Forests and Global Warming

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 262-365

On a global scale, 31% of the land area is covered by forests. Some of these areas are highly under threat by unsustainable forestry and environmental pollution.

Between 2000 and 2010, forests showed annual losses of 5.2 million hectares despite active efforts in all regions to slow deforestation rates and accelerate forest plantations. Most of the losses are concentrated in tropical regions, which provide a range of ecosystem services, including supporting a rich biodiversity.

 Deforestation and forest degradation constitute the second leading cause of global warming, accounting for nearly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Despite the effort to protect them, forests are being cut down and degraded.

Experience has proven that climate-smart forest investments are more successful when indigenous peoples groups and local communities, which base their livelihoods on the forests, are involved in designing and implementing individual programs. 

The World Heritage Committee about Tasmania’s forests


The World Heritage Committee  made a unanimous decision on june 2014 to maintain the World Heritage status of Tasmania’s forests. The Australian Government was an international embarrassment with it’s attempt to have 74,000 hectares of forest removed from the list, that had only been given World Heritage status at 2013 annual meeting.

The Abbott government wants iconic forests removed from the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, so they can be logged – a plan opposed by timber companies, their industry body, Tasmania’s Premier and her government.

Portugal spoke at length to support the protection of the forests, and indicating the way in which a de-listing would undermine the integrity of World Heritage. “Accepting this de-listing today would be setting an unacceptable precedent impossible to deny in similar circumstances in the future. If this committee cares for conservation according to responsible engagement of state parties to the convention when they submit their nominations, we cannot accept these requests to de-list” said the spokesperson for the Portuguese delegation.

Asian Forests

Asian forests grew by one million hectares every year between 2000 and 2005. Asia’s increase in forests was the result of a planned effort to plant trees in that region. Most of the trees were planted in China.

Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest,Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil

The Upper Paraná originally measured 182,000 square miles, but with only 7.4 percent of pristine area remaining, it’s now one of the most endangered rainforests on earth. More than 90 percent of amphibians and 50 percent of plants found there are unique to the area, and according to the World Wildlife Fund, it’s an outstanding ecoregion that represents a complete range of the planet’s freshwater and saltwater habitats. But it’s also home to more than 25 million people, making it one of the most accessible—and threatened—intact forests.

Links

http://permaculturenews.org/2014/11/27/paul-stamets-how-mushrooms-can-save-bees-our-food-supply-bioneers/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAw_Zzge49c

Medicinal Trees -Sassafras (Sassafras albidum) Insect Repellent

by Liliana Usvat
Blog 261-365

This tree of the eastern and southeastern United States is entirely aromatic—wood, bark, roots, branches, and leaves. Locally, sassafras tea made from its roots has long been a spring tonic. Bark may be taken from the tree’s roots, then boiled; the resultant drink, taken internally, is an active diuretic.

Other Uses

Other uses of sassafras include using the dried leaves to make file' for use in Creole and Cajun cooking (most notably gumbo), for aromatherapy, and for fragrance in perfume and soap.

The root or root bark is used to make tea.

 The First Nation peoples utilize sassafras in flavouring foods and in herbal remedies. The roots are used to provide root beer flavour. It is also an important ingredient in Cajun and Creole gumbos.

 It is also used as a tea.


Reforestation

 This species is adapted to a wide variety of habitats but it must have very well drained soils, usually sandy loam but not heavy clay.  It has outstanding fall color ranging from orange to deep red and the pyramidal shaped tree can be quite stunning when it reaches its maximum height of 60' tall. It has small inconspicuous

It prefers rich, well-drained sandy loam with a pH of 6–7, but will grow in any loose, moist soil. Seedlings will tolerate shade, but saplings and older trees demand full sunlight for good growth; in forests it typically regenerates in gaps created by windblow. 

Growth is rapid, particularly with root sprouts, which can reach 1.2 m in the first year and 4.5 m in 4 years. 

Root sprouts often result in dense thickets, and a single tree, if allowed to spread unrestrained, will soon be surrounded by a sizable clonal colony, as its stoloniferous roots extend in every direction and send up multitudes of shoots.

Sassafras requires full sun for best growth. It is difficult to transplant; container- grown stock, seed or seedlings are recommended. It is intolerant of road salt and ozone pollution. Root suckering is prevalent in sassafras. It is less likely to send up suckers if its roots and stems are not damaged or disturbed.

 Sassafras is a fire-adapted species. It is quite resilient to such disturbance, and post- fire regeneration occurs in several forms or strategies: adventitious buds at root crowns (suckering), ground residual colonizer (i.e., existing seed bank), initial offsite colonizer (i.e., seed dispersal) and crown residual colonizer (remaining undamaged stems). Sassafras can also be found in late seral stages of succession. 

It can maintain a presence in climax forest stands in the canopy layer by gap-phase regeneration. It has been found that by maintaining a presence in the shrub layer (as stunted individuals, viable ramets (roots) of existing individual trees, seedlings or via the seed bank), this tree is able to exploit canopy gaps. 

The ripe fruit are sought by squirrels and many birds (bluebirds, catbirds, vireos and quail). These same animals are the disseminating vectors. Sassafras serves as a host plant for one of our most spectacular butterflies, the colourful spicebush swallowtail.

Description

It is a medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 15–20 m tall, with a trunk up to 60 cm diameter, and a crown with many slender branches. The bark on trunk of mature trees is thick, dark red-brown, and deeply furrowed. 

The female bears lustrous dark blue fruit (with a fleshy layer surrounding one or more seeds) on bright scarlet stalks in late summer (reminiscent of a golf ball on tee). Good seed crops are produced in alternate years.

FLOWERING

Small greenish yellow flowers appear before the leaves in the early spring, which makes the trees look like clouds of gold when viewed against a dark background. Most individual trees are either male or female (dioecious).

Parfume Use

An essential oil, called sassafras oil, is distilled from the root bark or the fruit. It was used as afragrance in perfumes and soaps, food (sassafras tea and candy flavoring) and for aromatherapy. The smell of sassafras oil is said to make an excellent repellent for mosquitoes and other insects,which makes it a nice garden plant. Acids can be extracted from bark for manufacturing perfumes.

Medicinal Uses of Rauwolfia (Rauwolfia serpentina)

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 260-365

Other Names

INDIAN SNAKEROOT

Description

More like a shrub than a tree in most places where it grows in India, rauwolfia produces extracts in its roots that have for centuries been used to treat nervous disorders. The extract also provides an antidote for snake- bites and insect stings. In the 20th century it was discovered that powdered rauwolfia root as a clinical medicinal ingredient would treat hypertension and mental disorders. Many drugs that make up tranquilizers have their origin in rauwolfia root.

Medicinal Uses

Indian snakeroot is used for 

• mild high blood pressure,
•  nervousness, 
• trouble sleeping(insomnia), and 
• mental disorders such as 
• agitated psychosis and insanity. 
• Indian snakeroot is also used for snake and reptile bites,
•  fever, 
• constipation, 
• feverish intestinal diseases, 
• liver ailments, 
• achy joints (rheumatism), 
• fluid retention (edema),
• epilepsy, and 
• as a tonic for general debilities.

One of the chemicals in Indian snakeroot is the same as a prescription drug calledreserpine. Reserpine is used to treat 

• mild to moderate hypertension, s
• chizophrenia, and 
• some symptoms of poor circulation.
• Root is a valuable remedy for dysentery and painful affections of bowel.
• Juice of leaves is instilled in eyes as a remedy for the opacities of cornea.

How does it work?

Indian snakeroot contains chemicals such as reserpine that decrease heart rate and blood pressure.

History

• It is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in traditional Chinese medicine, where it has the name shégēn mù.
• The extract of the plant has also been used for millennia in India – Alexander the Great administered this plant to cure his general Ptolemy I Soter of a poisoned arrow.
•  It was reported that Mahatma Gandhi took it as a tranquilizer during his lifetime.
•  It has been used for millennia to treat insect stings and the bites of venomous reptiles. 

Habitat: Moist forests shady places near rain-forest.

Status: The natural reserves of this plant are declining, especially after reports of its medicinal properties appeared in literatures. International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has kept this plant under endangered status.
Distribution: The snake-weed genus includes about 50 species, this has fairly wide area of distribution, including the tropical part of the Himalayas, the Indian peninsula, Sri Lanka, Burma, and Indonesia.