By Jessica Aldred
Conservation groups want a new national charter to save trees and woods from the ‘unprecedented threat’ of development, disease and climate change. A coalition of UK conservation groups is calling for a new national charter for trees, woods and people.
by Kurt Gruber
It takes a whole day to travel from Ecuador’s capital, Quito, to the heart of the Unesco Sumaco Biosphere Reserve, some 100km to the southeast. The journey entails three hours by car to the edge of the forest, and then anywhere from seven to 15 hours by boat, mule and foot, mostly uphill and on a muddy road, to reach the interior. But the effort is worth it, considering you wind up in the middle of a pristine forest that houses a rather unusual find: walking palm trees.
by Gerry Donnelly
Friday is Arbor Day in Illinois, a day to plant and celebrate trees. The world needs more trees, and we also need to appreciate and care for the trees already rooted in our communities. Trees need champions.
We love trees for their beauty – from long-awaited spring blooms to spectacular fall color and snow-dusted winter branches – and welcome the shade they provide on hot summer days. Yet, people often take trees for granted, overlooking all they do to improve quality of life and the environment.
Scientists have discovered a way to make trees grow bigger and faster which, in the face of climate change, could help increase the supply of renewable resources, according to new research.
by FIONA MACDONALD
New research has shown for the first time that trees don’t just move water up and down like we previously thought - they can also move it across into their ‘food tubes’ to store it for a not-so-rainy day.
Scientists from the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at the University of Western Sydney in Australia have used fluorescent dyes to map the flow of water through trees, and found that the direction of movement isn’t just vertical, its also horizontal.
(Bloomberg) -- Oxford University scientists, after a year of research, have determined the best technology to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and try to reverse global warming.
It’s trees.
They considered methods ranging from capturing emissions from factories and power stations to extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air, and adding lime to oceans to increase their absorption of the gas, a study released on Tuesday showed
Euronews
Trees do the vital job of absorbing carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, and producing oxygen. But at the moment, the only way to measure how much carbon is stored in a tree is to chop it down and weigh it.
Mountain ash trees growing on the Australian island of Tasmania are the tallest flowering trees in the world. They are not quite the tallest trees of any kind, however—that record belongs to the coast redwoods of California. But that might be because things have been skewed against the mountain ash. (BBC)
A drug made from the fruit of a tree from the rainforests of northern Australia has destroyed cancerous tumours in mice, scientists say.
If a tree falls in an urban forest, and it doesn't make a sound, does it have any value?
According to the folks at one of Canada's largest banks, the answer is a resounding "yes."
Beyond more nebulous social and environmental impacts, Toronto's lush canopy of trees are worth about $7 billion to the local economy, TD Bank suggests in a report released Monday.
