#tree conservation

[hope-for-the-planet]

Giant sequoia clones from 3,000-year-old trees are taking root in Detroit | The Optimist Daily

Clones from California's most ancient sequoias, including the famous Amos Alonzo Stagg tree, are being planted across Detroit neighborhoods

From the article:

In recent years, severe wildfires have burned through several of California’s historic sequoia groves. Thousands of mature trees are gone: trees that were centuries old, in populations that are struggling to recover. Conservation groups, including Save the Redwoods League, are working on new strategies. One is to plant genetically identical copies in different climates. If the original groves keep burning or drying out, clones elsewhere protect that genetic material from being lost entirely. [...] Archangel Ancient Tree Archive works from a straightforward premise: the genetics of old, resilient trees are worth preserving the same way seeds are. Propagating clones rather than planting from seed keeps the exact genetic profile intact, including traits that helped specific trees survive thousands of years of drought, fire, and disease. The saplings going into Detroit right now fit in the palm of a hand. Some won’t make it. The ones that do will still be growing long after everything around them is gone.

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[oca-rinn-a]

[hope-for-the-planet]

UK startup turns festival urine into forest-grade fertilizer | The Optimist Daily

A Bristol startup is turning festival urine into fertiliser for 4,500 native trees in Wales — and it could reshape how Britain sources nutri

From the article:

Only seven percent of Britain’s native woodlands are in good condition. Pests, pathogens, and invasive species have worked through the rest. And rising fertilizer costs, driven by ongoing conflict, have not helped. A Bristol-based startup thinks part of the answer has been sitting in festival portable toilets all along. NPK Recovery, based at the University of the West of England, collects urine at large events such as the London Marathon and Boomtown Festival, and processes it into plant fertilizer on-site. The company removes contaminants from raw urine and concentrates the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that plants need. Field trials show the product performs comparably to synthetic alternatives. Researchers are also quick to note that it doesn’t smell. The company is now taking on its biggest test: a three-year trial to grow 4,500 native British trees using urine-derived fertilizer, funded by a £435,627 (approximately $553,000) Forestry Commission grant.

[hope-for-the-planet]

These researchers are helping trees migrate to cope with the effects of a warming world

From the article:

While the epic migrations of salmon, humpback whales, and wildebeests are world-renowned, animals aren't the only species on the move. Trees, it turns out, can migrate too. Of course, an individual tree can't pick up its roots and travel south for the winter, but trees do move—in their own way.  Katie Nigro, a postdoctoral fellow with the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), explained that trees expand their range in response to environmental changes. If the climate gets warmer, a tree species may no longer be able to grow in the southernmost parts of its range, but, through wind or animal-dispersed seeds, it can expand farther north over time into areas that were previously too cold. However, that process might be too slow for human-caused climate change. To keep pace, projections suggest, seeds would need to be dispersed at least 10 times faster than their historic migration rates of about 20 to 40 kilometers (12 to 25 miles) per century. Given the quickening rate of environmental changes and the slow rate of tree growth, researchers believe trees will struggle to adapt. To help, scientists are taking seeds from habitats they expect will no longer be suitable to a species and planting them in climates that may favor their growth in the coming century. For example, an ecosystem in Colorado that is currently ideal for a Douglas fir could become too warm to sustain it in a few decades, but that fir might thrive somewhere farther north. 

[aakhirtak]

Goa Raj Bhavan Launches Tree Conservation on PM Modi's Birthday

On the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 74th birthday, the Raj Bhavan in Goa launched a series of special initiatives focused on tree conservation. Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai introduced projects like “Prachin Vriksha Ayurvedic Chikitsa,” “Vriksha Poshana Yoga,” and “Vriksha Pooja” aimed at reviving fruit-bearing trees that are over 100 years old and showing signs of decay. These…

Goa Raj Bhavan Launches Tree Conservation on PM Modi's Birthday

[hleavesk]

The trees arrived with Polynesian voyagers. After Maui wildfire, there's a chance to restore them

After the deadly wildfire that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina this summer, people across the world focused their attention on the gr

banyan, breadfruit, kukui, and ulu trees we all care.

(source: associated press | 19 oct 2023)

Now, as Maui recovers from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, one that left at least 98 people dead, a band of arborists, farmers and landscapers has set about trying to save Lahaina’s ulu, kukui nut and other culturally important trees, in some cases digging down to the roots of badly burned specimens to find live tissue that could be used to propagate new shoots.

They see the destruction as a chance to restore the trees to Lahaina, to teach about their care and use, and to reclaim a bit of the town’s historic identity amid a larger discussion about whether the community’s reconstruction will price out locals and Hawaiian culture in favor of deep-pocketed outsiders seeking a slice of tropical paradise.

The banyan tree at the center of Lahaina was a sapling when it was planted in 1873 — a quarter century before the Hawaiian Islands became a U.S. territory and seven decades after King Kamehameha declared Lahaina the capital of his kingdom. It was a gift shipped from India to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lahaina.

researchers believe breadfruit and kukui nut — now the state tree of Hawaii — were among the many edible plants Polynesian voyagers brought around 1,000 years ago. Such imports could have been carried across the ocean, wrapped in rotted coconut husk and dried leaves and protected in a woven coconut basket.

Kukui nut oil was used for torches — kukui is known as the “tree of light.” Other uses included wood for canoes, dyes for tattoos and bark infusions for preserving fish nets.

Ulu can grow to 60 feet (18 meters) tall, with large dark green leaves, and each can bear hundreds of pounds of breadfruit. A staple in some tropical countries, the fruit looks like an oversized, scaly lime. It is typically eaten cooked and is starchy, like potatoes or bread. It has a short shelf life, rotting within 48 hours of ripening.

[perikali]

Outpost Offices / LOOP Design Studio

Completed in 2021 in Costa Rica. Images by Andrés García Lachner. Outpost is a new take on offices with private areas and community workspaces immersed in Nosara’s local flora with high standards for well-being and...

“ Some of the sustainable strategies are sun protection, natural sunlight, cross ventilation, biophilia, blackwater treatment onsite for irrigation, recycled and local materials, solar panels, building optimization, reflective surfaces, vertical and horizontal parasols, landscaping with native plant species, and tree conservation. Outpost meets all functional requirements at a technological level, from passive architecture to optimal systems that help us achieve sustainable and wellness goals”