Scientists discover new forest with undiscovered species on Google Earth

A British-led expedition found 7,000 hectares of forest, rich in biodiversity, known as Mount Mabu

The mountainous area of northern Mozambique in southern Africa had been overlooked by science due to inhospitable terrain and decades of civil war in the country.

However, while scrolling around on Google Earth, an internet map that allows the viewer to look at satellite images of anywhere on the globe, scientists discovered an unexpected patch of green.

A British-led expedition was sent to see what was on the ground and found 7,000 hectares of forest, rich in biodiversity, known as Mount Mabu.

In just three weeks, scientists led by a team from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew found hundreds of different plant species, birds, butterflies, monkeys and a new species of giant snake.

The samples which the team took are now back in Britain for analysis.

So far three new butterflies and one new species of snake have been discovered but it is believed there are at least two more new species of plants and perhaps more new insects to discover.

Julian Bayliss, a scientist for Kew based in the region, discovered Mount Mabu while searching on Google Earth for a possible conservation project. He was looking at areas of land 5,400ft (1,600m) above sea level where more rainfall means there is likely to be forest.

Read on
The painting is by Benjamin Williams Leader

Tree-planting for more employment

In this time of recession here is a way to generate employment through nature consevation

In August 1995, I was in New Zealand for a brief work-related trip. While on my way to a dairy farm, I noticed that the forest formations on the hills on both sides of the road did not look like natural growth. They looked organized. I asked my guide from the New Zealand Dairy Cooperatives and learned from him that during the Great Depression in the early 1930s the New Zealand government decided to solve the unemployment problem by mobilizing many of the jobless to plant trees.

I checked the website of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and learned that the reforestation undertaken in New Zealand back then was so massive that by 1936, some 300,000 hectares of land were planted with trees. That tree-planting effort bore fruit decades later when the trees were mature enough to be harvested and became the resource base of New Zealand’s timber industry.

Now, getting thousands of unemployed Filipinos to work planting trees is an investment truly worth some billions of government and private sector funds. With higher unemployment anticipated next year because of the global economic downturn, this option deserves serious thought and action.

Perhaps, next summer, tens of thousands of college graduates and other job-seekers can be hired by the government and the private sector to plant trees all over the country. This could even be a continuing program and long-term solution to unemployment and underemployment in our country.

One place they can go to is Rodriquez (formerly Montalban) town in Rizal province, near the Wawa Dam. I was there last January for a tree-planting expedition of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), as a friend of the SVD. Many of the Montalban hills have no forest cover, just lots of grass. If Rodriguez and other areas with little or no forest cover do not grow new forests soon, the water supply of future Filipinos will be in grave danger.

article here
The painting is by Benjamin Williams Leader

Deal struck on forests in climate talks

POZNAN, Poland (AP) — Negotiators broke an impasse Wednesday on including forest conservation in a new climate change agreement, guaranteeing a voice for native peoples who live in forests and rewarding India and China for replanting depleted lands.

Environmentalists said the compromise text, agreed in a committee at the U.N. climate talks, was an important step that cleared the way to discuss politically sensitive questions on how countries will be compensated for protecting their woodlands.

Though activists said they were disappointed that four countries, including the United States, deleted any specific reference to the “rights” of indigenous people, the agreement recognizes, “the full and effective participation” of local communities.

Activists hope the reference will give indigenous people a say in the way forests are managed.

The draft text also made no mention of biodiversity, which could allow countries to uproot natural forests to plant palm oil or fruit plantations, said Nils Hermann Ranum, of Rainforest Foundation Norway.

“More than 50 percent of the planet’s species are found in tropical rain forests,” he said, and may not fall under the protection of the climate agreement.

A deal on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, known as REDD, has been tied up in a technical committee since the conference opened Dec. 1, frustrating environmentalists who said some countries were backtracking on understandings reached four months ago at the last climate change conference in Ghana.

“It is a good text to go forward, though we didn’t get everything we wanted,” said Gustavo Silva-Chavez, a deforestation specialist for the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund.

Read on
The painting is by Benjamin Williams Leader

Children branch out into tree planting

BUDDING gardeners from two Fylde schools have been planting trees so generations of children will be able to enjoy watching them grow.
Children from Hall Park School, Lytham, and Lytham C of E School helped plant two silver birches and a rowan tree in school grounds.

Fylde Council donated the trees and Lytham in Bloom Group gave a helping hand to ensure they were bedded in properly.

The green-themed donation was part of a bid to help improve the children’s environment and also to get Lytham ready for the Britain in Bloom competition next year.

Jim Leak from Lytham in Bloom said: “We are happy to support the tree planting and are grateful to the council for donating the trees.

“Both schools have gardening clubs and we work closely with them both throughout the year. We thank them both for their support to the In Bloom initiative.”

The Lytham in Bloom group led the area to victory in the North West in Bloom competition in October for the best Coastal Resort category and sealed the nomination for Britain in Bloom, which will be judged next August.

read on
The painting is by Benjamin

Williams Leader

Aberdeen tree-planting scheme takes root

Move to provide shelter for playing fields

A SCHEME to plant hundreds of trees in an Aberdeen park got under way yesterday.

Around 40 oak, ash and elm trees were planted in Cummings Park, which houses Northfield Academy’s playing fields and a section that was renamed last year after Allan Douglas, a young soldier from the area who died in Iraq.

The work was done by Aberdeen Greenspace Volunteer Group with members of the surrounding community and Aberdeen City Council.

Council community planning officer Fraser Clyne said: “The work will improve the amenity of Allan Douglas Park and provide shelter for Northfield Academy playing fields. All the trees are native species and will be a great attraction for wildlife.”

A total of 2,500 trees will be planted in the park as part of a wider programme of planned improvements, which include an all-weather football pitch.

The painting is by Benjamin Williams Leader

Forest Service honors Vermont groups for their river work

ARLINGTON — The Batten Kill Watershed Alliance and the White River Partnership, along with the Green Mountain National Forest, will be awarded the U.S. Forest Service’s Eastern Region Honor this month for the work the groups have done together to protect Vermont rivers.

Cynthia Browning, executive director the alliance, said the key to the award was that it was about partnerships.

“We would not be able to do the work we do without the assistance and expertise of the Green Mountain National Forest. But they need us too. They need a grass-roots group that has ties to the local property owners and government,” she said.

The award from the U.S. Forest Service recognizes those projects achieved in cooperation with the Forest Services local arms and citizens’ groups formed to serve ecological preservation or restoration projects.

Steve Roy, fisheries program manager for the Green Mountain National Forest, nominated the groups for the award in a letter to the U.S. National Forest.

Read on
The painting is by Nancy Merkle

Indonesian president declares national tree planting day

Cibinong (ANTARA News) – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has declared November 28, 2008 as The National Tree Planting Day and December as the National Tree Planting Month.

The president made the declaration at Limnologi Cibinong Research Center of Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) in Cibinong, Bogor, on Friday.

President Yudhoyono declared the national planting day to mark simultaneous planting of 100 million trees nationwide in 2008.

The tree planting program, initiated by the Forestry Ministry, was intended to familiarize national tree planting and tree caring movement as part of national culture and life style.

On the occasion President Yudhoyono planted nyamplung or bintanggur tree (calphyllum inophyllum) — a coastal tree from which oil is extracted, while First Lady Ani Yudhoyono planted sukun or breadfruit tree.

The first lady is also scheduled to plant breadfruit and coconut trees to mark the launch of tree planting movement for Indonesian women at Ancol Ocean Park in Jakarta on December 1, 2008.

Meanwhile, coordinator of the tree planting movement Erna Witoelar said on Thursday that the nationwide movement would focus on planting and caring of edible trees, medicinal plants, and fingerling breeding for daily consumption of the people.

Article here
The painting is by Nancy Merkle

Trees must be multiplied according to population

Jakarta (ANTARA News) – First Lady Ani Yudhoyono said she hoped that at one point in the future the number of trees in Indonesia would grow at the same rate as its population

The First Lady expressed the hope when launching a Women`s Tree Planting and Caring Movement 2008 themed “Towards Families` Food Resilience” at the Ancol Recreational Center here on Monday.

“In the future, the number of trees in Indonesia should increase as rapidly as its population ,” Mrs Ani Yudhoyono said.

She said if Indonesia`s population growth rate now stood at around 1.43 percent per year, it meant a total of 3 million new trees had to be planted this year.

The first lady also called for one new tree to be planted for every baby that was borne for the sake of the children`s future.

“I did it for my grand daughter, Aira (Almira Tunggadewi Yudhoyono),” she said, adding that she planted breadfruit and coconut trees for her grandchild.

When the children grew up, they should be taught to care for the trees and love the environment and the Earth they live on, she said.

The Women`s Tree Planting and Caring Movement 2008 was launched simultaneously throughout Indonesia on Monday morning.

This year`s activities were focused on planting fruit-bearing trees, such as breadfruit and coconut trees.

At Ancol, the First Lady planted a breadfruit tree and Mrs. Mufidah Kalla, the wife of Vice President M Jusf Kalla, planted a coconut tree.

Before planting the trees, Mrs. Ani Yudhoyono had also distributed 15,000 milkfish fingerlings.

Read on
The painting is by Nancy Merkle

Simpsonville considers tree-planting law

SIMPSONVILLE — The city Planning Commission will be asked Tuesday to recommend approval of an ordinance that would require developers to plant trees on clear-cut land that has sat vacant for more than 90 days.

The goal is to eliminate acres of unsightly red dirt where developers bulldozed trees and grass to grade property for retail developments or subdivisions.

The law would need to gain recommendation from the city Planning Commission and then pass two readings by City Council before it would take effect.

The new landscape regulations law would force developers to either build on or replant cleared land within 90 days after the city issues a land clearing and grading permit or face stiff penalties.

If developers don’t replant in time, they would be required to double the number of trees to be preserved or planted on each lot. If developers follow the new rules they would have to plant one tree for every one-tenth acre developed with credit given for saving existing trees.

Article here
The painting is by Nancy Merkle

Fall is for planting

“I wish more gardeners understood that fall is a primary planting season in Louisiana. For years horticulturists have tried to get the word out that November through February is the ideal time to plant hardy trees and shrubs in the landscape. Planting in late November and early December is especially good since trees and shrubs planted now benefit in several ways.

The plants are dormant during this time and are less likely to suffer as much from transplant shock. In addition, the cool weather and regular rainfall typical during the winter here allow the new plantings to settle in and adjust with little stress (and less work for you watering them). Hardy trees and shrubs are not damaged by normal winter freezes, even if newly planted.

The roots of trees and shrubs will actively grow during the fall and early winter, so planting in fall allows them to become well-established prior to spring growth. By May of next year, trees and shrubs planted over the next six weeks will have developed better-established root systems than those planted next spring, and this will increase their ability to absorb water and survive that first stressful summer after planting.

Read on
The painting is by Nancy Merkle