I just read an article entitled, " The Largest Ever Tropical Reforestation Project is Planting 73 Million Trees Using a New Technique". My first reaction was the article was interesting but somewhat miss-leading, as this project does not use a new technique. In fact, the process is millions of years old. It is, however, exciting that after all this time, Brazil has, apparently, become one of the first countries to recognize and apply "Natures Way".
As the title suggests, the goal is to undertake a massive effort to reforest 70,000 acres of lands once covered with tropical forest communities. This project is intended to be Brazil's contribution to the worldwide effort to attack the issue of global warming. I am impressed but, the best is yet to come! First of all, the leadership for this project appears to understand the importance of bio-diversity in this reforestation effort. Finally! The old stand-by process of planting seedling, usually all the same species and age-class, destroys diversity and can only be considered successful if your only goal is the production of wood-fiber. If you care about the sustenance of life and our human requirements forests provide, then natural diverse forest communities must be your driving goal.
The next step, although in this project driven by economics, is also a major requirement in Nature's Way. The seeds from over 200 indigenous tree species will be collected and scattered over the lands once forest covered. Direct seeding using native species, outstanding! The article quotes The Food and Agriculture Organization and Bio-Diversity International, as having tested the process and experiencing a 90% germination success rate. The Brazilian's call this new planting process, "muvuca". New for Brazil but, is actually the story of "Creation" and the process that established our original diverse forest communities. Amazing how retracing our footsteps can lead to discovering the wisdom of understanding Nature! Sharing the Traditional Knowledge's of our indigenous people can provide a more desirable future!
The most exciting part of this project for me, is the involvement of our indigenous people in the seed collection and direct seeding of their lands. This is the land of their ancestors, their land, and together we can change the future!
This is not all the detail required for the future management of our valuable forested lands but, after my 50 years in the science of forestry, it is an exciting step forward. If you are willing to take the time to truly study the complexity of Creation, you will discover that diversity is the most important factor in almost every aspect of life on our planet. There is hope!
Our next edition will be from New Mexico.
As the title suggests, the goal is to undertake a massive effort to reforest 70,000 acres of lands once covered with tropical forest communities. This project is intended to be Brazil's contribution to the worldwide effort to attack the issue of global warming. I am impressed but, the best is yet to come! First of all, the leadership for this project appears to understand the importance of bio-diversity in this reforestation effort. Finally! The old stand-by process of planting seedling, usually all the same species and age-class, destroys diversity and can only be considered successful if your only goal is the production of wood-fiber. If you care about the sustenance of life and our human requirements forests provide, then natural diverse forest communities must be your driving goal.
The next step, although in this project driven by economics, is also a major requirement in Nature's Way. The seeds from over 200 indigenous tree species will be collected and scattered over the lands once forest covered. Direct seeding using native species, outstanding! The article quotes The Food and Agriculture Organization and Bio-Diversity International, as having tested the process and experiencing a 90% germination success rate. The Brazilian's call this new planting process, "muvuca". New for Brazil but, is actually the story of "Creation" and the process that established our original diverse forest communities. Amazing how retracing our footsteps can lead to discovering the wisdom of understanding Nature! Sharing the Traditional Knowledge's of our indigenous people can provide a more desirable future!
The most exciting part of this project for me, is the involvement of our indigenous people in the seed collection and direct seeding of their lands. This is the land of their ancestors, their land, and together we can change the future!
This is not all the detail required for the future management of our valuable forested lands but, after my 50 years in the science of forestry, it is an exciting step forward. If you are willing to take the time to truly study the complexity of Creation, you will discover that diversity is the most important factor in almost every aspect of life on our planet. There is hope!
Our next edition will be from New Mexico.