By Liliana Usvat
Blog 351-365
“A society grows great when old people plant trees, knowing that they will never sit in the shade of those trees.” Based on an Ancient Greek proverb.
Reforestation on a grand scale is desperately needed in many places all around the world.
Reforestation projects can create new patches of indigenous vegetation and/or increase the size of existing remnant patches of vegetation, and provide a buffer around them, as well as create linking corridors (particularly important for the dispersal of wildlife) between vegetation patches.
Usually only indigenous plants are used in reforestation .
Ideally, propagation materials are collected from within a few kilometres, but in practice seeds, cuttings, etc. are collected from within the same catchment, or within about 15 kilometres (a largely abitrary figure, although honeyeaters will travel around 15 kilometres, dispersing pollen in the process, Lindenmayer 2012). In the USA, propagation material is collected from up to 80 kilometres away (also an abritary figure?), which provides much more flexibility .
In some places, the nearest remnant vegetation may be further away than that, so propagation material will have to come from the nearest practical source, and perhaps a few sources to provide sufficient biodiversity, and a wide gene pool. Some suggest that as a strategy or insurance against possible climate change, seeds could be sourced from both north and south of the area.
Degraded soils
Deep ripping of compacted degraded soils, or subsoil, can be helpful (using a tractor and ripper, or draft animals). Sometimes the soil is degraded as well as weed infested, in which case some of the species and techniques used in mixed improved fallows may be appropriate to improve the soil, shade out weeds, and kick start reforestation – see the “Fallows, Green Manure, Succession” page (click on the button at the top of this page), and the AID article on the “Articles” page. Livestock can also be used to partially control weeds and improve degraded soils.
Planting Trees
Nearly all reforestation projects involve planting mainly trees, grown in small square plastic tubes called tube stock (see photos below), into larger hand-dug holes (or an auger may be used), which are then watered in, usually with a little or no fertilizer added, and then mulched with “council” or “municipal” mulch (a composted mix of chipped wood and leaves, sourced from local government pruning of street trees, which has been at least partially composted, and which closely matches natural mulch/leaf litter in a natural forest).
The mulch would normally be about 5 cm or more thick (2″ or more thick), and arranged in a circle around the plant, without touching the stem, about a metre/yard in diameter, or preferably the whole area is mulched.
Direct seeding – utilizing livestock for reforestation/re vegetation
“Seeds and fruits are the chief, sometimes the only, food of many forest-inhabiting rodents.
Livestock and/or wildlife can be used to disperse seeds, providing a “work smart not hard” reforestation method for large areas, with treatments repeated over time. Livestock can also be used to restore degraded soils, or enhance the fertility and structure of average soils, through their manuring and urination.
Seeds can also be broadcast by hand or machine (but this is more labour and energy intensive), and then trodden into the soil by the animals, to enhance the germination and establishment of many plant species.
- See more at: http://www.earthday.org/campaign/canopy-project?gclid=CMKR5LjmyccCFQ6raQodVwQG-g#sthash.UWQ1L1lR.dpuf
Permaculture Reforestation
A forest plays an important role in ecological stability by serving as a natural water reservoir as well as a habitat of our wildlife and the indigenous tribes there within. Since our forests are mostly degraded, rehabilitating them is a lifetime activity.
Regenerating a natural forest (Philippine Mahogany, Apitong, Lauan, Molave Narrra, Dao, and other indigenous species etc.) is usually done through seeds and wildlings, along with the knowledge of the local people.
The development program follows something called the framework species concept, wherein the forest is planted with a select number of starting species which encourage the return of birds, animals, insects and provide the ecosystems services which set the stage for the natural regeneration of a truly diverse and healthy forest.
A forest planted in this way can start with 30 varieties and see over 150 varieties of trees growing in less than 10 years. Our focus is not on the success of the trees themselves, but on the forest in general.
Logging
Stopping logging companies to destroy in a planned way the forests would be another help to the environment and climate change.
Blog 351-365
“A society grows great when old people plant trees, knowing that they will never sit in the shade of those trees.” Based on an Ancient Greek proverb.
Reforestation on a grand scale is desperately needed in many places all around the world.
Reforestation projects can create new patches of indigenous vegetation and/or increase the size of existing remnant patches of vegetation, and provide a buffer around them, as well as create linking corridors (particularly important for the dispersal of wildlife) between vegetation patches.
Usually only indigenous plants are used in reforestation .
Ideally, propagation materials are collected from within a few kilometres, but in practice seeds, cuttings, etc. are collected from within the same catchment, or within about 15 kilometres (a largely abitrary figure, although honeyeaters will travel around 15 kilometres, dispersing pollen in the process, Lindenmayer 2012). In the USA, propagation material is collected from up to 80 kilometres away (also an abritary figure?), which provides much more flexibility .
In some places, the nearest remnant vegetation may be further away than that, so propagation material will have to come from the nearest practical source, and perhaps a few sources to provide sufficient biodiversity, and a wide gene pool. Some suggest that as a strategy or insurance against possible climate change, seeds could be sourced from both north and south of the area.
Degraded soils
Deep ripping of compacted degraded soils, or subsoil, can be helpful (using a tractor and ripper, or draft animals). Sometimes the soil is degraded as well as weed infested, in which case some of the species and techniques used in mixed improved fallows may be appropriate to improve the soil, shade out weeds, and kick start reforestation – see the “Fallows, Green Manure, Succession” page (click on the button at the top of this page), and the AID article on the “Articles” page. Livestock can also be used to partially control weeds and improve degraded soils.
Planting Trees
Nearly all reforestation projects involve planting mainly trees, grown in small square plastic tubes called tube stock (see photos below), into larger hand-dug holes (or an auger may be used), which are then watered in, usually with a little or no fertilizer added, and then mulched with “council” or “municipal” mulch (a composted mix of chipped wood and leaves, sourced from local government pruning of street trees, which has been at least partially composted, and which closely matches natural mulch/leaf litter in a natural forest).
The mulch would normally be about 5 cm or more thick (2″ or more thick), and arranged in a circle around the plant, without touching the stem, about a metre/yard in diameter, or preferably the whole area is mulched.
Direct seeding – utilizing livestock for reforestation/re vegetation
“Seeds and fruits are the chief, sometimes the only, food of many forest-inhabiting rodents.
Livestock and/or wildlife can be used to disperse seeds, providing a “work smart not hard” reforestation method for large areas, with treatments repeated over time. Livestock can also be used to restore degraded soils, or enhance the fertility and structure of average soils, through their manuring and urination.
Seeds can also be broadcast by hand or machine (but this is more labour and energy intensive), and then trodden into the soil by the animals, to enhance the germination and establishment of many plant species.
The Canopy Project
As part of its mission to protect natural lands and preserve the
environment for all people, Earth Day Network developed The Canopy
Project. Rather than focusing on large scale forestry, The Canopy
Project plants trees that help communities - especially the world's
impoverished communities - sustain themselves and their local
economies. Trees reverse the impacts of land degradation and provide
food, energy and income, helping communities to achieve long-term
economic and environmental sustainability. Trees also filter the air and
help stave off the effects of climate change.
A forest plays an important role in ecological stability by serving as a natural water reservoir as well as a habitat of our wildlife and the indigenous tribes there within. Since our forests are mostly degraded, rehabilitating them is a lifetime activity.
Regenerating a natural forest (Philippine Mahogany, Apitong, Lauan, Molave Narrra, Dao, and other indigenous species etc.) is usually done through seeds and wildlings, along with the knowledge of the local people.
The development program follows something called the framework species concept, wherein the forest is planted with a select number of starting species which encourage the return of birds, animals, insects and provide the ecosystems services which set the stage for the natural regeneration of a truly diverse and healthy forest.
A forest planted in this way can start with 30 varieties and see over 150 varieties of trees growing in less than 10 years. Our focus is not on the success of the trees themselves, but on the forest in general.
Logging
Stopping logging companies to destroy in a planned way the forests would be another help to the environment and climate change.
