The Rizomatik Way

Tree health. It's something we don't often think much about do we? We're concerned about planting more trees. But what happens if those newly planted trees don’t survive? It could be from lack of water. Or it could be because of an attack by some disease or insect pest. England has just announced the establishment of the new Forest Research Holt Laboratory, designed to apply modern research tools to combat all the ills that may plague the country’s trees. The lab they say will be a part of an equally new Centre for Forest Protection. Now most countries with a forest industry will have had plant pathology labs established decades ago. In Canada for instance, research on the Spruce Budworm goes back at least to the 1950s. So maybe the UK announcement indicates not so much a novel idea as a global awakening to the importance of protecting trees everywhere on the planet. Whatever the rationale, more power to them! READ IT ALL HERE: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/m...

Do you know what are the biggest trees in your town, your county, your province or state? If you live in Vermont there's a way to find out. This state has the Vermont Big Tree Program. Residents are invited to submit their candidate for addition to the state's Big Tree Database. They can go to an online calculator and insert information on their tree's circumference, height and crown spread. How many more such programs can be found around the world? If you know of any, please leave a note below. https://www.addisonindependent.com/2022/05/12/help-wanted-identifying-vermonts-biggest-trees/

The city of Las Vegas has become concerned about the urban heat island effect. I've been there in the summer, and boy is it hot. Bicyclists have to carry water to spray themselves frequently to cool down. It's well known that urban trees bring down the temperatures in summer.  Las Vegas tree. Photo by Ellen Ross, CCL It's not just the shade they cast. Tree transpiration has a cooling effect on the surrounding air mass. So Las Vegas has announced plans to plant 60,000 trees to make the city more livable. READ MORE =>   https://www.fox5vegas.com/2022/05/11/city-las-vegas-plans-plant-60000-trees-combat-urban-heat-island-effect/

 "Let the old trees do their work." This is the advice of Lea Sloan, a board member of the Old-Growth Forest Network. One mature tree can sequester as much carbon in a year as thousands of seedlings. So while planting trees may be important, protecting mature forests is even more so.  In line with this thinking, a welcome announcement in the Washington Post: "Biden signs order to protect US old-growth forests from wildfires." Great news, because clearly' replacing old growth forests that have been destroyed by fire or cutting will take much too long, 80-100 years, to give us any assistance with slowing down global climate change. By the way, Biden also promised to plant 1.2 billion trees. So a win-win executive order. Dig deeper into this topic: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2022/04/21/biden-old-growth-forest-order/ https://www.oldgrowthforest.net/

One of the challenges involved in supporting trees to realize their full potential for sequestering carbon dioxide is the large numbers of trees that are destroyed each year by forest fires. These days in North America, lumber operations are usually run responsibly with planting operations to restore forests after the harvest is taken. But most forest fires occur on public lands with inadequate means to replant after devastation. So we need to learn how to plant trees faster and cheaper than is possible with conventional methods. This is the kind of situation where one wants to look at what new technologies may have to contribute. That's just what an enterprising group of Canadians are doing. Lets get around, they are saying, the back-breaking on foot labour and difficult accessibility of forest terrains by using drones. Not the giant military weapons, but the small, inexpensive and increasingly stable, remote controlled aircraft that can fly missions over difficult...

 According to the Rainforest Action Network, "Indonesia’s rainforests are one of earth’s most biologically and culturally rich landscapes." But at the same time, the survival of these forests are at risk. According to Wikipedia, "Logging and the burning of forests to clear land for cultivation has made Indonesia the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases." An Indonesian man named Medi Bastoni has made a gallant gesture to try to support reforestation efforts and reverse the trend of forest destruction. He walked backwards for 800 km to make his point in a memorable way. FOR THE WHOLE STORY ==> https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/24/backward-step-for-mankind-man-walks-800km-in-reverse-to-save-indonesias-forests