On this day we realize the great significance that the World Tree plays in our culture, heritage, and native spirituality. It is from the World Tree that we came, and it shelters and nurtures the Asatru today, and will offer refuge to the Folk come Ragnarok. Trees are the lungs as well as the soul of Midgard. Plant a tree today, nurture it, and protect it. In this act the Folk must abide.
Yggdrasil has always played an important role in the lifes of the Northern people of Europe. We have all came from nature and we will all return to it one day, so at this day we honour the forces of nature and we will always remember how important is to protect the world we live in, the trees are the lungs of our world just has it is Yggdrasil in the Nordic comology, it is the shelter that gives us peace and protection, it is the spiritual path of the Gods and of our ancestors, the way which leads to the other worlds, and so as nature gives us these gifts, in turn we must honor it, and because a gift calls for a gift, in turn we must give to nature our protection, our care and our respect. In this day you should plant a tree, you should become the protector of those who have given you shelter, fight against the evils that are corrupting our natural world.
Yggdrasil is the cosmic World tree, and Ash tree, that binds this world to the others, to the world of the gods, of the spirits and ancestors, it is the symbol of our union with nature.
Ash Tree – Fraxinus Excelsior also known as guardian tree in all of Europe, with the exception of the Mediterranean region, this tree can live as long as three hundred years, its leaves appear after its flowers and this strange detail led this tree to be know as the “Venus of the woods”. Its roots penetrate deeply into the ground causing difficulty to other kinds of vegetation to grow in there. Due to the hardness of its wood, it has been widely used for the manufacture of lances and tool handles. Thus it is possible that the name of this tree in English, derives from the Anglo-Saxon word Asec, which means “Ritual Spear.”
The Druids from the celtic culture once used the wood of these trees, to make their rods and staffs.
Traditionally the yule log (At the winter solstice) is of ash tree, this is because it is one of the few woods that can burn immediately, even though it is still green, and offers an excellent and long-lasting illumination.
The Icelandic word Aske, which has similarities with Ash, means “fire with large flame.” This tree is also sacred to the gods Thor and Odin.^ In Nordic mythology, it was an ash tree known as Yggdrasil, the cosmic tree that symbolizes the center of the world, that Odin hung for nine days and nine nights in trance, received the sacred knowledge of runes, the Elder Futhark.
IKEA is sourcing woods from some of Europe’s last old-growth forests Popular products include the INGOLF chairs and SNIGLAR baby cribs
IKEA furniture is destroying some of Europe’s last remaining ancient forests, according to a Greenpeace investigation.
Furniture manufacturers for the Swedish brand are sourcing wood from some of Europe’s last old-growth forests in the Romanian Carpathians, including in protected areas, their report has found.
This area is home to the largest European populations of brown bears, wolves and lynxes, as well as more than a third of all European plant species, and has survived unchanged since the end of the ice age.
But the investigation found that seven manufacturers producing IKEA’s all-time favourite products are linked to the destruction of these forests.
This includes the popular INGOLF chairs, and SNIGLAR baby cribs and beds for children
At least 30 different products from these suppliers were found in IKEA stores in 13 countries including France, Germany and the UK.
Investigation teams followed the supply chain by analysing permits and satellite imagery of logging sites in the forests in Romania to wood depots and furniture manufacturers, to where those products end up – on the shelves of IKEA stores.
Several manufacturers were found to be sourcing wood from high conservation value forests.
Based on publicly available information, IKEA is the biggest customer of products manufactured by most of those companies, implying a high likelihood that the problematic wood is ending up in IKEA furniture, Greenpeace said.
Robert Cyglicki, Biodiversity Campaign Director at Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe, said: ‘Our nature heritage must not be turned into hangers or pieces of furniture.
‘Old forests are vital to the planet’s health and must be immediately protected. IKEA must live up to its own sustainability promises and clean up its supply chain from old-growth forest destruction.’
A spokesman for IKEA said: ‘We are currently going through the Greenpeace report in detail. We welcome a transparent dialogue and look forward to discussing the matter further once we have had a chance to read the full report.
‘We take information about the risk of violation of internal and external forestry requirements very seriously. Illegal wood and bad forestry practices have no place in the IKEA value chain.
Robert Cyglicki, Biodiversity Campaign Director at Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe, said: ‘Our nature heritage must not be turned into hangers or pieces of furniture.
‘Old forests are vital to the planet’s health and must be immediately protected. IKEA must live up to its own sustainability promises and clean up its supply chain from old-growth forest destruction.’
A spokesman for IKEA said: ‘We are currently going through the Greenpeace report in detail. We welcome a transparent dialogue and look forward to discussing the matter further once we have had a chance to read the full report.
‘Any indication of this is immediately investigated. If we discover irregularities, we take immediate action, including terminating business relationships.’
In 2020, the NGO Earthsight found IKEA and others to be selling furniture made from wood illegally felled during “silent periods” in the forests of the Ukrainian Carpathians. The wood in question was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) despite its sourcing.
In 2021, the NGO Earthsight alleged the use of illegally logged wood from protected forests in Siberia and the Russian Far East.
EARTHSIGHT’S KEY FINDINGS * Ikea, the world’s biggest furniture retailer, has for years sold children’s furniture made from wood linked to vast illegal logging in protected forests in Russia, an Earthsight investigation has found. It is one of a number of western firms linked to the case. * The brand’s popular Sundvik children’s range – which includes chairs, tables, beds and wardrobes – and Flisat doll’s house are among the items likely tainted with illegal wood. Earthsight estimates that shoppers have been purchasing an Ikea product containing the suspect Russian lumber somewhere on earth every two minutes. * Using undercover meetings, visits to logging sites, satellite imagery analysis and scrutiny of official documents, court records and customs data, we traced wood furniture on sale in Ikea stores around the world to forests in remote Siberia. They’re controlled by companies owned by one of Russia’s top-50 wealthiest politicians, Evgeny Bakurov. * Our year-long investigation found that Bakurov’s businesses broke numerous forestry and environmental laws. Illegal deals helped them harvest 2.16 million cubic metres of wood in protected forests over the last decade. Piled high, the logs produced would rival the Great Pyramid of Giza. * Loggers felled millions of trees on the false pretext they were dead, dying, diseased or damaged – what’s known as sanitary felling. Sick trees are often used as an excuse to flout Russia’s logging laws. * Bakurov’s pine was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the leading global scheme for sustainable wood products, and shipped to an Indonesian manufacturer which supplies Ikea stores in countries including the US, UK, Germany, France and other European countries. Bakurov also supplied the retail giant through middlemen in Russia and China. Bakurov’s tainted wood is also in many other supply chains heading to Europe and the US, aside from Ikea’s. A majority of the EU’s imports from eastern Russia are potentially contaminated. * Earthsight holds FSC largely responsible for the logging abuses linked to Ikea and other retailers we connected to the scandal. They rely on the green label and its competitor PEFC to ensure their supplies are sustainable and legally sourced. Our findings provide further proof that this trust is wildly misplaced. * FSC audits did not mention the rampant illegal logging documented by Earthsight and Russian authorities. Instead, high-risk wood continued to be sold in Ikea stores year after year. * The findings show that governments in the US and Europe must enforce timber import laws more rigorously to address their roles in driving global deforestation. * Ikea, which denies wrongdoing, announced a temporary ban on sanitary felled wood from Siberia and the Russian Far East after Earthsight got in touch. The retailer insists Bakurov’s wood was “legally harvested” – but recently dropped his companies as suppliers, citing unspecified “practices of concern”.
Somehow the sense of loss at the wanton felling of the Sycamore Gap tree is more profound in the spring. Certainly, that is how it feels to visitors here, particularly those laying daffodils and rosary beads at the spot where it once stood.
For it was at this time of year when the mighty sentinel beside Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland was always at its resplendent best, with its glossy emerald leaves.
‘When the tree was in its glory, it felt a very special place, kind of mystical,’ says hiker Dee McGonagle, who like many others felt its destruction as a bereavement. Above, the drizzly grey sky suddenly brightens, making the void left by the famous landmark appear more conspicuous.
But beside memories, the mystery of what happened here in the middle of that stormy night last September dominates thoughts.
Six months on, the question remains unanswered: Who took a chainsaw to the 150-year-old tree, this great symbol of the North East, and why? And why have the police yet to bring someone before a court?
In truth, the investigation has quietly gathered pace and Northumbria Police are hopeful of pressing charges soon. Two men in their 30s remain on bail.
County councillor John Riddle recently asked a senior officer about progress and says he was told it was likely that a recommendation would be made to the Crown Prosecution Service.
He said: ‘I was pleasantly surprised because, like many others, I wondered if we’d ever get to the bottom of this.’
Something else which may surprise, says a source close to the investigation, is that the suspects are not local but come from neighbouring Cumbria. According to a source: ‘The theory is that whoever is responsible wasn’t motivated by grievance but acted out of sheer childishness.’
One early theory was that the tree was felled as a social media prank.
While there is no CCTV anywhere near the spot, it is understood that police know the feller’s route to the tree – the trail from Steel Rigg car park which follows Hadrian’s Wall on a rocky rollercoaster over hills and open moorland.
Mobile phone triangulation could, it is thought, feature in any prosecution but it is unclear to what extent, if any, DNA from the tree will play a part.
Samples would yield genetic material that could then be matched with sawdust found on the clothing or machinery of any potential suspects.
But the time lapsed since the crime would appear to indicate a paucity of forensic clues.
Three years ago, tree DNA was used as evidence in the US to convict the leader of a gang of illegal loggers who cut down prized maple trees in a Washington forest.
Few in this part of Northumberland believe the mystery of Sycamore Gap will be solved quite so easily however. Still, they were heartened to learn last month that fresh shoots have emerged from the tree’s rescued seeds and from twigs taken to a ‘high-security greenhouse’ in Devon the day after it was destroyed.
Back at Sycamore Gap there is similar hope. ‘This tree stump is still alive,’ warns a sign. ‘If we leave it alone, it might sprout new growth.’
Giant 100ft tribute to fallen Sycamore Gap tree is etched onto sand to mark six months since iconic plant was felled in horrific act of vandalism
A giant 100ft tribute to the felled Sycamore Gap tree has been carved into a beach in Northumberland to mark six months since the iconic plant was chopped down by vandals.
Retired doctor and beach artist Claire Eason led a team of ten volunteers who spent six hours painstakingly etching precise lines in the sand of Bamburgh beach.
The group used garden rakes to carve the intricate design which shows the iconic tree standing proudly along Hadrian’s Wall with a carved root scene underneath.
The 11-man team arrived on the beach at dawn to begin their six-hour project and persevered despite poor weather to create the stunning artwork.
Claire, 59, said she had been inspired to start the project after feeling a ‘personal shock’ at the terrible act of destruction on September 28 last year.
The project was led by the BBC’s The One Show and completed on February 13 but the tribute has only now been revealed.
The 59-year-old said: ‘When the tree came down a lot of us had a personal shock. That prompted me to create a design. ‘The idea is that it was quite a graphic boulder design as we had a lot of volunteers who hadn’t done anything before and it made it easier.
‘After that we had an idea of doing something more inclusive than me with a community.
‘Underneath there is a route system that embraces huge boulders which shows whatever happens next for the tree, where it will sprout again.
‘It’s a suggestion of Hadrian’s wall, nothing too detailed, just bold and graphic. I gave the volunteers free control over the boulder design.
‘There were ten people. The day did change a lot because of the weather, they turned up without any hesitation. ‘It was for The One Show and it was produced by a local company called Signpost Productions.
‘We arrived at dawn on the beach and the film crew were there. The light was beautiful. There’s a lot of repetition for filming.
‘The whole thing took a good six hours. The extra hour was waiting for the tide to come in.’
Retired doctor Claire created the design on a computer before using a giant grid system to accurately transfer the artwork to the sand.
She carved the tree herself while the team of volunteers carved the boulder and root section.
She said: ‘I didn’t want to over complicate the design as the result needs to be crisp. It’s an inclusive design.
‘Everyone rakes in a slightly different way so they all do different lines. It was 100ft long by 50ft wide. It’s definitely one of the biggest.
‘It was to tie in with the anniversary and it also happens to be in spring which is a time of renewal.’
Reference ~ several articles from The Daily Mail from 7/4/24.
When you plant a forest or woodland, you are making a huge contribution to the environment. Woodlands and the long term products created from forests and woodlands store CO2. It’s really important to remember, you always own the trees and the land.
Planting a forest is extremely rewarding. When you consider planting a forest, Green Belt and our team of professional foresters will guide you through the full application process through to establishment and through the lifecycle. Considering forestry is an important life choice and there are many positive benefits and gains to be made – the obvious financial gains, of course whereby there is a full grant to cover the establishment costs. Additionally, there is an annual premium, paid to you as landowner, directly, for 20 years as a farmer (15 years for non-farmers).
The annual premium is available for the forest owner for 20 years, and valued up to €1,103 per hectare depending on the species selected – important to remember we plant The Right Tree in the Right Place, for the Right Reasons. Green Belt works with the forest owners (you!) throughout the lifecycle of the plantation and we advise on all aspects of forestry estate management. Our focus is on managing the plantation to fulfill its potential – for some it’s financial, for others it’s an amenity. Regardless, each forest is important and adds so much to the local community and the private estate in Ireland.
Reporting for companies on their environmental impact of their actions (or inaction) and investments is increasingly important and beginning a compliance issue. Frameworks including the Taskforce for Nature Based Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has “developed a set of disclosure recommendations and guidance for organisations to report and act on evolving nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks and opportunities”. Green Belt provides Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV) services to companies working to actively be Nature Positive. The projected launch of the Carbon Removal Certificate framework will also allow Carbon to be traded or inset versus emissions
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Green Belt are currently working towards certification under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
James Cameron who created ‘The Avatar’ movie knew it.
“Mycelium, or mycorrysis, is a fungus that expands underground creating a network of connection between all plant species, something like the internet, that allows them not only to communicate, but also to take care of themselves, protect themselves, feed themselves and stock up on water.
When a tree from the forest is cut down, this mycelium communicates to many trees in the forest that one of them is dying and all the other trees through the mycelium begin to care for the remaining trunk to try to save that life. They feed it water it protect it because that dying log is part of the forest family.
Everything has a language It’s the universal language.
We learn to reconnect with this non-verbal language, understanding that we are all part of the same thing. We are neither superior nor inferior We are like children who still have a lot to learn from our elders, from the trees and the forest and above all from Our Mother Earth”.
Giant redwoods – the world’s largest trees – are flourishing in the UK and now even outnumber those found in their native range in California.
The giants were first brought to the UK about 160 years ago, and a new study suggests they are growing at a similar rate to their US counterparts.
An estimated 500,000 trees are in the UK compared to 80,000 in California.
However they aren’t yet as tall. In California they can reach 90m-high, but in the UK the tallest is 54.87m.
But that’s because the introduced trees are still very young. Giant redwoods can live for more than 2,000 years, so there’s still plenty of time for the UK’s trees to catch up
“Half a million trees is quite a lot to go under the radar until now, but it’s when you start looking for them in the landscape, and compiling these datasets, that you realise how many there are,” said Dr Phil Wilkes, one of the authors of the study, from Kew’s botanic garden at Wakehurst in Sussex.
Giant redwoods (Sequoiadendron giganteum) were first brought to the UK by the Victorians. They were the ultimate botanical status symbol, typically planted in the grand estates of the wealthy.
Today, some form sweeping avenues while others stand in ones or twos. But they’re easy to spot: their dense, cone-shaped crowns stand proud of everything around them.
To assess how these towering giants are adapting to their UK home, scientists selected a sample of nearly 5,000 trees to study at Wakehurst, Benmore Botanic Garden in Scotland and Havering Country Park in Essex.
They used laser scanners to measure the heights and volumes of some of the trees – it’s also a way to weigh the trees without cutting them down.
The researchers found that the trees were growing about as fast as the giant redwoods in their native home in the mountains of Sierra Nevada. The UK climate seems to suit them, says Dr Wilkes.
“Where they grow in California, it’s cooler and moister than you would typically envisage California to be,” he explained.
“And we have a reasonably similar climate here – it’s very wet and they need the moisture to grow.”
The scientists also looked at how much carbon dioxide the trees were absorbing – trees soak up and store the greenhouse gas and planting more trees can play a role in helping to tackle climate change.
The researchers found that because of their sheer size, giant redwoods can lock up large amounts of carbon dioxide in their wood – although not as much as their US counterparts.
The trees at Wakehurst, which are about 45m tall, have about 10 to 15 tonnes of carbon stored in them, Dr Wilkes explained.
“But compare this to the largest tree in California, which has about 250 tonnes of carbon stored in it, and they’re quite small. But you know, these could get as big.”
The scientists involved in the research are quick to point out that planting forests of giant redwoods would not be enough to significantly reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But these majestic giants can play a part in a mixed forest plantation with a variety of other trees, both native and imported.
In California, the natural wonders are under threat from climate change – they’re not faring well with hotter and drier weather and more intense wildfires.
So could the UK become their new home?
In an avenue of trees originally planted as a grand entrance to a now demolished mansion in Havering Country Park, Prof Mat Disney, from University College London, says he thinks it’s more than possible.
“In terms of climate, it’s probably the case that they’re going to have a less pressured existence here than they do in California,” he said.
Although he pointed out that conditions are also changing in the UK with climate change.
Giant redwoods are being planted as saplings all over the country, often by local authorities in public parks or recreation grounds.
Prof Disney says they have a long life ahead of them – and they won’t stay small for long.
“They’re very fast growing, and they grow large. Once they reach about 60m, they will be the tallest trees in Britain, and then they will keep on growing,” he said.
However, while the trees are doing well in the UK, there’s little chance of them taking over our native forests any time soon – they’re not reproducing here as they need very specific conditions to take seed.
The study is published in the Royal Society journal Open Science.
Tree Weaver 