
Almost forgot preventing flash floods, mud slides and dry river beds.
On the other hand there is always a handful of lucky heather for the gypsies to be found in the heath lands.
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Andrew - You wrote: " Nature needs a little help if she is ever going to address the most devastating attack this planet has ever seen."
First, it is this sort of exageration that gives greens a bad name. The planet has suffered far worse in the past. Believe me, you would not wish to live where you do now a mere 10,000 years ago. Think ICE age. Think Jurrasic astroid, or any Super volcano you wish.
That said, I plant and tend trees on my wood lot adjacent to the house. I leave the dead ones standing for the wood peckers, and weed out encroachments. Furthermore, I grew up in Ohio with many small farms. Many of them were not amenable to large scale farming and have returned to brushland and even woods. Even the beavers have returned. We never had beavers were I lived as a kid. So cheer up, bucky!
PS - It is looking more and more like wind power has come of age. It already supplies Texas with three or four percent of its total power grid. And the things are going up like weeds all over West Texas. Wind pricing is based on Natural Gas prices which are also plentiful in Texas. I drove up to one of the windmills, and it was an impressive thing. Also impressive was the ground level wind speed which was constant and VERY fast. Uncomfortably fast! Lots of wind in Texas!
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Hi and thanks for letting us know of your tree planting. Great work!
The ice age was probably brought about by changes in weather due initially to global warming and the removal of vegetation, for example the giant freshwater lake in Canada released onto the ocean surface down the St Lawrence river is thought to have caused the Atlantic conveyor system that drives not only the ocean currents but the world’s weather to grind to a halt, this is said to have caused a catastrophic drop in temperature following the warming that released it.
Here again the temperatures are rising and the caps melting spilling onto the oceans surface, diluting the surface water and interrupting the saline flow and return system that effectively drives the massive flow of sea water to the equator and back.
Huge volcanoes and Earthquakes fail to come close to mans disease on the soil. Deserts and desertification pose more problems than any short-term catastrophic disaster, no matter how spectacular. Take the dustbowl in America for example. Ignore the signs and continue to overexploit the soils and they will blow away leaving behind a desert.
The ancient Egyptians, the Anastasian Indians, the Incas, the Chinese, the Mesopotamians, have perished and their bones tell the story of impoverished diets, disease and starvation. Many more have left their feeble irrigation channels buried beneath the drifting sands.
The dinosaurs became exports at degrading their environment, impressive sizes were reached as more and more efficient plant eaters evolved. Is it a coincidence that many of their bones are found not in lush green forested areas but in sands devoid of vegetation?
If we don’t address the expanding deserts soon we won’t be on this planet for much longer!
Wind power is a smart move to generate electricity reducing pollution significantly but with all due respect it cannot address the worlds inherent lack of fertile soil and failing rainfall, coupled with the all too familiar flash floods and imbalance in rain distribution.
More forests planted along the desert coastlines will permit the ocean born moisture to cross onto the land and cause rain to fall where it is needed most and therefore relieving the burden of too much rainfall in other areas that are still forested.
As the forests grow with or without mans help rain clouds will begin to pass inland to feed more forest rather than falling where they are not needed by vegetation. As the clouds cross the dry deserts the air will cool and the suns energy will be prevented from heating up the sandy soils shaded by the airborne moisture. Then global temperatures will fall.
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Millions of trees felled in UK forestry crisis
By Dan Gledhill
Sunday, 1 October 2000
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/millions-of-trees-felled-in-uk-forestry-crisis-698477.html
A crisis in the UK's forestry industry has forced the destruction of millions of sap-lings, according to one of the UK's largest tree growers.
A crisis in the UK's forestry industry has forced the destruction of millions of sap-lings, according to one of the UK's largest tree growers.
In the latest episode of an orgy of felling uneconomic trees that has bedevilled the industry in recent years, the privately-owned Maelor Nurseries is having to close a big nursery in Scotland. On the eve of its harvest, Maelor has also started destroying saplings planted just three years ago on its Welsh Borders' farm. Millions more will have to go, the company predicts.
Ironically, Britain is the world's second-biggest importer of timber, buying £6.5bn of wood from overseas every year, according to official statistics. Only 20 per cent of wood consumed in the UK is grown in this country.
At the same time, Britain has sunk near to the bottom of Europe's afforestation table. Only 10.5 per cent of British land is now wooded thanks to a steady decline in commercial planting. A damning report by the Horticultural Trade Association (HTA) highlighted a particularly worrying decline in the planting of conifers and broad-leaved varieties. The HTA is also critical of much of the planting which has gone on, condemning the use of cheap and unregulated foreign stock likely to have a negative environmental impact.
Britain's forestry problems have been aggravated by the actions of conservationists, industry figures say, even though groups like Greenpeace oppose the indiscriminate felling in the virgin forests of developing countries. The creation of commercially sustainable forestry in the UK has been frustrated by interest groups concerned about the impact on local wildlife. Michael Harvey, managing director of Maelor Nurseries, believes the opposition is misconceived.
"Modern forestry is no longer concerned with the monotonous conifer planting that was popular before the 1980s," he says. "We believe that such an important subject should be viewed in the global context and controlled through more public debate."
Mr Harvey also blames red tape for the destruction of 15 million new trees which was forced on Maelor last year. Not even the awarding of a series of lottery grants to fund millennium planting projects has been enough to stem the tide of felling.
The impact of the trend has been felt beyond the industry, especially in remote parts of the country where forestry has traditionally been one of the most important employers.
In the light of the crisis, Mr Harvey is calling for an urgent review of the Government's forestry policy. He believes that the UK should take a leaf out of the books of Holland and Ireland, where forestry's positive environmental effects - for example, its ability to reduce carbon in the atmosphere - are factored into the equation when planting policy is formulated.
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Recently back from wilds of Alabama with a few updated photos
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Tornado tract- 700 acres cleared, burned and ready for planting this winter
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3 year old loblolly tract
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continued...
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5 year old longleaf tract
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8 year old loblolly tract
Photos show our forests in different stages of growth/rehbilitation.
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Bass Great photographs showing dedication and common sense environmentalism
Fantastic work, far better covered in trees for the wildlife and for preventing flash floods further down the road.
We don't need a pat on the back for our efforts it's enough to stand among those trees and think of nothing more than the eye candy and sun on our backs.
Thanks for posting the pictures Bass
Andrew
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Andrew..
One of the forum rules is that we ask that all posts be (primarily) English language, we don't have the resources to moderate foreign language posts, and although in the case of the above article in (presumably) Thai I am reasonably confident there is nothing anyone need worry about, that position has to be maintained so that we can enforce it elsewhere. Please post a translation instead.
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Andrew:
Do you attempt to recreate primeval mixed forest, or do you specialize in Oak? Either way the more hardwoods the better. In the states we have something called Arbor day when people plant trees. I don't know much about it. However, we have a LOT of land area that is returning to nature since it does not lend itself to industrial farming.
My local stomping grounds in NE Ohio is one good example. The farm land seems to have been divied up three ways. 1) Some of it is absorbed into larger farms; 2) Some of it is subdivided for suburban housing; an 3) Some of it has simply been abandoned from agricultural or suburban development.
The wildlife tell the story. When I was a kid we trapped Muskrat out of the swamps for extra money. I don't think anyone traps them anymore. Whatever. Even the beavers have returned and are now a nuisance, as are deer.
Thats progress. Keep up the good work!
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Hi Rosy
The post in Thai is a direct translation to Thai from the original pocket full of acorns project. There is nothing to worry about in the text, although I do understand your concerns.
This project is aimed at schools to encourage children to plant trees, nothing more than that.
Andrew..
One of the forum rules is that we ask that all posts be (primarily) English language, we don't have the resources to moderate foreign language posts, and although in the case of the above article in (presumably) Thai I am reasonably confident there is nothing anyone need worry about, that position has to be maintained so that we can enforce it elsewhere. Please post a translation instead.
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Andrew:
Do you attempt to recreate primeval mixed forest, or do you specialize in Oak? Either way the more hardwoods the better. In the states we have something called Arbor day when people plant trees. I don't know much about it. However, we have a LOT of land area that is returning to nature since it does not lend itself to industrial farming.
My local stomping grounds in NE Ohio is one good example. The farm land seems to have been divied up three ways. 1) Some of it is absorbed into larger farms; 2) Some of it is subdivided for suburban housing; an 3) Some of it has simply been abandoned from agricultural or suburban development.
The wildlife tell the story. When I was a kid we trapped Muskrat out of the swamps for extra money. I don't think anyone traps them anymore. Whatever. Even the beavers have returned and are now a nuisance, as are deer.
Thats progress. Keep up the good work!
Thanks litespeed.
Yes I do encourage planting of hardwoods, where ever possible, monculture cash crops while useful can increase the chances of fires, mixed planting can create fire breaks and afford firefighters with a chance of bringing the fires under control sooner.
My goal is to begin at the coastline, planting new forests so that moisture from the ocean can cross onto the land and fall as rain. Hot barron sandy coastlines look great but provide a thermal barrier which prevents moisture crossing onto the land and falling as rain when temperatures drop. This means that inland forrest does not receive sufficient rainfall. Common sense I know, but sadly lacking in many governments.
Andrew
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There is nothing to worry about in the text, although I do understand your concerns.
In that case, acknowledge them by doing as she asks.
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https://docs.google.com/a/operationoasis.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7DbpaEf1J4IZDFkZjJjMWItOWI4Yy00OTczLWJlZjgtYmNkMjJiM2E0YmEx (https://docs.google.com/a/operationoasis.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B7DbpaEf1J4IZDFkZjJjMWItOWI4Yy00OTczLWJlZjgtYmNkMjJiM2E0YmEx) You may have to click twice if the first click fails (large document)
Link to the history of A Pocket Full Of Acorns, together with news cuttings etc
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New video New Initiative for coastal erosion using community grown trees as a living bio-shield.
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This reminds me of a book I read called The Man Who Planted Tree's.
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I'm doing my best in oz, but many trees aren't surviving the summer heat and droughts. I have a few oaks here, as they are less flammable, close to my house, but they really struggle and barely produce acorns, and I have fought so hard to bring them back from insect attack, when weakened. It's heartbreaking when the state next door is suffering from flood, in parts. So many trees under stress won't come back in our awful fires.
No relation, no reason but that I found this last week, and have become addicted... I've been humming this gardening, composting, improving soil, driving, scrounging at the tip...
If you like Paul Simon, this is a bit like a young Paul Simon, unplugged, about our planet in trouble and the collective refusal of over half the planet's most intelligent species to drum up the energy to comprehend/care.
Starts quietly, and is always gentle, and I find instead of making myself distressed, thinking the same thing, I get a tiny comfort at the pretty gentle tune, and hoping that the unthinking, hearing, singing along, might get a first doubt at their smug complacency.
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Hello Menageriemanor from OZ, thoroughly enjoyed listening to the tune. Do you live on the coast?
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Sorry for delay. Lost all internet access, no warning. May lose again, soon, sadly.
No I am in Sthn Highlands. Get frosts & summer temps up 2 close to 40 degrees C
In summer, huge bushfire dangers. Quite stressful, as I love my animals, dearly.
Also worth considering, especially if you have large garden...
Always keep apricot, plum. peach. nectarine, drupes, seeds, etc., to throw in a quiet spot. Only a few will come up, & probably not true to type, but often produce nice fruit. You can move them, once they are up. Even if fruit not that nice, you can leave that tree for native animals as a Sacrifice tree. Net your favourite, but let birds, etc have a tree of fruit. Also, if not nice fruit, you can also GRAFT favourite fruit onto the base, as it is clearly happy enough where you are. Cheap trees. Even if You don't have room, give to someone who has, or give to local landcare/wildlife group to plant in useful place.