Mosquito Repellent Trees - Neem Tree and other Medicinal Uses

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 294-365

Neem is the “village pharmacy.” Every part of the plant has bioactive compounds that can be used in medicine and agriculture. It is a fast growing tree that can provide  shelter, food, medicine, and crop protection. We are just beginning to learn of the benefits that this tree offers.

Names

Botanists know it as Azadirachta indica, the generic name coming from Persian words meaning “free” or “noble tree” and the species name being Latin for “Indian”.

Description

The neem tree is one of the most versatile of India’s plants. Valued for centuries throughout tropical Asia for its multitude of medicinal and other uses.

The umbrella-shaped neem, a member of the mahogany family (Meliaceae), grows to about 50 feet tall. It is generally evergreen, though in some areas it may be briefly deciduous. Its foot-long leaves are divided into 8 to 18 toothed leaflets which measure 1 to 4 inches long by 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches wide. Fragrant white flowers about 1/2 inch broad in branching groups crowd in the leaf axils. The thin-fleshed, egg-shaped yellow fruits measure about 3/4 inch long and contain a single seed.

Distribution

 It is planted as a street tree in Haiti and is also cultivated in Guatemala, Cuba, and Nicaragua. It grows in Hawaii and Florida but rarely flowers in the latter state. 

Uses

The young, tender branches have been widely used in India and other countries as “chewing sticks” to keep the teeth and gums clean and healthy. 

Commercial toothpastes containing neem extracts are now available in India, Europe, and the United States. Limited clinical trials have shown neem toothpaste to be a potential treatment for gingivitis. 

Neem branches are also placed in stored grain to repel insects.

The bitter leaves and flowers are eaten as a potherb, and the fruit is also edible.

Organic farmers use it in bio-pesticides, as it is naturally-derived and potent. Aphids, mealy bugs, mites, thrips, cabbage worms and any number of insects.

Neem flowers are generally used in cooking to improve digestive health. This also used to treat excessive phlegm and intestinal worms. Some preparations dried flowers been powdered and used. Generally the dried flowers are roasted in ghee and used in the dishes.

The flowering season of the Neem tree falls on Jan to May (Spring season), but only once in a year. During that time one can pick the flowers and dry them in sun 

Medicinal Uses

 In Indian folk medicine, the leaves are prescribed for many ailments,

•  including intestinal parasites, 
• swollen glands, 
• bruises, 
• sprains, and 
• malaria. 
• Leaf extracts have been shown to have antiviral activity 
• and delay blood clotting (confirming their efficacy as traditional snakebite treatments), and 
• the leaf essential oil has strong antibacterial and 
• antifungal ­activity. Research on neem’s potential against malaria is now under way in Africa.
• The fruit has been used to treat urinary disorders and 
• hemorrhoids
•  Like the leaf oil, the seed oil has been shown to be antifungal and antiseptic, and it may also be contraceptive. 
• An attractive characteristic of neem insecticides is their very low toxicity to humans, plants, and other animals including certain beneficial insects. 
• Neem has a curative effect on chronic skin conditions that have not been successfully helped through conventional medical treatments. 
• Acne, 
• dry skin,
•  dandruff, 
• psoriasis, 
• eczema,
•  herpes, 
• shingles, 
• andringworm have all been shown to respond to natural creams salves or lotions made with neem.
• Cancer. Remember that many of the conventional anticancer drugs are derived from plants. The benefits of neem have been extensively and scientifically studied. The components extracted from the seeds, leaves, flowers and fruits of the neem tree have been used in traditional medicine for the cure of multiple diseases including cancer for centuries. These extracts show chemo preventive and anti-tumor effects in different types of cancer. Two bioactive components in neem, azadirachtin and nimbolide, have been studied extensively.

History

Neem’s Sanskrit name “Nimba” is a derivative of the phrase “Nimbati svasthyamdadati“, which means “to give good health”. Its medicinal use dates back to the Vedic periods in India, around 4,000 BCE. 

Through various traditions in various regions, it became useful for treating a great many ailments, such as leprosy, heat rash, wounds, ulcers and chicken pox. It was used widely and diversely in agriculture. 

It is still prescribed in the ancient practices of Ayurvedic and Unani medicine, systems of medicine which are still practiced and taught today.

Receipt for  alternative to bug spray.

You can give it a try at home, for an environmentally sound alternative to bug spray.

Ingredients

• 3 large handfuls of neem leaves
• 1 kilo of pure shea butter
• 1 bar of soap
• 1 litre of water

Recipe

Boil the neem leaves in the water until the water turns green. Strain out the leaves. Grate the soap into fine pieces and add to the hot liquid, stirring until dissolved. Add in the shea butter a little at a time, and stir until incorporated. Let cool, and store in an airtight container.

This is a great product to use to protect the children from malaria.

Neem as an Insecticide

Neem is classified as an “anti-feedant”, which means that pest insects refuse to eat anything covered with it. This effectively reduces populations that infest your garden; your crops are these insects primary food of choice.

Neem also works by disrupting insects’ hormone balance, instead of being a simple poison that kills them through toxicity. The soft-bodied insects it is most effective against (such as whitefly and aphids), come into contact with neem and the chemical impulses which tell them to eat, mate, fly or molt are not received. 

This disrupts their population to the extent that it quickly fails. The fact that it does no harm to predatory insects leaves pests more susceptible to predation. The fact that it is non-toxic and safe for application means that it can be used as needed without worrying about residual toxic effects, like most pesticides.

Reforestation with Neem Tree

Propagation:

The most common propagation method is to grow neem trees from seed.

There have been trials using cuttings, suckers, roots and tissue culture, and it all works, but planting seed is by far the easiest and the most common method.

As long as the seed is fresh it germinates readily in about a week.

I have never tried to raise seeds in pots, I just put them straight into the ground and they do fine anywhere. However, I see no problem with raising them in pots. Any standard mix, supplemented with a balanced fertilizer, should do.

Neem trees develop a very deep and strong tap root. 

Leaving them in pots or polythene bags for too long will lead to stunted and distorted roots, and it is also very easy to damage roots when the tree is planted out. So if you start them in pots, get them out in the garden as soon as they are big enough.

Growth And Life Span

Neem trees grow slowly during their first year, but they reach maturity fast. You can expect to harvest your first neem fruit after three to five years. It takes about ten years for a neem tree to get to full production. After that it will produce 30 to 50 kg of fruit a year. A neem tree can be expected to live 150 to 200 years.

Sunlight: The more, the better. Especially young neem trees cannot handle shade.

Soil you can grow neem trees in just about any soil.

Huarango Trees Prosopis limensis good for Diabet

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 294-365

Common names

• Algarroba
• American Carob
• Huarango
• Kiawe
• Mesquite

The Plant

Huarango trees are literally life saving. Their pods can be used as fodder for livestock, ground into flour for human consumption, sweetened into molasses, or even fermented into beer. 

The light yellow flowers are a haven for bees, and the tree itself helps capture seasonal floodwaters on their way from the Andes to the Pacific, supporting humans, animals, and plan.

 Huarango trees capture moisture from fog in winter, and their exceptionally long 

roots (sometimes over 50 m) are able to tap deep groundwater, making life 

possible in the desert.  Sadly Huarango forest is on the edge of extinction: a 

situation reflected by its national classification as threatened and by the regional 

government by-law making all Huarango deforestation illegal .

The fruit of mesquite is basically a pod or legume, which grows up to a length of anything between 16 inches and 30 inches and its width is a little more than 1.5 cm, while its thickness is about 8 mm. Usually, the weight of one mesquite pod is roughly 12 grams and it encloses three main segments - the external shell, the seeds and the pulp. All these are contained in a hard shell that is difficult to open. Each pod contains about 25 seeds on average. All the components or parts of the mesquite fruit are used. According to estimation, on average, one mesquite tree produces approximately 40 kg fruit every year. Generally, 70 trees grow in one hectare of field.

The Huarango is the primary producer, providing invaluable ecosystem services

 including soil fertility, desalination, climate improvement and a key 

refuge foranimals in desert areas e.g. rare birds such as the slender-billed 

finch (Xenospinus concolor). The importance of conserving this resource is widely 

recognised in Peru 

The Huarango trees of Ica produce two crops of pods per year: a large one in April and smaller one in October. The production is prolific: a tree 20-70 years old can produce 50-150 kg of pods per year depending on the pollination and seasonal conditions. 

The sweet yellow pods (known as huaranga) are so nutritious they are considered a 'complete' food, containing high levels of carbohydrate and protein as well as vitamins A, C, E, B1, B2, folic acid and minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron). 

They have been used for human food for at least 7,000 years, and in pre-Columbian times sometimes provided an estimated 50% of the diet for local populations.

In the dry forests of Northern Peru the pods of the Algarrobo tree (Prosopis juliflora andProsopis pallida), which are similar to the Huarango (Prosopis limensis), are still used to make a variety of products. 

Medicinal Uses

 When ground into flour and used in baking, no sugar is necessary. Studies of similar mesquite flour being used in the US suggest that it is excellent for diabetics and people sensitive to blood sugar fluctuations. 

Its sweetness is a result of fructose, which does not require insulin to be metabolized. 

The pods have 11-17 percent protein, including lysine, and a healthy 25% fiber. 

It takes between 4 and 6 hours to digest, as opposed to the 1 to 2 hours it takes to digest wheat. Since the body metabolizes it more slowly, it means a more constant blood sugar level over a longer period and one does not get hungry as soon.

 It is also a good source of calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and zinc among other vitamins and minerals. It is low carbohydrate, low glycemic, and low in fat. 

A long tradition of medicinal uses ranges from digestive aids to cauterization.

Other Names

The kiawe tree, as it is known in Hawaii, and the huarango tree, as it is known in Peru is the source of the best tasting mesquite beans ever. These are so very delicious.

The huarango tree, native to the coast of Peru, is known in Quechua as tacco, which  means "The Tree"—not just a tree, any tree, but "The" tree, "The One." The ultimate provider. It has also been called "The Staff of Life," or "The King of the Desert."

Reforestation

To understand the profound importance of the huarango, one must realize that Nasca is at the heart of one of the most fragile ecosystems on earth.  

Part of the Atacama-Sechura desert that extends into Chile, it is also one of the driest places on earth. There is no rainfall along the Peruvian coast, and the surface rivers that fill with runoff during the rainy season in the mountains are not enough to sustain life along the coastal valleys.

With roots reaching as deep as 60 metres underground to seek out water, lifespans beyond 1000 years and leaves that trap airborne moisture, huarango trees (Prosopis pallida) were a "keystone" species that turned otherwise arid river banks in Peru into oases flanked by fertile flood plains. They also fertilised the otherwise poor soil by dropping leaves and fixing nitrogen.

Reforestation in Peru ,-  since 2007. In this time, with the help of over 18,000 local residents we have planted over 44,000 native trees. The main aims are 1. to restore the critically endangered dry huarango forest, 2. to revive the planting and use of ancient tree species and 3. to increase environmental protection.

Is this tree the salvation of Spain and Greece mountains? It can be. Hope is not too late for reforestation using this tree.

Huarango Festival

Through an annual Huarango Festival, and the marketing of the many huarango fruit products, people of Peru are demonstrating the true value of this remarkable tree. They are also planting new huarangos in schools and in community gardens. Students at the San Juan de Bautista University have planted more than 2,000 huarangos on dunes around the city.

The Huarango Festival (now in its sixth year) is organised in April over three days to coincide with the Huarango pod harvest. This popular family event is attended by several thousand people and attracts wide local press coverage. The regional government has been supportive following its establishment by the project, declaring the festival for official inclusion in the municipal regional calendar.

History of Huarango Trees in Peru

The ancient Nazca people of Peru are famous for the lines they drew in the desert depicting strange animal forms.

A further mystery is what happened to this once great civilization, which suddenly vanished 1,500 years ago….

Now a team of archaeologists have found the demise of the Nazca society was linked in part to the fate of the Huarango  tree.

Their extensive root systems physically anchored the oases in place, and protected them from periodic floods; their huge branches deflected the wind, which can be fiercer than 100 kilometres per hour. 

Once this protection was gone, the huge flood in around 500 AD destroyed the agricultural systems with which the Nazca people had replaced the huarango, turning the terrain into desert.

Archeology

David Beresford-Jones of the University of Cambridge and Alex Chepstow-Lusty of the French Institute for Andean Studies in Lima, Peru, analysed 1.5-metre-deep profiles of pollen distribution in soil from Nazca oasis sites.

In the oldest, deepest layers, about 70 per cent of the pollen is from huarango trees. Around 1.2 metres down, pollen from crops such as maize and cotton joins that of the huarango, showing the beginnings of agricultural expansion.

And around a depth of 80 centimetres, corresponding to around 200 AD to 400 AD, the crop pollen starts to dominate, and huarango pollen rapidly diminishes, showing that most trees had been felled.

Suddenly, about 50 centimetres down – corresponding to about 500 AD – the only pollen is from plants of the Chenopodiaceae and Amaranthaceae families, which thrive in salty water, marking the flood that doomed the Nazca. Thereafter, the salty soil could no longer support crops.

Deforestation

 In the last year alone, 80% of a huarango forest near Tunga was lost. [iv]Thirty years ago the province of Ica still had 50,000 hectares of huarango forest. Less than 1,000 remain in 2007. Of that, only 200 hectares are actually considered true forest.

Links

• http://www.kimmacquarrie.com/ancient-nazca-civilization-committed-fatal-ecological-error/
• http://greatergood.com/2014_august_41235_treesforcities/#AgdevGAcuBTjPF2K.99
• http://livegeo.www2.solvention.de/Magazine/Kew_in_Peru_-_June_08.html

Reforestation of the Planet

By Liliana Usvat
Blog 293-365

The Billion Tree Campaign was inspired by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement. When an executive in the United States told Professor Maathai their corporation was planning to plant a million trees, her response was: “That’s great, but what we really need is to plant a billion trees.” The campaign was carried out under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco.

December 2011, five years since the campaign’s launch, the campaign’s website www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign proudly registered over 12.5 billion planted trees across 193 countries.

Wangari Maathai was the inspiration for the Billion Tree Campaign, and she became its most fervent advocate. Professor Wangari Maathai, who died in 2011, saw the campaign flourish and far outpace its original goals. Butshe never lost sight of its humble origins.

 It was her own experience as founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement which taught her the importance of engaging stakeholders at every level of society. In 2006, shewrote: “Tree-planting does not require a great deal of money or technology; it requires the mobilisation of citizens to plant trees and nurture them.” As the Billion Tree Campaign enters the next phase of its existence, we remember Wangari Maathai, and her words have even greater significance than ever.

People from all around the world have enthusiastically joined the campaign and planted trees in their own communities. 

In the process, they have taken a stand for the environment, and proved that the story of humanity on Earth is not one of inexorable environmental exploitation and decline — but with will and purpose, can be a story of stewardship and protection.

To Plant a tree

1. Dig a hole at least twice the width of the root ball to allow the roots to spread out. Remove the tree from its container, carefully cut off broken roots, and slightly loosen the root ball.

2. Place the tree in the planting hole. Always lift the tree by the root ball and never by the trunk. Spread periphery roots outwards. Avoid planting the tree too deep. Make sure that the soil line of the young tree is higher than the surface of the surrounding hole.

3. Shovel some soil into the planting hole. Check the planting depth and adjust if needed. Confirm that the tree is straight. Fill the hole gently but firmly. Pat the soil around the base of the root ball.

4. It is not recommended to apply fertilizer at the time of planting. Water the seedling thoroughly with a slow stream of water to settle the soil. Do not stake the tree. The sooner the tree can stand alone, the sooner it will become strong.

5. Provide follow up care. Protect the tree from pests and diseases by removing plants nearby which are likely to affect it. Remove weeds as they will compete with tree roots for moisture and nutrients. Protect the tree from destruction by livestock.

6. If suitable, space trees well to avoid competition for air and soil nutrients, and to encourage the growth of branches. Watch out for drought conditions and provide water if needed, especially during the first few months. Watch out for yellowing of leaves. Always maintain good air circulation in the tree by pruning to avoid pests and other diseases.

The Next Step

The Next Step would be the protection against logging industry. We need to stop logging mining and oil industry to destroy the forests.
The land should be administered for life for those that plant the trees and care fore the trees if they wish to take care for the forest and land that is the property of the government.

February 2015

We are very pleased to announce that, to date, we register 13013063176 tree planting confirmations.

Here is a link with planting by country

http://www.plant-for-the-planet-billiontreecampaign.org/Getinvolved/SeeLatest.aspx

China

Cina’s Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts cover about one-tenth of the country’s land, but they’re responsible for a majority of the sand that inundates Beijing during gargantuan dust storms, making the city’s polluted air even more deadly.

Thanks to centuries of overgrazing, deforestation, and bad water management, the frequency and severity of those dust storms has been on the rise. But since the late 1970s, China has been working to stop the dust invasion by planting trees—billions of them—as part of a project called the Great Green Wall.

It’s one of the most aggressive environment-altering projects ever attempted, with a goal to plant 100 billion trees across 2,800 miles by 2050.

“Since its implementation, the program has improved vegetation, which decrease the intensity of dust storms,” study coauthor Minghong Tan a researcher at Beijing’s Institute of Geographic Sciences 

Only around 15 percent of trees planted on China’s dry lands since 1949 survive today, Cao Shixiong of Beijing Forestry University, told The Economist.

Brazil

Five hundred years ago, the Atlantic Forest of Brazil covered approximately 330 million acres (about twice the size of Texas), but today more than 85% of this forest has been cleared and what remains is highly fragmented (due to coastal development, urban expansion, agriculture, exotic plantations, ranching, and illegal logging).

How does the Nature Conservancy work in the Atlantic Forest? The Nature Conservancy and a team of local, international, public and private partners have launched an ambitious campaign to plant a billion trees by 2015. To accomplish this, TNC will:

• -- Reforest degraded lands by planting one billion native trees
• -- Create forest corridors to protect, connect and buffer forested areas
• -- Establish and strengthen private and public protected areas
• -- Promote legal incentives and conservation easements to secure protection of private land
• -- Provide technical assistance for private landowners reforesting their lands
• -- Restore or preserve 30 million acres of rainforest by 2015

The 1 Billion Trees initiative was an idea proposed by then South Australian Premier, Mike Rann.

Canada Ontario

Trees Ontario administers the Ontario government's 50 Million Tree Program, part of the United Nations Billion Tree Campaign. The United Nations' goal is to plant one billion trees worldwide each year. Ontario is committed to plant 50 million trees by 2025.

In 2010, Trees Ontario reached a milestone – 10 million trees planted since 2004. This achievement is significant considering the time and degree of planning necessary to develop the infrastructure to produce and then plant 10 million tree seedlings. 

Tree seed needs to be collected from the species and in the quantities necessary to meet the future demand. Nurseries must then plant and care for them until they grow into seedlings. The seedlings are finally lifted from the nursery beds, packaged, delivered to the landowner or planting agency and subsequently planted as part of various planting projects. 

Sometimes it can take up to 4 years for a seed to become a seedling ready for planting. The 2011 goal is to plant 3 million trees and to eventually support the planting of 10 million trees per year by 2015.

“Trees are the lungs of the earth – they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. They help clean our air, restore our watersheds, provide wildlife habitat and buffer against the effects of climate change, “All of us have a role to play in protecting the environment so that we can ensure a sustainable ecosystem and the health of Ontarians now and for our future generations.”

Quotes


“It is the little things that citizens do. That’s what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees.” Wangari Maathai

"We all share one planet and are one hummanity, there is no escaping this reality."
"The challenge for Africa" Professor Wangari Maathai

At first, I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.
Chico Mendes, Brazilian Environmentalist
 
"If you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed. 
If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree." 
Chinese poet, 500 BC

"He who plants a tree loves others beside himself."
English proverb

"The best friend on Earth of man is the tree. When we use the tree respectfully and economically,
we have one of the greatest resources of the Earth."
Frank Lloyd Wright

"They are beautiful in their peace; they are wise in their silence. They will stand after we are dust.
They teach us, and we tend them."
Galeain ip Altiem MacDunelmor

"Though a tree grows so high, the falling leaves return to the root. "
Malay proverb
 
"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
Greek proverb
 
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."
Martin Luther
 
"The great French Marshall Lyautey once asked his gardener to plant a tree. The gardener objected that the tree was slow growing and would not reach maturity for 100 years. The Marshall replied, 'In that case, there is no time to lose; plant it this afternoon!'"
John F. Kennedy
 
"Trees are poems that Earth writes upon the sky. We fell them down and turn them into paper, that we may record our emptiness."
Kahlil Gibran
 
"If what I say resonates with you, it is merely because we are both branches on the same tree."
W. B. Yeats

"A tree is our most intimate contact with nature."
George Nakashima, woodworker

"A tree uses what comes its way to nurture itself.  By sinking its roots deeply into the earth, by accepting the rain that flows towards it, by reaching out to the sun, the tree perfects its character and becomes great.  ...  Absorb, absorb, absorb. That is the secret of the tree."
Deng Ming-Dao,  Everyday Tao

"Plant trees.  They give us two of the most crucial elements for our survival: oxygen and books. "
A. Whitney Brown

"Each generation takes the Earth as trustees.  We ought to bequeath to posterity as many forests and
orchards as we have exhausted and consumed. "
J. Sterling Morton

"To me, nature is sacred; trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals."
Mikhail Gorbachev

"God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods.  But he cannot save them from fools. "
John Muir

"The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence that makes no demands for its sustenance and extends generously the products of its life and activity; it affords protection to all beings."
Buddhist Sutra

"People who will not sustain trees will soon live in a world which cannot sustain people. "
Bryce Nelson
 
"Reforesting the earth is possible, given a human touch."
Sandra Postel and Lori Heise, Worldwatch Institute

"When you see the trees swaying to the tune of a gentle breeze... think of it as a dance in your honor."
Marjolein Bastin
 
"Plant trees, Lots of trees "
"An Inconvenient Truth" Al Gore

 "A tree is our most intimate contact with nature"
George Nakashima 
 
 "People who will not sustain trees will soon live in a world that will not sustain people"
Bryce Nelson
 
 "No shade tree? Blame not the sun, but yourself"
Chinese Proverb


Links

http://www.plantabillion.org/locations/united-states/

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2015/01/energy-shift-requires-shift-in-conversation/