Tulip Tree Medicinal Uses

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 275-365

Other Names Liriodendron tulipifera

One of the tallest native trees of eastern North America, features uniquely shaped leaves and large yellow tulip-shaped flowers which are hard to see because of the height of the tree; needs lots of moisture and room to grow, not for small properties

Characteristics

Tuliptree will grow to be about 90 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 50 feet. It has a high canopy with a typical clearance of 10 feet from the ground, and should not be planted underneath power lines. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live to a ripe old age of 120 years or more; think of this as a heritage tree for future generations!

This tree should only be grown in full sunlight. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in rich soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided.

Tuliptree has buttery yellow cup-shaped flowers with yellow eyes and orange centers held atop the branches from mid to late spring. It has emerald green foliage throughout the season. The square leaves turn an outstanding gold in the fall. The fruit is not ornamentally significant. The furrowed gray bark is extremely showy and adds significant winter interest.

The Tulip Tree Liriodendron tulipifera is a member of the Magnolia Family Magnoliaceae and one of our tallest (to 150 feet) and most beautiful native hardwood trees. The tulip trees are in full flower, which you might miss unless you look up into the tree to find them. Their stunning orange- yellow flowers, set off by glossy, star-shaped leaves are too often overlooked, as they are usually way above our heads.

Food for Wildlife

The tree is a significant source of food for wildlife, as food and habitat for bees and a stately shade tree for large areas. It ranges throughout the Eastern United States from southern New England, west to southern Ontario and Michigan, and south to north-central Florida and Louisiana.

Use

Some references say Tulip Tree roots were used as a flavoring to take the bitterness out of Spruce Beer. 

 Tulip Trees were used to make honey. For just a short time while the tree is blossoming there is a small amount of very sweet nectar in each blossom. It is heavy and honey-flavored. You can drink it directly from the blossom.

 The expert was relying on old reports that probably didn’t describe how the natives used the tree. They weren’t collecting honey, they were collecting nectar. The tree was also called the Sap Poplar, perhaps because its sap is consumable.

Medicinal Uses of AFRICAN TULIP TREE, SPATHODEA CAMPANULATA 

• A decoction of the bark is astringent and used as a laxative as well as for cases of dysentery and for other gastro-intestinal problems. 
• A decoction of the bark and leaves is used as a lotion for inflamed skin and on rashes.
•  The flowers can be applied directly onto wounds, as can the bruised leaves which have mild pain-killing and anti-inflammatory properties. Both the bark and leaves have been found to have antiseptic actions.
• An infusion of the leaves is used for urethral infections, and the dried and pulverized or even the fresh inner bark is applied to oozing ulcers. The tree also has UV absorbing properties and could be utilized as a cheap sunscreen.

•   Studies have found that the stem bark can lower blood sugar levels and so the traditional use of the bark for diabetes sufferers seems to have been borne out. (Journal of Phytotherapy Research, 
• Extracts of the bark, leaves and roots have also been used to combat malaria and HIV and have antimicrobial and antifungal properties.

Indian Tulip Tree Medicinal Uses Thespesia populnea

• The bitter inner bark of the Indian Tulip tree is used as diuretic and stimulant. Its raw green bark is also chewed as an aphrodisaic. 
• Its tea is used in the treatment of indigestion, 
• dysentery, 
• rheumatism, 
• coughs and 
• fevers. 
• In India its bark was used to treat the skin diseases, and
•  haemorrhoids. 
• Its leaves are applied to the inflamed and swollen joints. 
• It is also used in the treatment of ringworm. 
• Its roots are used as the tonic. 

Indian Tulip tree is found in the lower dry forests to the wet forests. Deep, rich, well-drained soils of forest coves and lower mountain slopes. It is widely grown in the Eravikulam National Park in India.. 

Forest Caribou in Alberta and Habitat Reclamation

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 274-365

Caribou are one of Canada’s most recognizable national symbols, but their populations are under threat in Alberta for a number of reasons, including the effects of industrial development on habitat, the effects of global warming and because they’re increasingly being hunted by wolves which have increased in population and range in response to an increase in numbers of deer and moose, their primary prey.

During oil and gas exploration activities over the past 40 years, fragmentation occurred in the boreal forest as corridors were cut to accommodate seismic exploration and access routes for exploration drilling. 

The Algar Project takes an integrated regional approach, with six companies working together to repair fragmented habitat across an area of land outside of their actual license areas. The project includes a five-year program to replant trees and shrubs along the linear footprint within the Algar Region, covering an area approximately 570 square kilometers (km2) southwest of Fort McMurray.

No much have been done to reclaim the oil land
Scientists studying the ravaged caribou habitat of Alberta's northwestern foothills say they have found so much disturbance from decades of industrial use that restoration of the terrain will have to be selective.

Loss of Bisons on the plane.
Alberta is still selling of the forest. It is possible to do something about it?

Alberta is looking as a post apocalyptic war zone.

Can we do something about it? It is too late?

Deforestation in Alberta is worse than in Brazil

There are more than 16,000 kilometres of seismic lines, cut by the energy industry through the forest, within the study area's 13,000 square kilometres.

About five per cent of range for the Little Smoky and a la Peche caribou herds remains undisturbed — a long way from the federal government's 65 per cent target.

Wolves normally prefer to prey on deer and moose, but seismic lines allow them to penetrate into the deep woods where caribou hide.

Caribou also normally avoid coming within 500 metres of a seismic line, making every line, in effect, a kilometre wide.

In 2012 The oil companies paid 1 billion dollars in rights to drill for oil and leases of land.

Who is going to protect those that cannot protect themselves.

The ministry of the environment is promoting the lease of the lands.

Canada needs to consider a better solutions. It is not only the responsibility of the government to protect the environment.

We can live a prosperous life without destroying the forest and the land and the caribou.

“If you look at the attached Environment Canada map (above) of boreal woodland caribou across Canada, it’s Alberta where most of the herds are at highest risk of dying out under current policies. This affects the genetic diversity and viability of neighbouring B.C., the North West Territories and Saskatchewan caribou populations. 

Beyond that, caribou are indicators of whether the boreal and foothills forests are healthy. If we change how these forests are managed so that caribou populations can recover (which Alberta states is its policy goal), then our northern Mackenzie watershed will be healthier, and many other species will benefit too, such as migratory birds that depend on old growth forest and intact wetlands.” 

Links

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/caribou-habitat-in-alberta-ravaged-beyond-

repair-1.2745870

http://www.desmog.ca/2014/06/09/alberta-sell-more-oil-and-gas-leases-endangered-caribou-habitat

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/alberta-continues-to-sell-caribou-habitat-despite-federal-recovery-plan/article19019092/

http://manitobawildlands.org/bio_species_mb_caribou.htm

Forest Concession

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 273-365

Forest Concession -  a contract, license, or permit granted to a firm or a person to extract and market timber (timber concession) or other produce commercially from a defined area of the forest within a given period —note a timber concession may specify the number, type, and size of tree that may be harvested



Forest concessions have been an important element of forestry, and forest management in many countries, including many developing countries.

 More often than not, the concessions experience of these countries has not been successful, and, improving their performance is not likely to be popular. 

The forest concessions involve both forest utilization contracts, and forest management services contracts.

Africa


Concessions in Africa have a long history and mixed records. Initially, under colonial era, concessionaires were granted by Westerns Governments a given – and generally huge – area on which they received privileges to use natural resources as private assets, the trade monopoly on resources they gathered, and often the right to levy taxes and use hard labour.

After the Independence, the relationship between private actors and the State evolved into a more balanced one. 

The concession timber sector is a significant contributor to the Government budget, although the revenues derived from this sector look modest compared to revenues derived from oil.
Forest taxes are totalling annually between $3.85 million for DRC to $40 million in Cameroon and up to $50 million in Gabon. In Congo-Brazzaville, forest taxes compare to theoretical oil revenues in proportion of 1 to 100. 

The concessions sector is still dominated by the Europeans, but with an increasing prominence of Asian companies, which are already dominant in Equatorial Guinea, CAR and South Congo.
The size of the concessions, the demographic patterns, and the land allocation history  are closely related. West African countries are more densely populated than those of the Congo Basin. 

In the Congo Basin, since the mid 90’s for Cameroon, and the beginning of the decade, the fiscal reform promoted by the World Bank and backed by the IMF has lead to changes in the taxation structure pattern, with an introduction or an increase of the area tax. 

Since most of the forest sector in West and Central Africa is export-oriented, with the largest part of the production (in value) still going to Europe (except for Equatorial Guinea), the issue of “environmental norms” (certification) – which includes legality requirement – should not be underestimated. And small-scale logging and processing is, currently, unable to meet these escalating  requirements. 

Outside the boundaries of national parks and reserves, many areas of the Congo River Basin have been allocated for forestry concessions. But logging is also taking place inside protected areas, with dire consequences for people and wildlife. 

By far the greatest threat is the demand for timber by some Asian and European-owned trans-national logging companies, which take advantage of weak forest legislation and law enforcement. 

They are not alone in this process. International banks and financial institutions are also implicated in the deforestation of the Congo Basin’s ancient forests.

How the logging process works

The governments of Congo Basin countries grant companies, usually foreign-owned, rights to log areas of the forest. These areas are called forest concessions and they vary in size and cost millions. 

Between 1959-2000, 80% of Cameroon’s forest was allocated for logging in this way. This 'license to log' is only granted for a set number of years, after which the companies need to re-apply.

There is no guarantee that documenting an illegal activity will bring any consequence.Over 80% of the violation cases brought before the judiciary were dropped after “the intervention of an influential person”.

Climate Change

We are currently experiencing, without a doubt, the greatest crisis to face human kind. Indications of climate change are being seen around the globe: accelerated melting of the Arctic sea ice, rapidly receding glaciers, rising sea levels, warming oceans and ocean acidification, more frequent and longer-lasting droughts, stronger and more frequent storms, higher temperatures than ever recorded, and a rapid extinction of species are direct result of a warming climate.

Taken for granted in the climate change discussion is the assumption that nature or the environment is something that can or should be commodified, yet the structure of society seeks to commodify everything, including human life (labor) and the environment (land and natural resources). The commodification of nature and the environment, is problematic in its own right.


Conclusion

So if we want to understand deforestation we need to follow the money.


Links

http://dictionaryofforestry.org/dict/term/forest_concession

http://elibrary.worldbank.org/doi/pdf/10.1596/0-8213-5170-2