Month: Oct 2024

From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace.

Deforestation continued last year at a rate far beyond pledges to end the practice by 2030.

Forests nearly the size of Ireland were lost in 2023, according to two dozen research organisations, NGOs and advocacy groups, with 6.37 million hectares (15.7 million acres) of trees felled and burned.

This “significantly exceeded” levels that would have kept the world on track to eliminate deforestation by the end of the decade, a commitment made in 2021 by more than 140 leaders.

Forests are home to 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial plant and animal species and crucial for regulating water cycles and sequestering CO2, the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming.

“Globally, deforestation has gotten worse, not better, since the beginning of the decade,” said Ivan Palmegiani, a biodiversity and land use consultant at Climate Focus and lead author of the “Forest Declaration Assessment” report.

“We’re only six years away from a critical global deadline to end deforestation, and forests continue to be chopped down, degraded, and set ablaze at alarming rates.”

In 2023, 3.7 million hectares of tropical primary forest — particularly carbon rich and ecologically biodiverse environments — disappeared, a figure that should have fallen significantly to meet the 2030 objective.

SOYA AND NICKEL
In high-risk regions, researchers pointed to backsliding in Bolivia and in Indonesia.

The report said there was an “alarming rise” in deforestation in Bolivia, which jumped 351 percent between 2015 and 2023.

The “trend shows no sign of abating”, it added, with forests largely cleared for agriculture, notably for soya but also beef and sugar.

In Indonesia, deforestation slumped between 2020-2022 but started rising sharply last year.

Ironically, that is partly down to demand for materials often seen as eco-friendly, such as viscose for clothing, and a surge in nickel mining for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy technologies

There was better news from Brazil.

While it remains the country with the highest deforestation rates in the world, it has made key progress.

The situation has significantly improved in the Amazon, which has benefited from protective measures put in place by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

However, in the Cerrado, a key tropical savannah below the Amazon, deforestation has increased.

DEGRADED FORESTS

The report also highlights the role of logging, road building and fires in forest degradation, when land is damaged but not razed entirely.

In 2022, the last year data was available, a forest area twice the size of Germany was degraded.

Erin Matson, senior consultant at Climate Focus, and co-author of the report, said “strong policies and strong enforcement” were needed.

“To meet global forest protection targets, we must make forest protection immune to political and economic whims,” she said.

The report comes in the wake of the European Commission’s proposal last week to postpone by a year (to the end of 2025) the entry into force of its anti-deforestation law, despite protests from NGOs.

“We have to fundamentally rethink our relationship with consumption and our models of production to shift away from a reliance on over exploiting natural resources,” said Matson.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20241008-from-bolivia-to-indonesia-deforestation-continues-apace?twclid=2-1bsxxpa1l4t30m11oodfg5yu9

Original Bramley apple tree is under threat: 200-year-old source of one of Britain’s most favourite cooking apples is hit by disease, campaigners say Henry Merryweather, a 17-year-old boy saw a gardener carrying apples. He asked Matthew Bramley, the owner of the tree, if he could take a seedling

A campaign has been launched to raise funds for the original Bramley apple tree, which was planted more than 200 years ago.

The tree was sown by Mary Ann Brailsford in the garden of her parents’ home in Church Street, Southwell, Nottinghamshire, between 1809 and 1815.

Almost 50 years later, a 17-year-old boy named Henry Merryweather came across a gardener carrying some of the apples and asked where they had been grown.

By this time, the garden containing the apple tree belonged to a butcher called Matthew Bramley, who gave Mr Merryweather permission to take cuttings of the ‘Bramley Seedling’.

Since then, the Bramley apple has become one of Britain’s most popular cooking apples – with more than 300 Bramley growers in England and about 83,000 tonnes grown annually in the UK

The original Bramley tree was cited as one of the 50 Great British Trees in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002, and it was one of 70 ancient trees to be dedicated to the Queen for the Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

The crowdfunder effort to raise funds to help save the tree has so far raced £2,614. 

However, it has been affected by honey fungus which Nottingham Trent University – the current owner of the tree – says will eventually lead it to perish.

Dan Llywelyn Hall, who was the youngest artist to paint a portrait of the late Queen, has now unveiled new works of the tree entitled Swansong Of The Mother Bramley.

His pieces are part of a campaign, supported by the family of Henry Merryweather, to raise funds to support the tree.

Mr Llywelyn Hall, from Wales, said: ‘My painting is a last hurrah of the Bramley as it surges skyward in a four season blossom and a bounty of apples.’

Donations raised by the campaign will go towards a tree survey and ground work to remove vegetation and the honey fungus, and improve support structures to prevent any collapse, he said.

An information point for visitors, outlining the history of the tree, will be installed, campaigners say. Donations will also go towards an ongoing landscaping programme and garden improvement.

Delia Smith said: ‘I could not live in a country that could not supply me with Bramley apples. I have recipes for Bramley apples where nothing else will do.

‘The tart flavour is unique, so is the fluffiness. I love them just as they are cored, brushed with butter and very slowly baked in the oven with just a slit around the waist.

‘For the best concentrated apple flavour, no other recipe can match this one.’

Celia Stevens, the granddaughter of Henry Merryweather, called for improved public access and awareness of the tree which is currently situated in a private garden.

She said she had previously asked for a clone of the tree to be planted near the original but this had not yet happened.

Mrs Stevens said: ‘It is so disappointing that with its two prestigious awards that the surrounding garden in no way reflects what the Bramley has done for this country both locally and nationally, and that includes food during the Second World War.’

Nottingham Trent University said issues about the care of the tree had not previously been raised and it had not been consulted about the fundraising campaign.

A spokesperson told the PA news agency: ‘We are incredibly proud to be custodian of the original Bramley apple tree and recognise its significance to the local and wider community.’

The tree had been affected by honey fungus before the university became its custodian, having purchased two cottages for student accommodation, and has ‘already outlived its natural lifespan by quite some time’.

‘Despite this, the tree still bears fruit and the university continues to work hard to look after it to try to prolong its life and maintain it in the most appropriate way for a tree of this age and condition,’ the spokesperson said.

Genetic material has been taken from the tree for analysis to establish what gives the Bramley its ‘unique characteristics’, they added.

The university said the garden was opened for members of the public upon request and for events such as the Bramley Apple Festival which is taking place on October 26 this year.

Visitors from across the world – particularly Japan where there is a fondness for Bramley apples – will attend the festival.

Mr Llywelyn Hall’s piece can be viewed in the Southwell Minister and will be auctioned to create the fund for the tree.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14005493/Original-Bramley-apple-tree-threat-200-year-old-source-one-Britains-favourite-cooking-apples-hit-disease-campaigners-say.html

Treebeard or as known as Fangorn in Sindarin, is a tree-giant character in Tolkien’s legendarium. He is an Ent, and Gandalf claims that he is the oldest creature still alive on Middle-earth that walks beneath the sun. He has given his name to the old Forest of Fangorn, where he resides. It is located near the Misty Mountains’ southernmost point near the Gap of Rohan. The mountains constituted Fangorn’s western boundary. Near the southwest corner of the woodland was Saruman’s stronghold, Isengard, at the foot of the mountain range. He is said to be roughly fourteen feet tall and have an oak or beech-like appearance. Treebeard encounters two Hobbits from the Shire, Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took, in The Two Towers. This encounter turns out to have ramifications that greatly advance the plot and make possible the events of The Return of the King.

[Information Credit-Link : [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treebeard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treebeard?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR3_g5AymQFTTByH_uk39knv7Q6lIAK-8U9zAWUgBQ2MconzltPBezepdhk_aem_CP6GGZDQZDUFWgIgwheUCg) ] which is availed under the — Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0 — [License-Link : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License ] [Image : AI Generated Art of Treebeard] [You may redistribute this article, verbatim or modified, provided that you comply with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0]

MythoSphere, ‘Ghosts, Myths, Fokelore, Legends’ facebook page.

The Maia appeared in the Grey Havens in the west of Eriador in the year TA 1000. They took the shape of old men, whom the people referred to as Wizards. Aiwendil arrived simultaneously with Olórin, and Curumo arrived first and by himself. The Wizards wandered Middle-earth after accepting their mission. During this time, Aiwendil was given the name “Radagast” by the Ñoldor and gained reputation for his fierce devotion to animals and his guardianship of the great Forests. He showed little interest for the affairs of Men and Elves, but possessed a far greater understanding of the forest’s plants, birds and beasts. During this time, he also turned away from Saruman, not realizing that the White Wizard hated him and considered him as a fool. Radagast was not much of a traveler, all things considered. His early travels are not well documented, but by the late Third Age, he had made his home and lived for a time in Rhosgobel, which is located somewhere between the Menn-i-Naugrim and the Carrock. The Wizard, stationed on the western boundary of Mirkwood, probably kept watch over the woodland while Dol Guldur’s shadow gradually covered much of it. He probably got to know the inhabitants of that region. He was close to the wildlife and was friend of the Great Eagles. Though Beorn, who lived in the neighborhood, was a reclusive man, he occasionally came across Radagast and and considered him “not bad” for a Wizard.
[This article uses material from the “Radagast” article on the The Lord of the Rings wiki at Fandom and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.] [Information Credit Link : https://lotr.fandom.com/wiki/Radagast ] [License -Link : https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ ] [AI generated art of Radagast]

MythoSphere, ‘Ghosts, Myths, Fokelore, Legends’ facebook page.

Charity behind Anglo-Saxon reconstruction says it may be forced to look abroad after struggling to source wood in UK.

The aim is ambitious: to complete a functioning reconstruction of the extraordinary Sutton Hoo burial ship by 2026 and test it on the river and sea, hopefully providing fresh insight into what life was like in Anglo-Saxon times.

But the project, being run by a small charity, is struggling to source the right sort of British oak to finish the build and is calling for donations, worried that if it does not get the wood from the UK, it may have to look overseas.

The historian Dan Snow is among supporters who has backed the plea for British oak from the Sutton Hoo Ship’s Company, saying it would be a shame if they had to look overseas for wood for such a project.

Described by the British Museum as the most impressive medieval grave to be discovered in Europe, the treasure-filled ship was found in Suffolk in 1939 by Basil Brown, whose story was dramatised in the film The Dig, starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan.

Since 2018, the Sutton Hoo Ship’s Company has been piecing together the reconstruction of the seventh-century ship in Woodbridge, Suffolk, with help from more than 150 volunteers and support from the universities of Oxford and Southampton.

It aims to generate new knowledge about Anglo-Saxon times, its craftspeople, warriors, leaders, and seafarers and has brought together historians, archeologists, ship builders and project managers to lend a hand.

But getting the right wood is proving a challenge. The charity does not have the finances to pay commercial prices so is asking for donations and Tim Kirk, the master shipwright for the project, has been travelling across England and Wales looking for suitable trees.

He said: “The problem is that they are veteran trees and quite reasonably people don’t want to cut them down. I understand that and fully respect that but without those trees, we don’t have a ship.

“There must be trees in Britain that are either windblown or struggling with disease or in the way of a new infrastructure project. They must be there somewhere. We just haven’t found them yet.”

Kirk, a professional boatbuilder, said it did not feel right to look abroad. “The major oak forests in Europe now are in France and Denmark and Poland. We really don’t want to get to that stage where we’re looking at foreign timbers.”

The project manager Jacq Barnard said: “There’s just less oak than they would have been in Anglo-Saxon times. We would love it to be built with English wood.”

Snow posted on X: “We need big oak trees to get this awesome vessel on to the water”, adding: “Don’t make them ask the French.”

The historian said it was a “magical project” that reconnected modern Britons with their medieval history. “It’s the stuff dreams are made of. We can learn so much from building these ships – how they can sail, what they can carry, it’s so exciting.”

But he said: “There’s a shortage of the right kind of British oak – or the availability of it.”

The charity has set out on its website specific cuts of wood it needs. For example, it requires long clear runs of oak from trunks 6 metres in length and up to 1.2 metres diameter (at chest height) for planking and other longitudinal timbers. They need to be straight-grained and clear of knots.

It is also after curved timbers up to 4 metres-long for frames, which come either as curved trunks or larger branches from the lower canopy of the tree.

They are also making 60 oars from oak and ash. These need to be of the straightest sections possible, clear of knots and approximately 6 metres long.

The idea is to build a ship based on the understanding of the materials and building methods that would have been used by Anglo-Saxon shipbuilders.

When the ship is completed, sea trialswill test hypotheses such as how the vessel was propelled (by oars and sail), what it could have been used for and where it may have travelled to.

The charity estimates it will use the equivalent of about 12 mature oak trees to build the ship. It has planted 400 oak trees to replace any it uses and so that people in the future will have the correct timber to carry out similar projects.

It was one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries of all time.

In 1939, the landowner Edith Pretty tasked the archeologist Basil Brown to investigate a large Anglo-Saxon burial mound on her land at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk.

He found more, much more, than anyone could have imagined – the richest intact early medieval grave in Europe comprising the ghostly imprint of a 27-metre (86ft) ship with, at its centre, a burial chamber crammed with treasures, dating to the early AD600s

The find included gold jewellery, Byzantine silverware, a lavish feasting set, luxurious textiles, and military equipment including an enormous shield, a magnificent sword and a helmet wrapped in cloth and laid near the left side of the dead person’s head decorated with images of fighting and dancing warriors.

It clearly commemorated a leading figure of East Anglia, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom and may even have belonged to a king. A popular candidate is Raedwald, who ruled East Anglia and may have held power over neighbouring kingdoms.

Any bodily remains were claimed by the acidic soil and only a human-shaped gap was left among the treasures. Whoever he was, he was probably left-handed as the sword was placed on the person’s right side.

Domestic items were also buried including wooden tubs and buckets, two small cauldrons and one very large one with an intricate iron chain that would have suspended it over a fire.

The burial showed that early Anglo-Saxon England was a place of wonderful craftsmanship and international connections, spanning Europe and beyond and the imagery of cavernous timber halls, sparkling treasures and powerful kings in the Old English poem Beowulf were not fantasy.

Pretty donated the finds to the British Museum and they remain a popular draw, with numbers boosted by the success of the Netflix film The Dig, which dramatised the find.

The Guardian – ‘They must be somewhere’: appeal for British oak to recreate Sutton Hoo ship‘ 4/10/24 by Steven Morris.

Dendrochronology is the scientific method of dating tree rings, to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendrochronology, the study of climate and atmospheric conditions during different periods in history from wood. Dendrochronology derives from Ancient Greek, dendron, meaning “tree”, khronos meaning “time”, and logia” the study of”

National Geographic Explorer, facebook page.

“To English folk the mighty oak
Is England’s noblest tree;
Its hard-grained wood is strong and good
As English hearts can be.
And would you know how oak-trees grow,
The secret may be told:
You do but need to plant for seed
One acorn in the mould;
For even so, long years ago,
Were born the oaks of old.”
Cicely Mary Barker – The Acorn Fairy, 1895-1973.