Tree Weaver

The proportion of Saudi Arabia’s land area covered by forest has remained unchanged since 1990 at about 0.5%. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who aims to transform the petrostate’s economy and society, announced in late March 2021 a plan to plant 10 billion trees over the coming decades to increase by twelvefold the area covered by existing trees.

“The kingdom is determined to make a lasting global impact,” he declared.

The country also plans to work with other Arab states to plant an additional 40 billion trees across the Middle East.

However, large-scale projects modifying the natural environment should be done carefully, as human actions can ripple through the entire fragile desert ecosystem of Saudi Arabia. For example, change in local precipitations and soils can affect indigenous species of plants and animals.

China’s greening of a third of its Kubuqi Desert, which Saudi Arabia has studied, provides a model for restoring recently degraded land. Prince Mohammed’s plan appears to aim at restoring degraded lands but also to plant in areas previously not covered by trees.

“I don’t buy into this; the climate in Saudi Arabia is not going to change by planting trees,” said Nadim Farajalla‬, program director of the Climate Change and Environment Program at the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut. He told Al-Monitor trees are likely to be planted in urban and semi-urban areas to cool down the temperature.

Temperatures in Saudi Arabia are projected to rise faster than the global average in the coming decades. Also, research found that the Arabian Peninsula is likely to become uninhabitable by the end of the 21st century under a high-impact emissions scenario.

The Ghaf Tree Experiment

Planting 10 billion trees in a country that records the third-lowest precipitation worldwide raises concerns over the project’s feasibility, especially given the country’s track record on water management. Since the 1970s, the kingdom has depleted at a very fast rate its nonrenewable water trapped underground eons ago to develop a water-hungry agriculture sector.

The Minister of Environment said no groundwater or water produced in fossil fuel-powered desalination plants would be used to irrigate the trees. The project will rely on treated water and renewable water sources such as rainwater, seawater and cloud seeding.

The experience of Tatiana Antonelli Abella in the United Arab Emirates paves the way to tree planting projects in an arid climate. Observing that there is “no visual or cultural attachment” in the region to ice melting and the fate of polar bears, she launched the social enterprise Goumbook in 2009 to connect the “going green” discourse to local realities.

Then she started a campaign to plant Ghaf trees. Abella described the drought-tolerant tree — the UAE’s national tree since 2008 — as a “machine of survival” that taps water stored deep in the sand and requires only two years of irrigation when artificially planted.

Saudi Arabia would benefit from carefully researching what trees to plant, Abella told Al-Monitor. For example, the country could restore existing mangroves and plant mangrove trees that have huge advantages in terms of coastal protection and absorbing carbon dioxide. The Saudi minister of environment has stressed that local tree species will be favored.

“In terms of tree planting, the most important thing is always to look into what we have already existing rather than out of the blue creating new things,” Abella said.

At the back of the tree-planting program is Saudi Arabia’s renewed interest in the energy transition era in lowering its carbon footprint and positioning the country at the forefront of a global fight against global warming. The crown prince has said the Saudi Green Initiative’s projects would “reduce carbon emissions by more than (4%) of global contributions.”

The World Economic Forum launched in 2020 an initiative to grow, restore and conserve 1 trillion trees worldwide and said nature-based solutions can “provide up to one-third of the emissions reductions required by 2030 to meet the Paris Agreement targets.”

However, Farajalla said tree-planting is not a silver bullet and offsetting carbon emissions with trees is like “penny wise and pound foolish” given Saudi Arabia’s lack of commitment to reducing its volume of carbon emissions, which more than doubled between 2000 and 2015.

Like other Gulf oil producers, Saudi Arabia bets on producing the last drops of oil the world would consume. Environmentalists call on the region to accelerate its shift toward renewables to set an example of an economic transition away from hydrocarbon revenues.

“The number of 10 billion trees is mind-boggling,” said Farajalla.

He questions whether nurseries in the region can produce enough trees to complete the project. “If it takes 20 years to plant 10 billion trees, that means they have to plant around 1.5 million trees a day.” For comparison, the Let’s Make It Green campaign launched by Saudi Arabia in October 2020 planted 10 million trees over six months.

“Our nation trusts the government, so anything that the government does toward a green movement is definitely going to help people take the issue more seriously,” said Sarah AlTuwaijri, a Saudi citizen who is about to launch a vegan restaurant in Riyadh.

She told Al-Monitor that although more progress is needed, environmental awareness is on the rise as access to information is “not limited anymore” thanks to the internet and social networks.

Involving Saudis like AlTuwaijri in planting trees would help the society to reconnect to nature, a link that has gradually faded away as Saudis moved en masse from rural to urban areas. The percentage of the population living in an urban area has almost tripled since 1960.

If properly implemented, the plan is also an opportunity to provide long-term benefits such as jobs in the medicinal plant and ecotourism industries to rural communities, which still account for about 16% of the population. This would align with the prime objective of the crown prince’s reform plan Vision 2030 to develop a thriving non-oil economy.

13 million trees planted in the Kingdom during 2022 have been Mangroves. Approximately 100 carefully chosen species of native and adaptive trees are being cultivated in dedicated nurseries before being planted in 62 approved sites around the country to restore natural vegetation cover, protect biodiversity and bind the soil to protect against dust storms.

Detailed information and updates on SGI initiatives are on display at the SGI Gallery in Sharm El Sheikh.

Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/05/saudi-arabia-plans-plant-10-billion-trees-desert#ixzz7qyaQJX5c

https://www.greeninitiatives.gov.sa/about-sgi/sgi-targets/greening-saudi/plant-10-billion-trees/

Walking Buffalo (George McLean) age 92, near Morley, Alberta in 1962.

“Did you know that trees talk? Well, they do. They talk to each other, and they’ll talk to you if you listen. . . I have learned a lot from trees, sometimes about the weather, sometimes about animals, sometimes about the Great Spirit”.

Photo: Rosemary Gilliat / © Library and Archives Canada

The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is a protected area high in the White Mountains in Inyo County in eastern California.

The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is home to the oldest trees in the world, bristlecone pines. Some of these living trees exceed 4000 years of age and exhibit spectacular growth forms of twisted and beautifully colored wood.

Beyond Schulman Grove lies the Patriarch Grove, 12-miles north on a good quality dirt road. Patriarch Grove is home to the world’s largest bristlecone pine, the Patriarch Tree. Its splendid remoteness and moonscape appearance gives the Patriarch Grove a surreal atmosphere. Bristlecone pines and limber pines dot the landscape with a background view of the Great Basin in Nevada.

The two groves are usually accessible when the winter snows have melted, between late May and mid November, and one full day is enough to visit both, and walk all the trails. The nearest town is Big Pine, 23 miles from the Schulman Grove and 6,000 feet below, with more facilities 15 miles north in Bishop.

The bristlecones grow together with limber pines (pinus flexilis), a more traditionally-sized species, also distinguished by its longer needles, which lack resin dots, and by its larger cones.

Visitors say they feel a sense of awe and peace when they walk the trails that weave through the groves of old and young bristlecones. The views out across the Owens Valley to the west and the Great Basin of Nevada to the east offer a perspective that cannot be seen anywhere else.

FIRE

On September 4, 2008, an arsonist set fire to the Schulman Grove Visitor Center and several bristlecone pines. The building and all the exhibits within were destroyed. Activities to rebuild the center began the next day and are now complete.

VISITING

* Schulman Grove and Schulman Grove Visitor Center – daily interpretive talks and natural history lectures mid-June through Labour Day, and hiking trails.
* Patriarch Grove – home of the world’s largest bristlecone pine, the Patriarch Tree, and a self-guided nature trail.

Patience visited me
And it reminded me
That good things take time to come to fruition
And grow slowly with stability

Peace visited me
And it reminded me
That I may remain calm through the storms of life
Regardless of the chaos surrounding me

Hope visited me
And it reminded me
That better times lay ahead
And it would always be there to guide and uplift me

Humility visited me
And it reminded me
That I may achieve it
Not by trying to shrink myself and make myself less
But by focusing on serving the world and uplifting those around me

Kindness visited me
And it reminded me
To be more gentle, forgiving and compassionate toward myself
And those surrounding me

Confidence visited me
And it reminded me
To not conceal or suppress my gifts and talents
In order to make others feel more comfortable
But to embrace what makes me me

Focus visited me
And it reminded me
That other people’s insecurities and judgements about me
Are not my problem
And I should redirect my attention
From others back to me

Freedom visited me
And it reminded me
That no one has control over my mindset, thoughts and wellbeing
But me

And love visited me
And it reminded me
That I need not search for it in others
As it lies within me.

Words by Tahlia Hunter

http://www.peacecompassionlove.com 💛

• Council data shows at least 80 councils fail to report the survival rates of trees 
• Thousands of trees have been planted across England with £11m taxpayer funds
• Some local authorities have reported survival rates below projected numbers 
• A 2022 report showed 10 per cent of 6,000 trees planted in Lynnsport survived

Council data shows at least 80 local authorities are not recording if trees planted as part of a Government initiative to increase woodland in England and contribute to climate change are surviving, despite the huge influx of cash.

Some authorities have reported survival rates below projected numbers, despite expert opinion that survival rates should be between 90 to 95 per cent if the scheme is carried out properly with aftercare.

As a result, some have promised to replace the dead trees, which would require additional resources.

Andy Egan, Head of Conservation Policy for the Woodland Trust, told the Telegraph that local authorities are lacking the resources to care for their newly planted trees to ensure their survival.

He said the Woodland Trust is asking the Government to use the Environmental Improvement Plan to ensure ‘the long-term investment that’s needed’.

The 25-year plan aims to improve the environment by prioritising practices to ensure clean air, such as ending the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK by 2040, using natural resources in a more sustainable way, minimising waste and managing exposure to chemicals among other pledges.

One of these includes pledging £9 million to plant trees in communities across England to introduce 30,000 hectares of new woodland annually by 2025.

The plan will report annually on its progress from this year onwards.

Last August, a report showed that 90 per cent of trees planted by West Norfolk Borough Council in Lynnsport died since being planted earlier that year, in April.

The 6,000 whips – young trees which have yet to grow branches – were planted in the area as part of the local authority’s drive to offset carbon emissions. However, the council later admitted many of the trees had died due to vandalism and a dry weather spell.

Conservationist Dr Charlie Gardner, visited the site in August and tested 150 trees, 135 of which had perished and 15 which he described as being in ‘a very bad condition’.

He claimed many trees had not bee properly planted into the ground. The trees that have been lost are due to be replaced next month.

Dr Gardner also visited a former waste site in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, where just 10 per cent of 6,500 trees are thought to have survived. He told the Telegraph that the ‘whole thing seems like a rush job, done for show instead of making sure it’s done properly.

Around 1,000 trees have now been replaced in the King’s Lynn site, according to the local authority.

Elsewhere, the Greater London Authority has no records on how many of the 430,000 trees planted since 2016 have survived, but has said lost trees will be replaced in three years.

And vandalism contributed to the destruction of trees planted by local businesses in East Staffordshire.

Richard Benwell, CEO of Wildlife and Countryside Link, said: ‘It’s vital that local authorities have the investment and expertise they need to plan, protect and maintain woodland and trees properly.’

In 2021, more trees were blown down by storms than were planted in England.

Devastation wreaked by Storm Arwen, which hit the UK on November 26 and 27, 2021, brought down 8,164 acres of woodland in England, a Forestry Commission assessment has found.

The storm accounted for the majority of the 8,278 acres of trees felled in total across England. But the area of trees created in 2021/22 in England was 5,585 acres, meaning more by area were lost than gained..

Reference ~ Gemma Parry for mailonline.

So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen,
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive.
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
,They shouted, revelling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing, behind us — listen!
All the long echoes sing the same delight
This shortest day
As promise wakens in the sleeping land.
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends, and hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year, and every year.
Welcome Yule!

written by ❅ 𝘚𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳, 1984

I’m nearly ready for Christmas 🤶

The Celts believed the world was inhabited by many spirits, and viewed nature as the physical manifestation of the Divine. The Tree of Life in particular was believed to be a path between the physical and spiritual worlds, with the roots planted in the soil and the branches reaching toward Heaven.

Hawthorn

In Oliver Rackham’s study of Anglo Saxon charters, the hawthorn was mentioned more frequently than any other tree, even the oak. It often marked the boundary between cultivated land and the open common. 

The Hawthorn is a small tree with an abundance of foliage, growing on its thorny branches, which is wonderful for garden birds to safely make ther nests. It is  known for its longevity and can live over 400 years. In March the Hawthorn tree’s leaf-buds open and pale green leaves appear. These leaves are joined by masses of delicate white flower buds, which open in May to reveal blossoms with five white petals surrounding stamens with bright pink heads.  Each flower produces a fruit, called a ‘Haw’ which appear in July and ripen in October resembling small bright red apples which are loved by our birds.

Hawthorn trees are sacred in Celtic culture. They are associated with Beltane (May 1) one of the four principal pagan festivals and traditionally the first day of summer in Ireland. Doors and windows outside homes were hung with hawthorn branches and a hawthorn bush was transformed into a May Bush decorated with shells and trinkets. In modern times Beltane is called May Day, celebrated by dancing around a decorated maypole and building bonfires.

Hawthorn trees are also known as “fairy trees”. It is believed that fairies (or the sidhe) live underground and in certain trees, namely the hawthorn. Even in modern times, one often sees a lone tree in the middle of a field; farmers and landowners are reluctant to cut down hawthorn trees for fear of disturbing the fairies. Roadworks and motorways are often diverted around fairy trees for the same reason.

Blackthorn

Closely related to the hawthorn tree is the blackthorn; both are part of the rose family.

You may already have noticed the blackthorn blossom, delicate plum-flowers on bare branches, punctuated by dark, cruel spikes. The widely known saying ‘blackthorn winter’ refers to this tree’s habit of flowering just before a particularly cold snap in the weather. Perversely for such a herald of spring, the blackthorn is associated with Samhain (late October) in the Irish calendar, and it represents the dark side of the year and the hag, as the hawthorn represents the light and the maiden.

Blackthorn is depicted in many fairy tales as a tree of ill omen and is linked with warfare, wounding and death. Not surprisingly, the Irish cudgel (or shillelagh) is fashioned from a blackthorn stick. Blackthorn is a hard wood, plentiful throughout Ireland, and often has a knob on the end formed from the root of the shrub.

Blackthorn is also used in spells of protection in Irish folklore. Heroes could be aided by the blackthorn tree; if they threw a blackthorn twig, an impenetrable hedge would form, protecting them from oncoming danger.

A more benign use of blackthorn wood is for a walking stick. A common misconception is that the walking stick is called a shillelagh; the shillelagh is in fact a club or weapon.

Rowan

Our third white blossom tree, the rowan, is a tree of light and fire like the hawthorn, but more upland in character. It has fine, complex leaves (hence its other name, mountain ash) and clusters of heady flowers in May. Rowan is the Quicken Tree, Delight of the Eye, The Wizard Tree, a protection from enchantment, dark magic, and illness. It was planted near houses to protect the inhabitants, and kept in the byre to protect cattle and milk alike. (Are any of us still drinking milk that has been produced under the protection of the rowan tree?) Carrying two rowan twigs tied into a cross with red ribbon was protection against the spirits of the dead at Samhain, sometimes very practical protection from attack out on the moor. Although the blossom and berries of the rowan are striking, the timber was equally valued for its protective properties.

These three trees are very different characters in our folklore. Time and time again in the old stories, they are the interface between human-world and fairy-world. But they are not just some fancy notion or ancient wisdom now lost. These trees are real and alive and flowering somewhere near you this springtime. You don’t need to be on Dartmoor or in other wild and wonderful places, they are also common trees in towns and cities.

Go and seek out the blackthorn, the hawthorn and the rowan tree this spring. Spend some time with them… think about their history and what they might have seen… and perhaps even make a wish. Surely what we need in the world right now is justice, magic, and protection — for all of us, human and non-human alike.

Recommended Books

Description
A great little book for anyone like me who likes nature, plants and folk tales – Goodreads Reviewer

The islands of Britain and Ireland hold a rich heritage of plant folklore and wisdom, from the magical yew tree to the bad-tempered dandelion.

Here are traditional tales about the trees and plants that shape our landscapes and our lives through the seasons. They explore the complex relationship between people and plants, in lowlands and uplands, fields, bogs, moors, woodlands and towns.

Suitable for all ages, this is an essential collection of stories for anyone interested in botany, the environment and our living heritage.

Review
“A wonderful collection suitable for all ages and filled with pretty florals too.” ― The Independent

About the Author

Lisa Schneidau trained as an ecologist. She has worked with wildlife charities all over Britain to restore nature in the landscape, in roles including farm advisor, river surveyor, political lobbyist and conservation director. She is also a professional storyteller, sharing stories that inspire, provoke curiosity and build stronger connections between people and nature. She lives on Dartmoor. http://www.lisaschneidau.co.uk