Bloemfontein residents are in the grip of the hay fever season as tree and grass pollen levels surged to a whopping 115 grains per cubic metre (grains/m³) this spring. “It’s the first time that pollen levels are being monitored in the city of roses, which is an important milestone”, says Prof Jonny Peter, Head of the UCT Lung Institute’s Allergy Unit. “Bloemfontein … [Read more...]
Ethiopia plants 350 million trees to fight deforestation
Ethiopia has planted more than 350 million trees in 12 hours, its government announced, claiming a world record. Across the country, volunteers took part in the mass planting as part of the “Green Legacy” initiative, a programme that aims to reforest large swathes of the land. The efforts far surpassed an original target of planting 200 million seedlings in a day. … [Read more...]
Arbour week celebrates good green deeds
Climate change is the 21st century’s greatest threat to both humanity and biodiversity. The massive increase in the amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere by industrial processes, transportation and veld fires (to name a few) is increasing the global temperature which is resulting in an adverse change in weather patterns. In … [Read more...]
Amazon rainforest fires leave São Paulo in the dark
Forest fires have dramatically increased in the Brazilian Amazon this year in the wake of soaring deforestation rates, raising concerns among environmentalists about the fate of the planet’s largest tropical forest. The number of active fires amounted to 74,155 between January 1 and August 20, a spike of 85 percent compared to the same period in 2018, according to data from … [Read more...]
The global rise of crucial eco-restoration camps
For millennia we humans roamed the vast lands of this planet Earth, foraging for foodstuffs, hunting animals to supplement our diet as necessary. We took what we could find, as needed, and our searches led us across the accessible landmasses. It is fascinating to think of the various landscapes that scores of successive generations saw - Earth in a state before any human … [Read more...]
Celebrating the passion and dedication of women in forestry
It's time to celebrate women in forestry. With more than 320 years experience among them in a variety of roles, these women show that no job is off limits as long as you have the passion and dedication required. “Some have dedicated their lives to the sector, others are just at the start of their career, but all have one thing in common – the wish to dispel the myth that … [Read more...]
When tree planting actually damages ecosystems
Tree planting has been widely promoted as a solution to climate change, because plants absorb the climate-warming gases from Earth’s atmosphere as they grow. World leaders have already committed to restoring 350m hectares of forest by 2030 and a recent report suggested that reforesting a billion hectares of land could store a massive 205 gigatonnes of carbon – two thirds of all … [Read more...]
World’s largest plant survey reveals alarming extinction rate
The world’s seed-bearing plants have been disappearing at a rate of nearly 3 species a year since 1900 ― which is up to 500 times higher than would be expected as a result of natural forces alone, according to the largest survey yet of plant extinctions. The project looked at more than 330,000 species and found that plants on islands and in the tropics were the most likely … [Read more...]
Now for responsibly sourced till paper
While the till slip is a relatively insignificant bit of paper in the hands of a shopper, for retailers globally the scale of this paper consumption is huge. The heavyweight impact of Woolworths’ latest ‘responsibly sourced’ commodity announcement to replace their till slip paper with Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper involves 211 tonnes of paper per year. The … [Read more...]
Dealing with invasive beetles in Cape Town
The City of Cape Town is ready to deal with an invasive beetle that poses a serious threat to trees in the metropole and surrounding areas. The City’s Recreation and Parks Department, together with the Invasive Species Unit, have put operational plans in place to deal with the polyphagous shot hole borer (PSHB) which has invaded and damaged thousands of trees in other parts of … [Read more...]
Illegal logging returns to Congo forests despite carbon threat
The Congolese Minister of Environment, Amy Ambatobe, has reinstated 6,500 km² of logging concessions that were cancelled in August 2016 by the then Environment Minister Robert Bopolo following instructions from then Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo. The three concessions reinstated on 1 February 2018 were awarded to the Chinese-owned logging companies Forestière pour le … [Read more...]
Writing love letters to our rapidly dwindling forests
This summer, the world lost a Nebraska-size chunk of forests. Logging, expanding palm oil plantations and wildfires are to blame. This continuing deforestation trend could have devastating implications for the climate. Simply put, forests aren’t merely pretty places. We need them. Dense tropical forests keep the climate stable by sucking up large amounts of human carbon … [Read more...]
How do we prevent wildfires in drought-killed forests?
With 17 large wildfires in California igniting in 24 hours this week, October is shaping up to be a brutal month for wildfires, as it often is. It’s too soon to know what caused multiple conflagrations spreading across Northern California’s wine country, but elsewhere in the state dead and dying trees have been the subject of much concern. The five-year drought in California … [Read more...]
