Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Importance of Trees

This is a gentle, touching and inspiring movie called "The Man Who Planted Trees", and I encourage you to fix a cup of herbal tea (or a glass of wine), and make the time to and sit back and enjoy watching it. The video is beautifully drawn in what appears to be hand drawn pastel charcoals; it is narrated by Christopher Plummer. Written by Jean Giono, this popular story of inspiration and hope was originally published in 1954 in Vogue as "The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness."


The Man Who Planted Trees tells the story of Elzeard Bouffier, a man who, after his son and wife die, spends his life reforesting miles of barren land in southern France. He patiently plants and nurtures a forest of thousands of trees, single-handedly transforming his arid surroundings into a thriving oasis. Undeterred by two World Wars, and without any thought of personal reward, the shepherd tirelessly sows his seeds and acorns with the greatest care. As if by magic, a landscape that seemed condemned grows green again. A film of great beauty and hope, this story is a remarkable parable for all ages and an inspiring testament to the power of one person.



There's an interesting story about the importance of trees in our world, "Why Trees Matter" published in the New York Times.

Excerpt:
 
"What we do know... suggests that what trees do is essential though often not obvious. Decades ago, Katsuhiko Matsunaga, a marine chemist at Hokkaido University in Japan, discovered that when tree leaves decompose, they leach acids into the ocean that help fertilize plankton. When plankton thrive, so does the rest of the food chain. In a campaign called Forests Are Lovers of the Sea, fishermen have replanted forests along coasts and rivers to bring back fish and oyster stocks. And they have returned.

Trees are nature’s water filters, capable of cleaning up the most toxic wastes, including explosives, solvents and organic wastes, largely through a dense community of microbes around the tree’s roots that clean water in exchange for nutrients, a process known as phytoremediation. Tree leaves also filter air pollution. A 2008 study by researchers at Columbia University found that more trees in urban neighborhoods correlate with a lower incidence of asthma.

Trees also release vast clouds of beneficial chemicals. On a large scale, some of these aerosols appear to help regulate the climate; others are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral. We need to learn much more about the role these chemicals play in nature. One of these substances, taxane, from the Pacific yew tree, has become a powerful treatment for breast and other cancers. Aspirin’s active ingredient comes from willows.

Trees are greatly underutilized as an eco-technology. “Working trees” could absorb some of the excess phosphorus and nitrogen that run off farm fields and help heal the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. In Africa, millions of acres of parched land have been reclaimed through strategic tree growth.

Trees are also the planet’s heat shield. They keep the concrete and asphalt of cities and suburbs 10 or more degrees cooler and protect our skin from the sun’s harsh UV rays. The Texas Department of Forestry has estimated that the die-off of shade trees will cost Texans hundreds of millions of dollars more for air-conditioning. Trees, of course, sequester carbon, a greenhouse gas that makes the planet warmer. A study by the Carnegie Institution for Science also found that water vapor from forests lowers ambient temperatures."

I'm planting trees this year, are you?

15 comments:

  1. Darius, thanks for this post. We need to embrace what seems so obvious and right in front of us. If you've ever watched Back to Eden it also embraces what trees offer and we are going to implement these practices in our yard and garden. Moving back home after being gone 30+ years landed us next to mom and dad on their farm. Our house was placed on a lot covered by 95% crop land (this year wheat). The only thing growing is wheat. No weeds. Nothing. I'm seeing firsthand the sterility effects of commercial farming. At least on our five acres, we're going to effect positive change.

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    1. I haven't seen Back to Eden, but will look for it, Thanks!

      I live in an Appalachian mountain county that is about 75% state and federal forests, yet as I drive around, I see mostly trees that are less than 50 years old. Even my own mountainside piece of 19 acres was timbered almost bald just a few years before I bought it. Only pitiful little sticks remaining because no one replanted as they harvested.

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  2. I'm planting trees as well, and hope to do so for as long as I live. Thanks for sharing this video, I had heard of it but never watched before...most inspiring.:)

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    1. I need to put this little video in a file that shows it automatically every 4-6 months so I don't lose the inspiration!

      I'm planting trees that I'll never live long enough to see fully mature, but that's not stopping me from now on as long as I'm able (or can pay someone) to plant.

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  3. Nice post. I have been planting trees for years. Most of my 21 acres was hayfield and horse pasture but I converted about 2 acres in the back into hardwoods again by planting oaks, walnut and hickory with the occasional dogwood and a bald cypress. After almost 18 years of growth the pin oaks are now maybe the height of a mature apple tree but the others are a bit taller.

    The world always needs more trees!!!

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  4. Most of my 19 acres is very steep mountainside with young trees, but no trees at all in the flat-ish house and yard area. I'm changing that this year but it will take some time before they are larger than shrubs.

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  5. As always, I love your thoughts. I'm a tree planter, too. When I get to town I get "throwaway" rotting fruit from the produce grocer. I plant these. Have a growing orchard. Some say trees grown from fruit seed, especially apple, won't produce. But they do, and do bear fruit - not always like the original, and not always up to our bizarre grocery store standards, but often far more nutritious and tasty. I have apple trees, grapes, peaches, pears, plums, and nectarines all producing now, all started from throwaway fruit. I'm working at starting evergreens from their own seed - that is trickier, had a little success, but seems the bird digestion factor is an important aspect of how they naturally reproduce. I have been able to start new by rooting little twigs from the mature trees. I am spreading lilacs and willows in the same manner. I have no money, but we've lived here 5 years now (and brought a ton of potted trees I'd started elsewhere), and the property is now surrounded by a natural tree hedge - all young yet, and I may not be here when they mature, but the land loves this... wants it.... I'm now gradually filling in, an area of pecan trees (started from seed), several areas of fruit, and trees at strategic spots through the meadows - rooting, anchoring, remediating the poorly used (constantly fertilized and weed sprayed, monocrop of hay harvested each year, leaving nothing for the earth)earth. In addition to the trees, I've established sunflowers and amaranth and jerusalem artichoke "colonies" throughout the meadows - which regrow/reseed themselves. I love this land, and feel it coming alive... so thankful to be able to be partnering this bit of Earth... Sara Oh, one other thought, many states have a forestry program where they will sell bulk batches of seedlings at nominal prices. You usually have to buy them in sets of 25, and have to sign that you aren't using them for landscaping or for reselling. But there are many appropriate useages - like windbreaks or to nurture wildlife. It does cost some, but not nearly as much as buying from a nursery or such.

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    1. What an exciting thing to be doing with past-its-prime fruit! I've actually started a few seeds from apples recently, knowing they won't be true to type. If nothing else, they might make good rootstock for grafting.

      I should follow your lead and try some others!

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  6. URL for Back to Eden Film

    Back to Eden
    http://backtoedenfilm.com/

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  7. Love the article. Just wish I had more room to plant more trees - I have run out of space! Just planted three more trees this spring. And I want to find space for just one more.

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  8. Darius, I always enjoy your blog posts and this one is no exception. More Trees! Yes!

    The local electric utility company is sponsoring a tree planting project and I am in line for up to 3 trees this year. A caveat is that each person receiving the tree(s) must attend a workshop on how to plant and grow trees. A no-brainer really. Happy clean air building!

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  9. All the comments posted here (and many sent to my email) are very heartening!! So glad to see lots of folks thinking positively about planting trees. :)

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  10. I've just now gotten around to watching the video -- and I absolutely loved it! The message is inspiring and the animation is sublime -- so much expression captured with so few lines! As I watched, I wondered if this was a true story; apparently, it is not, but there are similar stories that are. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Planted_Trees

    The island on which I live was devastated by hurricane Ivan back in 2004 and many of our trees died -- either during the hurricane or in the following years. I have noticed that the trees are coming back -- I'm finding seedlings sprouting everywhere. While I have not been planting trees, I am protecting the ones that volunteer!

    As for using fruit past its prime, that is the method Sepp Holzer uses -- he just throws the rotting fruit on the ground and lets Mother Nature do her thing. He contends that trees planted this way are stronger than anything grown in a nursery. He does, however, use the seedlings as root stock and grafts more desirable, productive varieties onto the wilder roots once they reach a certain age.

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  11. Growing and planting trees is one of the most satisfying of our horticultural activities. Starting from seed is fun and challenging. Buying cheap seedlings from our local conservation authorities and potting them up for a couple of years until they reach a size where they can compete with the existing vegetation is a cheap and very productive way of getting instant forests - https://picasaweb.google.com/PortagePerennials/LTCAForest. Last year we bought 100 seedlings (white cedar, white pine, white spruce, and red pine) for $75. Seven inch pots cost us $25. At $1.00/tree it's hard to go wrong. This year we're going to do 110 trees including choke cherry, black cherry, red maple and service berry.

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    1. Mike, that sounds like a GREAT plan! I should look into what's available around here. Nice pics, BTW.

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