10 Astonishing Treehouses You’d Love to Live In

Though this article is not about protecting trees, I am including this as it is about trees

Did you forever want to live in a tree house when you were younger? What better way to sleep than directly under the branches of a protective tree among the stars? And, while some tree houses are minimalist by their very small nature, today’s tree house architects have gone beyond small stature to include tree houses fit for hotel rooms, lodges and restaurants. Other tree houses, although small in scale, have risen to the ‘green’ challenge to become ideal tree homes that do little to no damage to its host tree.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Tree planting, condition for building plan approval

The Federal Capital Territory will soon come out with a policy that will make tree planting a condition for the approval of a building plan in the territory.
Alhaji Isa Shaaibu, FCDA‘s Director, Parks and Recreation, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.
He said that the policy would be strictly enforced in the territory, adding that tree planting was a priority in the agenda of the FCT Administration.
He said that the Abuja Environmental Protection Board would soon take measures to enforce the law on the illegal felling of trees in the territory.
“The FCT Minister has vowed to enforce the law relating to the illegal felling of trees in the FCT,” he said.
Shaaibu, therefore, warned those engaged in the illegal felling of trees within the territory to desist from it or be prepared to face the full wrath of the law.
Besides, he said that about 1,000 tree seedlings would soon be distributed across the territory‘s six area councils as part of efforts to promote tree planting.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Buffalo Zoo opening new $16M rain forest exhibit

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Buffalo Zoo is unveiling its new $16 million South American rain forest exhibit, which features a two-story waterfall, giant anteaters, vampire bats, howler monkeys, an anaconda and other rare animals.

Zoo officials hope the exhibit, opening to the public Wednesday, will boost the zoo’s winter attendance.

The exhibit is designed after Venezuela’s 3,000-foot-high Angel Falls, which zoo President Donna Fernandes visited in 1982. She suggested replicating the world’s tallest waterfall when planning for the new exhibit began four years ago.

Visitors to the rain forest exhibit will traverse indoor walkways that will take them through mist from the waterfall, with viewing from a second-story platform and other overlooks.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Groups sue Forest Service over Sierra species

SAN FRANCISCO—A lawsuit filed by environmentalists claims the U.S. Forest Service is failing to protect bellwether species in the Sierra Nevada when approving new logging and road projects.

The four environmental groups filed suit Tuesday over the agency’s 2007 decision to cut the number of species that must be studied prior to approving the projects.

The number of species monitored decreased from approximately 60 species to just 13.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in San Francisco aims to reinstate the species dropped from the list, including bighorn sheep and the California condor.

A spokesman for the Forest Service says the species removed from the list are either too rare to study or do not rely on the habitats at issue.

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The painting is by Laura Tasheiko