Sons of David Foundation on Paulownia

Paulownia vs. Balsa

2009-08-19T18:24:00.002-04:00

Paulownia Wood... the Cheaper, Stronger Alternative to Balsa Wood

Balsa has been incorrectly considered to have the highest strength to weight ratios of any wood in the world.

Paulownia has been thoroughly tested and found to have a higher strength to weight ratio than Balsa!

Auburn University tested the strength of 18 lb p/cubic ft. Paulownia against Balsa, with an average weight of 10 lbs p/cubic foot.

(See Table 1)

Strength modus of rupture mor (psi)
Balsa	2800
Paulownia	5740
- Source: Dr. R.C. Tang, Auburn University

Some Balsa core material is sliced at 3/8 inch with end-grained material. Paulownia can be cut at 3/16 and offer approximately the same strength and weight. Paulownia offers a space saving benefit, being cut half as thick. There is also a significant cost savings because half as much material is needed.

Lighter grades of Paulownia weigh only 14lbs per cubic foot. This is lighter than many Balsa grades.

When considering the large amount of epoxy that Balsa soaks up, Paulownia gains an even larger weight advantage.

Paulownia is easily carved and can hold nails and screws without splitting. It also provides greater stability and flexibility for making molds and models.

Paulownia Lumber Characteristics

2009-08-09T11:51:00.002-04:00

Tags: paulownia, lumber characteristics, paulownia strength, balsa, aluminum of hardwood, conductivity, fire resistant, insect resistant

Lightweight

Paulownia is about 2/3 the weight of the lightest commercial wood grown in the US. It weighs an average of 14 to 19 lbs per cubic foot. Paulownia is almost 1/3 the weight of Oak (44 lbs p/cubic ft) and half the weight of Pine (30 lbs p/cubic ft).

The specific gravity of Paulownia ranges between 0.23 to 0.30 (23 to 30% of the density of water).

Strength

Paulownia has one of the highest strength to weight ratios of any wood.

Strength modus of rupture MOR (psi) of Paulownia is 5740.

Paulownia holds nails and screws well and does not require pilot holes to be drilled. In fact both yellow poplar and white pine have proven to split before Paulownia. Flat head screws can be driven flush with the surface.

Plantation grown Paulownia is mostly knot free, making it very consistent.

Workability

Paulownia has been widely used in the orient for fine furniture, musical instruments, carvings and decorative finishes for over 1000 years. It can be peeled for veneer in 1/16 inch thickness and has even been sliced at 1/32 inch.

Intricate patterns can be cut with a jig saw or band saw without splitting easily. Paulownia has been a favorite for many carvers in the US. Furniture, doors and windows can be made with close tolerances. All normal finishing materials can be applied and it bonds well with glue.

Stability

Air-drying takes as little as 30 days. Boards can be kiln dried at high temperatures in as little as 24 hours to 10% to 12% moisture content with no warping. Reported shrinkage from green to oven-dry is only 2.2% radial and 4.0% tangential.

Paulownia remains stable during changes in humidity and experiences little shrinkage or expansion compared to most other woods. It is highly durable and resists decay under non-ground contact conditions. The wood is insect resistant.

Conductivity

Paulownia is a very good insulator. Paulownia log homes are said to have twice the R factor as pine or oak logs. This temperature resistance serves to give the wood a high fire resistance. Ignition temperature is approximately 400 deg. C. which is almost twice many conventional American hard and soft woods.

Attractiveness

Paulownia has a light blond appearance and resembles White Ash. It stains well with a variety of colors and can be made to mimic other woods. Once planed a silky luster is revealed. The feel is also very silky.

For more information on paulownia or to purchase paulownia seeds or seedlings (elongata, fortunei, tomentosa) please refer to http://www.paulownianow.org or http://www.panampro.com

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In US bill, a potential climate-forest model for Europe

2009-07-17T15:50:00.002-04:00

Tags: greenhouse gas, carbon credits, climate change, conservation, reforestation, EPA,Waxman-Markey legislation, Kyoto protocol, paulownia

By Jeff Horowitz

The tropical forest provisions in the recently passed Waxman-Markey legislation represent a rare area of emerging US leadership on climate policy – one that will create a new era for forests, tropical development and carbon markets.

If these provisions are enacted into law and equaled or surpassed by other developed nations, the world can rapidly (and affordability) reduce and reverse deforestation, eliminating the 20 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions caused by deforestation and provide a sustainable route to prosperity for the planet’s millions of forest dependent people.

The legislation bridges a political gap that has long plagued efforts to tackle climate change in the US and around the world: the dispute over whether companies should be able to receive credit for investing in tropical forest conservation or whether efforts to protect forests should rely exclusively on government funding.

Instead of continuing to debate these questions while the planet’s forests burn (300 million acres of forests have been lost since the Kyoto protocol excluded tropical forest protections in 1997), major US environmental groups and companies decided to do something about it – and entered a negotiating process facilitated by Jeff Horowitz, the founder of Avoided Deforestation Partners.

This process yielded a major insight: it’s not a choice between governments and markets. Rather, both government funding and incentives for private investment are essential to end deforestation – and will build on one another.

This insight was embodied in a Forest-Climate Unity Agreement signed by groups and companies across the ideological spectrum, from the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council to the Environmental Defense Fund, Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, American Electric Power and Duke Energy.

With such a powerful alliance behind it, policy makers took note and the Waxman-Markey legislation broadly reflects this consensus. First, it sets aside five per cent of the bill’s emissions allowances to help tropical government’s end illegal logging, conduct conservation activities to which markets may not be suited, and build the capacity they need to meet the legislation’s strict requirements for participation in carbon markets.

Companies can only get credit for reducing emissions from forest conservation once the reductions have already occurred – and either they or EPA has to compensate for any subsequent reversals that occur because of fire, logging, or other intentional or unintentional activities.

In major emitting countries such as Brazil and Indonesia, companies can receive credit only if conservation activities are part of a national plan that ensures a countrywide reduction in deforestation, not just a local one. In the program’s early years, conservation projects run through major emitting states and provinces will also be eligible, as will projects in small-emitting countries that are working to develop national plans for reducing deforestation.

Critically, no conservation will receive credit unless biodiversity is protected, and indigenous and forest-dependent people share in the proceeds. Consider the numbers: by 2015, the combination of the set-aside funding and offsets will generate $12-15 billion annual investment in tropical forest conservation, preventing the destruction of millions of hectares of forest and reducing pollution by a conservatively estimated one billion tons of CO2 a year – equivalent to wiping away all of Germany’s pollution.

Many of these funds will go directly to forest dependent and indigenous communities – and for the first time on a large scale, the quest for a better life will be tied to conservation of the earth’s natural treasures, not their destruction.

The legislation also credits environmentally-sound reforestation and afforestation activities, giving hope that the millions of acres of forests that have already been destroyed might one day approach something like their former glory (and carbon storage capacity).

All this is achieved on an extremely affordable basis. EPA has estimated the bill would be 89 per cent more expensive without international offsets, most of which will be forest based, allowing the US to take on more ambitious emissions reduction targets than would otherwise have been politically possible.

That could be an important insight for European countries and others with stronger pollution reduction targets than the US: although they’re starting from a better baseline, including affordable, high quality tropical forest offsets in their climate policies would allow these countries to achieve even greater pollution reductions at the same economic and political cost –with extraordinary benefits for the climate.

For more information on carbon credits and REDDs and reforestation you may read www.paulownianow.org and www.panampro.com which explains how paulownia acts as a carbon sink helping to restore the environment.

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Earth Day is Upon Us: What Can I Do?

2009-04-19T09:51:00.005-04:00

Tags: global warming, Earth Day, ecosystems, extinction, environment

April 22, 2009, marks the 39th celebration of Earth Day, a time when people around the world hold events to honor our home planet -- and to remind everyone about the importance of our ecosystem. Founded in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, a former United States senator from Wisconsin, Earth Day has grown into a global event. In 1970, 20 million Americans demonstrated in streets, parks, and auditoriums for a healthier, cleaner environment. This year, hundreds of millions of people in more than 180 countries are expected to participate in Earth Day activities around the world.

How the First Earth Day Came About

By Senator Gaylord Nelson, Founder of Earth Day

What was the purpose of Earth Day? How did it start? These are the questions I am most frequently asked.

Actually, the idea for Earth Day evolved over a period of seven years starting in 1962. For several years, it had been troubling me that the state of our environment was simply a non-issue in the politics of the country. Finally, in November 1962, an idea occurred to me that was, I thought, a virtual cinch to put the environment into the political "limelight" once and for all. The idea was to persuade President Kennedy to give visibility to this issue by going on a national conservation tour. I flew to Washington to discuss the proposal with Attorney General Robert Kennedy, who liked the idea. So did the President. The President began his five-day, eleven-state conservation tour in September 1963. For many reasons the tour did not succeed in putting the issue onto the national political agenda. However, it was the germ of the idea that ultimately flowered into Earth Day.

I continued to speak on environmental issues to a variety of audiences in some twenty-five states. All across the country, evidence of environmental degradation was appearing everywhere, and everyone noticed except the political establishment. The environmental issue simply was not to be found on the nation's political agenda. The people were concerned, but the politicians were not.

After President Kennedy's tour, I still hoped for some idea that would thrust the environment into the political mainstream. Six years would pass before the idea that became Earth Day occurred to me while on a conservation speaking tour out West in the summer of 1969. At the time, anti-Vietnam War demonstrations, called "teach-ins," had spread to college campuses all across the nation. Suddenly, the idea occurred to me - why not organize a huge grassroots protest over what was happening to our environment?

I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda. It was a big gamble, but worth a try.

At a conference in Seattle in September 1969, I announced that in the spring of 1970 there would be a nationwide grassroots demonstration on behalf of the environment and invited everyone to participate. The wire services carried the story from coast to coast. The response was electric. It took off like gangbusters. Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country. The American people finally had a forum to express its concern about what was happening to the land, rivers, lakes, and air - and they did so with spectacular exuberance. For the next four months, two members of my Senate staff, Linda Billings and John Heritage, managed Earth Day affairs out of my Senate office.

Five months before Earth Day, on Sunday, November 30, 1969, The New York Times carried a lengthy article by Gladwin Hill reporting on the astonishing proliferation of environmental events:

"Rising concern about the environmental crisis is sweeping the nation's campuses with an intensity that may be on its way to eclipsing student discontent over the war in Vietnam...a national day of observance of environmental problems...is being planned for next spring...when a nationwide environmental 'teach-in'...coordinated from the office of Senator Gaylord Nelson is planned...."

It was obvious that we were headed for a spectacular success on Earth Day. It was also obvious that grassroots activities had ballooned beyond the capacity of my U.S. Senate office staff to keep up with the telephone calls, paper work, inquiries, etc. In mid-January, three months before Earth Day, John Gardner, Founder of Common Cause, provided temporary space for a Washington, D.C. headquarters. I staffed the office with college students and selected Denis Hayes as coordinator of activities.

Earth Day worked because of the spontaneous response at the grassroots level. We had neither the time nor resources to organize 20 million demonstrators and the thousands of schools and local communities that participated. That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.

Did You Know There Are Actually Two Earth Day’s?

International Earth Day

March 20 is the International Earth Day, you may say isn’t Earth Day April 22? Well, yes there are two different Earth Days, The International Earth Day on March 20 and Earth Day on April 22. There are different origins and they both started about the same time.

The March 20 observance of International Earth Day started in 1969 with the proposal to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and it was followed by an Earth Day Proclamation by the City. Then in 1971, at the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations) Conference in San Francisco John McConnell proposed International Earth Day and it was signed by U.N. Secretary General U Thant. To date, a total of 39 world leaders, such as, Yasir Arafat, Yehudi Menuhin, Cosmonaut Anatoli Berezevoi Margaret Mead, and John Gardner have signed leaving space for one more signature.

Margaret Mead wrote an Earth Day Essay featured by International News Service.
This quote by Margaret Mead says it all “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.”

On 1974 McConnell, discussed his Earth Right proposal at the United Nations Raw Materials Conference his with Sheik Yamani of Saudi Arabia, and other leading delegates. McConnell later stated at the United Nations Church Center, “Underlying property rights and sovereignty rights is the fundamental right of every person on Earth to an equal share in Earth’s raw materials and natural resources.”In 2007 Weekly Reader Research surveyed 1,657 students between ages 6 and 18 from schools around the country. The organization found that 64 percent of America's youth have discussed the environment and global warming in class, and a majority (especially girls) expressed concern.

Still, most people are not freaking out over the prospect of climate change, the Gallup polling organization finds.

"While Americans say they are worried about global warming, they also believe the worst manifestations of the problem are a long way off," writes Lydia Saad of the Gallup News Service in her analysis of a poll taken last month.

Gallup asked Americans how worried they are about seven weather events tied to climate change including hurricanes, droughts, rising ocean levels, tropical diseases, and species extinction.

"Generally speaking, not much more than one-third of Americans are 'very worried' about any of the seven effects of global warming measured in the survey," says Ms. Saad. "However, a solid majority are at least 'somewhat worried' about nearly all of them."

At the same time, Gallup finds, Americans by a wide margin – 58 percent to 34 percent – think "the government should put a higher priority on protecting the environment than on increasing energy production." Even though 92 percent think the energy situation in the United States is "serious" (of whom 37 percent say "very serious"), those surveyed favor energy conservation over production by 64-26 percent.

"A lot more people seem willing to go the extra mile, spending a few dollars to help the environment," says Steve Haskins, a Williamstown, Mass., home builder, who's seen a rapid increase in the numbers of requests for sustainable building practices. "Concern about climate is driving it. But it's also cost of energy and cost to heat the house."

Corporate boardrooms are getting the message, too. "There's been a dramatic shift in the business community's attitude toward the environment," says Dan Esty, director of the Yale Center. "Rather than seeing environmental issues as a set of costs to bear, regulation to follow, and risks to manage, companies have begun to focus on the upside, recognizing that society's desire for action on climate change, in particular, will create a huge demand for reducing carbon-content products."

This year, April 22, the annual day to tout personal and community greenness, has a new emphasis for many people: global warming and its predicted effects on Mother Earth.

Around the country and around the world, a batch of recent opinion surveys show swelling public interest in and concern about climate change.

There is "a significant shift in public attitudes toward the environment and global warming [with] fully 83 percent of Americans now saying global warming is a 'serious' problem, up from 70 percent in 2004," reports the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy.

"The last six months have been the most rapid period of change in public awareness and attitudes on climate change that I've ever seen," says William Moomaw, a Tufts University climate expert and coauthor of the recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a UN-sponsored group of scientists.

Demand for climate-change briefings he's delivered for the past five years have jumped in the past year, says Dr. Moomaw. Audiences who were once polite are now actively engaged.

Do Your Part to Make a Difference!

· Encouraging your family to recycle on a regular basis is a good way to help the Earth!

· Switching to energy-efficient light bulbs in your house helps to reduce the effects of global warming.

· Every glass bottle you recycle saves enough energy to run a TV for an hour and a half, while recycling an aluminum can saves enough energy to run your TV for three hours!

· Turn out the lights when you leave a room - unless someone's still in there!

· Use re-usable containers for you school lunches and snack

· Plant a tree to replenish the earth. I recently visited a huge magnolia tree my grandmother and I planted 40 years ago at our old home. I recalled every detail of that long-ago day and felt a strong connection with the graceful beauty of that tree. If tree planting isn't feasible where you live, consider donating to a tree-planting organization. Sons of David Foundation is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to planting, maintaining, and protecting as many indigenous trees as possible worldwide. Find out more at www.paulownianow.org

Nature restores our sense of peace and allows us to feel life touching us--it soothes and nourishes our spirits and sometimes frightens us with its power. We make this gift available to our children as we teach them to become respectful of the earth, to walk with awareness, to recycle, and to leave no destructive record of their visit. The natural world is our perpetual, yet ever-changing link with the universe. God, nature, and child all share the same space, connected in the powerful web of life. All parts of the web have importance and purpose. Celebrate Earth Day as an opportunity to become reacquainted with our glorious Mother Earth. You and your child will be blessed by the effort.

A Party for the Earth!

Planet Earth has been around for a very long time. Some call the planet "Mother Earth". This is a good name because the Earth provides shelter and food for our survival, just as a mother protects and provides for her children. Even though the earth is tough and sturdy, it is also fragile.

The Earth's "ecosystems" (ekko-sis-tems) help it to stay in balance. Imagine a picture puzzle that has been put together. The person who has the puzzle can dust it off and take care of it and it will be like new for a long time. But if the puzzle is taken apart and put back together too many times, pieces of it will be torn and bent and probably smudged. Some pieces might even be lost, and then the picture wouldn't be the same at all.

When something damages one part of our ecosystems, it hurts the other parts.

When any living thing on Earth is having problems surviving and continuing its species, it is endangered. If the problems are not solved, there is a chance that it might become extinct. When something becomes extinct, it means that it doesn't exist anymore. Over the years, many mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, insects and plants have become extinct. Quite a few are on the endangered list now. Could there ever come a time when Earth becomes extinct?

Earth has always been a natural environment but, through the years, it has had to put up with what mankind's progress has done to it. Factory smokestacks pour pollution into the air; cars and other vehicles add even more fumes into the atmosphere; waste materials get dumped here and there and everywhere; and animals and other living things lose their habitats because construction needs to take place in order to keep up with the needs of a growing population.

We have taken a natural environment and have been turning it into an un-natural one. But we can't stop progress and we know the world's population is going to get larger. However, what mankind CAN do is find better ways to help the Earth survive along with us. We have been depending on this planet for decade after decade and century after century. Now it seems that it is depending on us to make better choices and find better answers. That's what Earth Day is all about. It is a party for Mother Earth. It is also a chance to discover what each of us can do to help her stay strong and healthy.

"Let every individual and institution now think and act as a responsible trustee of Earth, seeking choices in ecology, economics and ethics that will provide a sustainable future, eliminate pollution, poverty and violence, awaken the wonder of life and foster peaceful progress in the human adventure." (Earth Trustee Formula, International Earth Day Site)

“Man is the only species which can save another species from extinction” (David W. Morris)

Forest Fires have become a Wildcard in the Global-Warming Game.

2009-04-11T08:29:00.006-04:00

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi April 01, 2009 Tags: global warming, forest fires, paulownia, ENOCIS, Enoch Olinga College, reforestation, environment

Imagining Earth without forests is a horrifying picture to conceive. As its knowledge base has expanded and deepened, mankind has realized that forests are extremely important to the survival of humans and other life forms on earth. Yet deforestation in the form of forest fire continues unabated in different parts of the world. According to the World Resource Institute based at Washington DC (U.S.A.), the rates of rainforest destruction are 2.4 acre per second, 149 acres per minute, and 214,000 acres per day and 78 million acres per year.

The forest is also vital as a watershed. Because of the thick humus layer, loose soil, and soil-retaining powers of the trees' long roots, forests are vitally important for preserving adequate water supplies. Almost all water ultimately feeds from Forest Rivers and lakes and from forest-derived water tables. In addition, the forest provides shelter for wildlife, recreation and aesthetic renewal for people, and irreplaceable supplies of oxygen and soil nutrients. Deforestation, particularly in the tropical rain forests, has become a major environmental concern, as it can destabilize the earth's temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels.

Besides being the source for food, plants help us in a number of other ways. Animals, including humans, inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide; plants take up carbon dioxide and in return they release oxygen – this exchange is very important. Forests in particular act as a huge carbon dioxide sink. If there were not enough trees to absorb carbon dioxide, its accumulation would make the environment poisonous. Over the last 150 years, the amount of carbon dioxide has increased.

While all living plant matter absorbs CO2 as part of photosynthesis, trees process significantly more than smaller plants due to their large size and extensive root structures. In essence, trees, as kings of the plant world, have much more "woody biomass" to store CO2 than smaller plants, and as a result are considered nature´s most efficient "carbon sinks."

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), tree species that grow quickly and live long are ideal carbon sinks.An excellent species to serve as a carbon sink is paulownia. It is fast growing, fire resistant and its large leaves can absorb huge amounts of carbon dioxide.The Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS) is experimenting with paulownia in its agricultural extension center in Panama. They are using paulownia to provide alternate income sources for farmers of extreme poverty.

Forests are carbon stores, and they are carbon dioxide sinks when they are increasing in density or area. In Canada's boreal forests as much as 80% of the total carbon is stored in the soils as dead organic matter. A 40-year study of African, Asian, and South American tropical forests by the University of Leeds, shows tropical forests absorb about 18% of all carbon dioxide added by fossil fuels, thus buffering some effects of global warming. Tropical reforestation can mitigate global warming until all available land has been reforested with mature forests. About 70-80 billion tons of carbon dioxide is fixed annually by terrestrial and aquatic photoautotrophs.

Life expectancy of forests varies throughout the world, influenced by tree species, site conditions and natural disturbance patterns. In some forests carbon may be stored for centuries, while in other forests carbon is released with frequent stand replacing fires.

From the last hundred years forests are being reduced drastically due to forest fire, the most common hazard in forests. Though the forests fires are as old as the forests themselves, but in recent years the incidence of forest fire, either man made or natural, has increased many fold.

They pose a threat not only to the forest wealth but also to the entire regime to fauna and flora seriously disturbing the bio-diversity and the ecology and environment of a region. During summer, when there is no rain for months, the forests become littered with dry senescent leaves and twinges, which could burst into flames ignited by the slightest spark.

The burning of forest trees gives off not only carbon dioxide but also a host of other, noxious gases (Green house gases) such as carbon monoxide, methane, hydrocarbons, nitric oxide and nitrous oxide, that lead to global warming and ozone layer depletion. Consequently, thousands of people suffered from serious respiratory problems due to these toxic gases. Burning forests and grasslands also add to already serious threat of global warming. Recent measurement suggest that biomass burning may be a significant global source of methyl bromide, which is an ozone depleting chemical.

Wild land fires are taking tons of carbon out of storage and feeding it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a primary greenhouse gas.

Usually it is cars, factories and power stations that are most often mentioned as sources of carbon dioxide (CO2), a gas which traps heat in the atmosphere. Trees, considered the "lungs of the planet", soak the gas up. But what if they burn?

Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and climatologists see forests as carbon "sinks" - places where large amounts of that element are stored. When they burn, whether in forest fires or as logs in a stove, it is released.

In the atmosphere, CO2 is the main gas which contributes to the greenhouse effect - trapping the earth's heat which would otherwise be radiated into space.

The latest UN report on global warming says temperatures will rise by a best estimate of 1.8 to 4.0 Celsius (3 to 7 Fahrenheit) this century and sea levels will rise by between 18 and 59 centimeters. The resulting hotter, drier summers.

Bushfires that have scorched Australia's Victoria state released millions of tons of carbon dioxide and forest fires could become a growing source of carbon pollution as the planet warms.

A raging forest fire in the Saranda forest, one of the largest Sal forests in Asia, of Jharkhand State of India has become a cause of concern for locals as well as the authorities. According to recent reports large area has been covered with fire. From the last two decades we already are seeing the effects of global warming in Jharkhand State. From last several years Jharkhand is facing extremes of the climate. Earlier thick forest cover played major role in absorbing excess carbon dioxide and balancing the temperature difference. But unfortunately due to deforestation in large scale in Jharkhand, carbon dioxide may have increased in the atmosphere many fold.

During the 1997-98 El Nino 20M hectares burnt. This one event released 2.6 billion tons of carbon - the highest annual increase since measurements began. They were so massive that the output of CO2 from combustion reached 40% of the world total. This happened again in 2006.

Indonesian fires have shown us that catastrophic events in small areas can release vast amounts that have been locked away for millennia.

The WWF said about 10 million hectares of forest were burned in the 1997 forest fires, releasing about 2.57 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making Indonesia the world´s third-largest emitter after the United States and China.

There has been a four-fold jump in the average number of wildfires beginning, a process that began in the mid-1980s. The total area being burned is six and a half times greater, and the length of the bush fire season has been extended by 75 percent. In South-East Asia, in Russia and in the Amazon the extent of bush fires has increased.

Sources:

http://himachal.gov.in/home/HomeGuards/pdfs/forest%20Fires.pdf

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/greek-huge-forest-fires-could-be-co2-threat/214144/0http://nidm.gov.in/Forest_Fires2_ii.asp

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0858185.htmlhttp://www.planetextinction.com/planet_extinction_trees.htm

http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:

http://redapes.org/news-updates/major-forest-fires-in-sight-as-more-hotspots-detected/

http://www.enocis.org

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sink

http://environment.about.com/od/whatyoucando/a/best_trees.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulownia

http://www.paulownianow.org

http://www.panampro.com

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Biochar: Applying Ancient Knowledge in the Information Age

2009-03-09T08:03:00.002-04:00

Source: Planet2025 News Network Tags: Panama, paulownia, ENOCIS, biochar, Amazon, carbon footprint, environment, agriculture, Chepo, New Era Farms, greenhouse gases, slash and burn, biofuel

Biochar: Applying Ancient Knowledge in the Information Age

Careless development without regard for the earth’s natural balance, has led to potentially disastrous levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Now, that we have to deal with the reality of climate change, we commonly find ourselves looking to modern technology to provide a solution.

NASA has just announced that in January 2009, it will make use of the latest technologies and equipment available to man, when it launches a new mission called the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO). The goal of the mission is to obtain accurate measurements of the level of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere and a more precise understanding of where it is being captured and stored on Earth.

For various reasons, precise information about how much carbon is being put into the atmosphere and where it is being absorbed by natural carbon sinks has been, up to this point, lacking. The OCO will use three high-resolution spectrometers to observe “sunlight reflected off Earth at the precise wavelengths that reveal the presence of carbon dioxide and molecular oxygen.”¹ and will be able to obtain the most precise data on this subject ever collected which should allow them to uncover unknown patterns and cycles in the Earth’s carbon dioxide.

It is true that advances in technology, such as this mission by NASA, can give us the opportunity to better understand the natural carbon cycle of our Earth. Yet, relying on modern technology alone is an expensive and therefore, for many countries, inaccessible route towards solving the climate change problem.

Instead, many experts are pointing to the potential of an ancient, low-tech, carbon sequestration technique once used by the Amazonian Indians, called biochar, that could provide an integrated solution for the current and related issues of climate change, food security, and sustainable energy production.

When trees and other organic materials decay or burn they release all the carbon they had stored during their lifetimes, as part of a carbon neutral cycle. The process of making biochar involves the heating or burning of organic materials (can be waste materials) in the absence of oxygen, a process known as pyrolysis, which results in the production of a carbon-rich, fine-grained form of charcoal that is then buried. The heated, non-oxygenated decomposition that occurs in the “burning” stage, gives off energy that can be used as an efficient biofuel.

This process reduces the carbon that would be emitted by the natural decaying or oxygenated burn of the material by 90%, and stores that carbon in the leftover charred material. Therefore the production of energy in the biochar process goes beyond being carbon-neutral and is actually considered carbon-negative because it takes carbon dioxide out of its natural cycle and sequesters it in the soil, for up to 5,000 years.

In addition, the resulting biochar is extremely helpful when added to soils, because it holds onto nutrients and water. In recent experiments on 10 farms, using biochar as a fertilizer resulted in up to three times greater crop yields than without it.² Biochar is also the secret ingredient behind the famously fertile terra pretta (dark earth) of the ancient Amazonians, that was first observed by European explorers in the 16th century.³ As reported by Reuters “Soils containing biochar made by Amazon people thousands of years ago still contain up to 70 times more black carbon than surrounding soils and are still higher in nutrients”.

The beauty of biochar is that it's a time-tested and integrated solution. Biochar minimizes waste, while producing energy, and sequestering carbon. It has also been shown to further reduce greenhouse gases by decreasing nitrous oxide and methane gas emissions from soil. It reduces the use of fossil-fuel based fertilizers, and increases soil fertility and crop yields. The “slash-and char” method, which involves slow smoldering of farm wastes to fertilize existing plots, could replace the less effective and more damaging slash-and-burn farming technique that generates greenhouse gases and destroys forests.

The main boundary to its use is that it has yet to be proven on a commercial scale. But perhaps that is about to change. Biochar is already being used on a number of small farms. For example, the Times Magazine recently reported on a chicken farm in West Virginia that uses chicken manure as the organic material for pyrolysis, which creates enough energy to run the farm. The farmer is also able to profit by selling the resulting biochar as fertilizer.

Just last Friday, a large-scale biochar enterprise created by British environmental entrepreneurs, Craig Sams, (one of the founders of the popular Green & Black organic chocolate company) and Dan Morrel, (co-founder of Future Forests, the first carbon offsetting company), got its first multi-million-pound investment from venture capitalists in California’s Silicon Valley.

This project will begin running trials with biochar in Sussex and Belize starting in early 2009, and hopes to build biochar into a worldwide enterprise. According to Mr. Sams, who called biochar “a treasure to be buried in the earth”, CO2 in the air could be reduced to pre-Industrial Revolution levels by 2050, if only 2.5% of the world’s productive land would be used to produce biochar.⁴

The ancient people of the Amazon who used biochar techniques could probably not have conceived of the OCO mission NASA will soon undertake, and yet they developed a land management technique that shows they had a superior understanding of the Earth’s delicate balance. Perhaps it is a sign of our true modernity that we are growing more willing to recognize and incorporate ancient knowledge alongside new technologies in our quest for solutions to the greatest crisis of our time.

Biochar techniques are one of the various agricultural processes being experimented with by the Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS) www.enocis.org at their Agricultural Extension Center “New Era Farms” in Chepo, Panama www.paulownianow.org

By Mallika Nair

Sources

1. Discovery News “NASA Space Probe to Track CO2 on Earth” Dec. 5, 2008 by Irene Klotz. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/12/05/carbon-dioxide-space.html

2. Reuters “Scientists say ancient technique cuts greenhouse gases” Dec. 5, 2008, by Gerard Wynn http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE4B45KB20081205

3. Carbon: The Biochar Solution Dec. 4, 2008 by Lisa Abend http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1864279,00.html

4. The Independent “Ancient skills ‘could reverse global warming’” Nov. 7, 2008, by Geoffrey Lean. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/ancient-skills-could-reverse-global-warming-1055700.html

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THE WORLD AFTER 2020: MBendi South Africa

2009-02-15T05:52:00.001-05:00

In August 2008 I wrote about Wangari on our blogs. I recently decided to expand on that thought process and refocus on her efforts in Africa.

A couple of years ago I attended a stirring speech given by Wangari Mathaai, then little-known Kenyan winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time I thought that the reason she had been awarded the prize was simply because she had founded a women's movement in East Africa which had planted more than six million trees. After her speech, I was little the wiser. It was only when I read her wonderful biography, Unbowed, recently that I discovered the real reason for the prize.

As East Africa's first woman with a Ph D she had taken on a very male chauvinist, highly corrupt political establishment. First she had prevented a major park in the centre of Nairobi being used to build a privately owned office block and later she was instrumental in overturning the sale of a state forest to a developer of upmarket housing. In between she planted trees, uplifted women and fought both the bureaucracy and bad farming practices. For her sins, she was physically attacked, arbitrarily arrested, faced privations in prison, ridiculed in the press and parliament and ostracized. But she persevered and today Kenya is a much greener country than it might otherwise have been.

Her book is really in two parts, with the second part given over to her fights with the powers that be. In the early chapters she paints a beautiful picture of growing up in rural Kenya - the family home and village life but most of all growing crops and vegetables. One thinks of traditional African peasants as ignorant, but they understood the soil and the climate, the plants and the animals, the insects and the old fig trees that protected the springs of gushing water. In a very sensitive way, she also describes her father's life as a worker on the farm of a white settler at the time of the Mau Mau rebellion.

Both parts of Dr Mathaai's book have resonated with me recently as I have contrasted UN forecasts of the world's undernourished growing by 40 million people to 963 million people this year and prices of staple foods up 15% or more in just the last eight weeks with news reports of new agricultural projects being started in Africa. Just a couple of months ago there was the story about how South Korea's Daewoo had been allocated 1.3 million hectares of Madagascar, a chunk the size of a small European country, to grow food for the home country; last week it was a Wall Street banker who had signed a deal with a Sudanese warlord for 400,000 hectares of land alongside the Nile; and this week it was Lonrho taking over a block of 25,000 hectares of sparsely populated land in Angola.

For a couple of years now we have been reading of biofuels projects springing up in Mozambique especially, but also Tanzania. In Sierra Leone, Addax Petroleum, with the support of the national government, is to set up a 20,000 hectares sugar cane plantation together with an ethanol distillery/factory would produce more than 1,200,000 litres of ethanol per year and a 30 MW power plant that would be able to supplement Bumbuna. The project will employ 4,000 people. All across Africa, commercial farmers are growing sugar and tobacco, two of the biggest contributors to health problems worldwide.

As I read about all these projects - and with Dr Mathaai's words ringing in my ears - I find myself asking questions. Why was the land not already being used for agricultural production when Africa is so chronically short of food? Who really owns the land being used for the projects - the national government, the tribe or the individual families living on it? What is going to happen to the people currently living on the land? Will those given jobs really earn enough to live a better life than they enjoyed before? Will the country and community really be better off or is it the offshore investors who are the only beneficiaries? More than anything, I wonder whose pockets and offshore bank accounts are going to bulge even further as a result of these projects?

If all this sounds like just another African bad news story, let me end with a ray of hope. After years of drought and famine, the government of Malawi, against the wishes and so-called better judgment of the donor community, set up a scheme to distribute seeds and fertilizer at subsidized prices to small farmers. The result is that today Malawi produces more food than it consumes and earns foreign currency from exporting to the countries round about. What we really need is for Africans to use African land to fill African stomachs first, then foreign stomachs in exchange for filling the bank accounts of the local farmers who did all the hard work.

Incidentally, if you go searching the Internet for information on the African agricultural sector, you will find there is plenty of information on agricultural aid to the continent, but precious little about who produces how much of what. So our researchers have started pulling together all the pieces of this tricky jig-saw puzzle, starting with paulownia elongata, which you canread more about at www.paulownianow.org. We'll keep you posted as they update more of our pages. Some other useful links to further stimulate your thinking about where the world is going.Tags: reforestation, Africa, Wangari, Wangari Mathaai, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel Prize, Africa, reforestation, fertilizer, biomass, paulownia

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Planting Trees Saves Cash, Research Confirms

2009-02-05T04:51:00.003-05:00

Emily Sohn, Discovery News Tags: global warming, reforestation, environment, ecology, paulownia, agriculture

Jan. 22, 2009 -- Plant a tree: Save 25 bucks. Researchers in California have found that planting trees in strategic locations around your house can lower your summertime electricity bill by that much or more.

The concept is common sense: Extra shade reduces the need for air conditioning. But this is the first study to use actual utility bills to nail down the details of where trees should be placed to help people chip away at their environmental footprints -- and their budgets.

"Nobody says we're going to cure global warming just with urban trees," said lead researcher Geoffrey Donovan, an economist at the Portland Forestry Sciences Lab in Oregon. "But they're one of the nicer ways of doing it."

For the new study, Donovan and colleague Dave Butry, an economist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, looked at 460 single-family homes in one neighborhood of Sacramento, Calif.

Using Google Earth, the researchers looked down on each house from above. They measured the diameter of all tree crowns in three zones: 20, 40, and 60 feet away from the building, and in four directions: north, south, east and west.

Based on the distances of the trees from the buildings and the sizes of their crowns, they calculated where shadows would be cast at various times throughout the day.

The electric company provided copies of each home's electric bill, while the county gave data about factors that might affect electricity use, including house size, lot size, and whether the house had a pool. A computer model then controlled for these variables to see whether trees had an effect on summertime energy use above and beyond those factors.

The study, in press at the journal Energy and Buildings, found that people used about 5 percent less electricity (about $25 less) during the summer when they had trees within 40 feet of their home's south side or within 60 feet of its west side.

Late in the day, when temperatures are highest and people are more likely to turn on the A/C, trees cast longer shadows, which explains the bigger buffer zone on the house's west side.

These findings gave real-world support for the results of previous, more theoretical work.

Unexpectedly, when trees sat on a house's north side, electric bills went up. The result might be a statistical anomaly, Donovan said. But he speculated that blocked breezes or the need for more lighting could also explain the finding.

Over a 100-year period, the scientists calculated, planting a London pine tree on the west side of a Sacramento home could reduce the house's net carbon use by 30 percent -- half through sequestering by the tree and half through reduced electricity use. Financial savings will increase, Donovan added, as utility companies start charging more for electricity at peak times of day.

It's probably worth planting trees around your home, agreed Jim Simpson, a meteorologist at the Center for Urban Forest Research in Davis, Calif., despite the costs of buying trees and taking care of them. But the specifics of which trees to plant and where to plant them will likely differ in places that are colder, wetter, or otherwise different from the steaming valleys of California.

"In the Sacramento area, air conditioning is a fairly big thing, and we have mild winters," Simpson told Discovery News. "It would be a good idea to do this sort of study in other climate zones where heating is a bigger deal."

One of the fastest growing shade trees in the world is paulownia elongata which can grow an amazing sixteen feet a year offering shade and energy savings in as little as two years. For more information on paulownia you may refer to the web site www.paulownianow.org

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Recent Changes in Panama Immigration Laws Effect Reforestation Visas

2009-01-16T05:18:00.001-05:00

Tags: Panama, Panama Law, Panama Visas, Panama Immigration Law, Panama Reforestion Visa, managed forests, PanAmerican Properties, ANAM, paulowniaThe new Immigration Law of the Republic of Panama, Executive Decree No. 320 of 8 August 2008 which regulates law No. 3 of February 22 2008 has made substantial changes in the requirements to be eligible to apply for a reforestation visa in this country. Section No. 2 of this law on page 22 of the original text which can be read in its entirety in English at the following url http://www.panampro.com/index_archivos/law.htm has increased the minimum investment from $40,000 USD to $60,000 USD and has added an additional requirement of the acquisition of at least 10 hectares of land.

This provision of the law allows both for individual or corporate ownership of the land or an investment of at least 10 hectares of managed forest relieving the investor from the necessity of managing the property themselves and dealing with the onerous labor laws, the social security requirements and the constant holidays which plague the nations development.

However much is to be said about the structure of the law. Projects now need to be registered by ANAM, the country’s National Environmental Agency which hopefully will establish stricter controls and regulation of reforestation in Panama.

This new legal initiative opens the door for better regulation of tax laws regarding reforestation and greater opportunity for protecting our nation’s forests by establishing “Chain of Custody” requirements for these managed plantations. Hopefully it will be the beginning of more selective requirements controlling which species of tree will be eligible for tax exemptions.

One such tree should be paulownia elongata, the Princess Tree, because of not only its high market value but because of the benefits it offers to Panama. Paulownia has a complete growth cycle in 8-10 years reaching the size of native hardwoods in one third the time. Such a growth rate offers potential opportunities to eliminate the crisis of extreme poverty in the rural areas of the country.

Paulownia also offers nutritive value to local fauna and the top soil because its leaves have a 26% protein content and rapidly decompose. Unlike teak and other hardwoods, paulownia creates natural fire barriers during the dry season because its ignition point is 425 degrees centigrade four times that of boiling water.

For more information on paulownia in Panama you may visit our web site www.paulownianow.org or for investment opportunities in managed paulownia forests of Panama www.panampro.com. You may also contact us via email at info@paulownianow.org

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A Comparative Analysis of the Advantages of Growing Paulownia vs.Teak

2009-01-13T10:25:00.001-05:00

Tags: paulownia, teak, Panama, reforestation, environment, ecology, Chain of Custody A few years ago teak was considered the panacea of solutions for socio economic problems in Panama. But, today, the harsh reality of growing teak is widely known. Recognized in many countries as a weed, Panama is one of the few nations in the world that gives tax incentives for planting Tectona Grandis, teak.

It is thoroughly understood that teak damages the environment. The fall of teak leaves is one of the principal causes of severe erosion and fire throughout the country. The high oil content of the tree and leaves is like tinder or kindling for fires during the dry season. When the leaves fall to the ground, they do not disintegrate rapidly and serve no useful function in the forest either as natural fertilizer or feed for animals.

Today there are huge forests of teak all over Panama. Instead of contributing to the nation’s economy, they are actually depleting the national treasury through tax deductions provided to the wealthy. Globally there are more offers to sell teak than to buy.

Many of these stands of teak are more than twenty years old. Why aren’t they being sold? There are two primary reasons: one the price of teak in Panama is not in synch with the realities of the price of teak on the world market and two, buyers today are more informed and are requesting documentation that most Panamanians cannot provide because they have not made the financial investment necessary for this type of venture, instead their interests have been to hide money from taxation. “Chain of Custody” documents are one of the key requirements for selling lumber in today’s world market. This documentation proves that the producer is not damaging the environment or jungle to extract lumber.

Today, there is a new alternative for agroindustry and multidimensional farming. This new paradigm of agroforestry allows for a mix of the traditional with the nontraditional generating more income for the farm and at the same time restoring the ecology of the nation. A study done by USAID/AED “A FINANCIAL ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABLE CATTLE FARMING SYSTEMS IN THE WATERSHED OF THE PANAMA CANAL” dated June 2005 proves the economic viability of raising cattle with trees. Although the study mentions some species of trees, it does not mention species with high agricultural value. Selecting the correct species will not only serve as a source of income but also function as an integral and important part of the daily life of the farm.

Paulownia could be that species. Paulownia is recognized as the fastest growing tree in the world, the aluminum of hardwood trees. Grown for hundreds of years on the Pacific Rim, paulownia has a greater value than teak on the world market and offers the opportunity to have three harvests in the time it takes for teak to have one.

The paulownia leaves are used in many parts of the world has feed for animals because of its high nutritive value.

With the price of land in the clouds today, farms are smaller and farmers must maximize the economic utility of every hectare. Different than teak, after two years, the farmer can graze cattle between the paulownia trees without damaging them.

Paulownia increases the fertility of the land. The leaves disintegrate rapidly feeding the natural grasses which control erosion of top soil. Paulownia also functions as a natural firebreak. The ignition temperature of paulownia is approximately 425 degrees centigrade. Teak has a flash point of a little more than 100 degrees centigrade about that of boiling water.

All of these elements combined: the world market price, world supply and demand, speed of growth, and a quick return on investment compared to teak, the nutritional value of paulownia as feed for animals, the benefit to top soil as a fertilizer and finally the ignition point of paulownia make paulownia an ideal addition to today’s farms. For more information on paulownia or to buy seeds, seedlings or round poles you may visit our web site www.paulownianow.org or write us at info@paulownianow.org . If you are looking for investment opportunities in reforestation please visit www.panampro.com.

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Women Farmers Toil to Expand Africa's Food Supply

2008-12-26T05:20:00.001-05:00

By Megan Rowling Tags: Bill Gates Foundation, Africa, women farmers, irrigation, technology, U.N. World Food Programme, underserved peoples, education, FAO, fertilizer, paulownia, agroforestry

LONDON, Dec 26 - Like many African women, Mazoe Gondwe is her family's main food provider. Lately, she has struggled to farm her plot in Malawi due to unpredictable rains that are making her hard life even tougher.

"Now we can't just depend on rain-fed agriculture, so we plant two crops - one watered with rain and one that needs irrigating," she explained. "But irrigation is back-breaking and can take four hours a day."

Gondwe, flown by development agency ActionAid to U.N. climate change talks in Poland this month, said she wanted access to technology that would cut the time it takes to water her crops and till her farm garden. She would also be glad of help to improve storage facilities and seed varieties.

"As a local farmer, I know what I need and I know what works. I grew up in the area and I know how the system is changing," Gondwe said.

This year, agricultural experts have renewed calls for policy makers to pay more attention to small-scale women farmers such as Gondwe, who grow up to 80 percent of crops for food consumption in Africa.

After decades in the political wilderness, farming became a hot topic this year when international food prices hit record highs in June, sharply boosting hunger around the world. The proportion of development aid spent on agriculture has dropped to just 4 percent from a peak of 17 percent in 1982.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for women to be at the heart of a "policy revolution" to boost small-scale farming in Africa.

Women have traditionally shouldered the burden of household food production both there and in Asia, while men tend to focus on growing cash crops or migrate to cities to find paid work.

Yet women own a tiny percentage of the world's land -- some experts say as little as 2 percent -- and receive only around 5 percent of farming information services and training.

"Today the African farmer is the only farmer who takes all the risks herself: no capital, no insurance, no price supports, and little help - if any - from governments. These women are tough and daring and resilient, but they need help," Annan told an October conference on fighting hunger.

A new toolkit explaining how to tackle gender issues in farming development projects, published by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), highlights the potential returns of improving women's access to technology, land and finance.

In Ghana, for example, if women and men had equal land rights and security of tenure, women's use of fertilizer and profits per hectare would nearly double.

In Burkina Faso, Kenya and Tanzania, giving women entrepreneurs the same inputs and education as men would boost business revenue by up to 20 percent. And in Ivory Coast, raising women's income by $10 brings improvements in children's health and nutrition that would require a $110 increase in men's income.

"The knowledge is there, the know-how is there, but the world -- and here I'm talking rich and poor -- doesn't apply it as much as it could," said Marcela Villarreal, director of FAO's gender, equity and rural employment division.

EQUALITY

Many African governments have introduced formal laws making women and men equal, but have troubling enforcing them where they clash with customary laws giving property ownership rights to men, she said.

Often if a woman's husband dies, she has little choice but to marry one of his relatives so she can keep farming her plot and feeding her children, Villarreal said. But if a widow is HIV positive, she might be chased off her land.

In Malawi, FAO is working with parliamentarians and village chiefs to let rural women know they are legally able to hold land titles. They are given wind-up radios so they can listen to farming shows in local languages and taught how to write a will.

"People continue to think that doing things for women is part of a welfare programme and doing things for men - big investments or credit - that is agriculture, that is GDP-related," Villarreal said.

"Women continue not to be seen as part of the productive potential of a country."

One powerful woman trying to change that is Agnes Kalibata, Rwanda's minister of state for agriculture. She said government land reform and credit programmes specifically target struggling women farmers - many of whom are bringing up children alone after their husbands were killed in the 1994 genocide.

This has helped raise their incomes, leading to better nutrition, health and education for their children, Kalibata said. Women are also getting micro-credit loans, which they use to access markets and cooperatives or set up small businesses, such as producing specialty coffee for export.

"They are not like rocket scientists, they are women from the general population who finally feel empowered that they can come out and do some of these things," explained Kalibata.

In the private sector, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have decided to put women at the centre of its agricultural development programme by attaching conditions to grants. It no longer finances projects that ignore gender issues, and it requires women to be involved in their design and implementation.

Catherine Bertini, a senior fellow at the foundation and professor of public administration at Syracuse University, said aid donors had not spent enough on support for women farmers.

"You can find the rhetoric but it's a limited number of people who actually walk the walk," she said.

Bertini, who headed the U.N. World Food Programme in the 1990s, said policy makers could best be persuaded to focus on women farmers by playing up the economic benefits rather than talking about gender equality.

"You convince people to do it because it's the most practical way to increase productivity and income to women," she said.

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The World After 2020

2008-12-06T10:50:00.001-05:00

Tags: global warming, deforestationMBendi Newsletter: 28.Nov.2008

In our last newsletter, we commented on the energy implications of the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook 2008. The outlook also had much to say about the likely environmental impact of their reference scenario, so I dug through our Signposts for the past three months to see what new evidence there is for climate change. Here's a summary of what I found.

First some new forecasts to set the scene. Ice sheets on Antarctica and Greenland would raise world sea levels by about 70 meters if they melted completely. Fortunately, the UN Climate Panel projects that sea levels will only rise by between 18 and 59 cm this century. Scientists in Japan forecast that peatlands, concentrated in high latitude locations including Canada, Russia and Alaska, could experience a 40% carbon loss from shallow peat and 86% carbon loss from deep peat with a warming of four degrees C.

The IEA reference scenario forecasts that world greenhouse gas emissions, including non-energy CO2 and all other gases, will grow 35% between 2005 and 2030, leading to a doubling in the concentration of those gases in the atmosphere by the end of this century and an eventual global average temperature increase of up to 6°C on today. Separately, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography warned that the earth will warm about 2.4° C above pre-industrial levels even under extremely conservative greenhouse-gas emission scenarios and under the assumption that efforts to clean up particulate pollution continue to be successful.

So, where are we right now? Starting with the atmosphere above us, the UN Climate Change Secretariat reported that emissions by 40 industrialized nations dropped 0.1% from 2005 to 2006 driven by a fall in U.S. emissions. However, 2006 emissions of 18.0 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide were still 2.3% up from 17.6 billion in 2000 and only 4.7% down from 1990 levels of 18.9 billion tonnes. Most of this drop is due to the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, whose emissions have risen 7.4% to 3.7 billion tonnes just since 2000.

The Global Carbon Project reported anthropogenic CO2 emissions have been growing about four times faster since 2000 than during the previous decade. Worldwide man-made emissions of CO2 increased 3% in 2007. The annual mean growth rate of atmospheric CO2 was 2.2 ppm per year in 2007, above the 2.0 ppm average for the period 2000-2007 and 50% above the average annual mean growth rate for the previous 20 years of 1.5 ppm. Atmospheric CO2 concentration was 383 ppm in 2007, 37% above the concentration at the start of the industrial revolution and the highest during the last 650,000 years and probably during the last 20 million years. Natural land and ocean CO2 sinks removed 54% of all CO2 emitted from human activities during the period 2000-2007.

In 2006, China passed the USA, still the leader in emissions per-capita, to become the largest CO2 emitter, and India will soon overtake Russia to become the third largest emitter. More than half of the global emissions come from less developed countries. However, developing countries with 80% of the world's population still account for only 20% of the cumulative emissions since 1751; the poorest countries in the world, with 800 million people, have contributed less than 1% of these cumulative emissions. Japan reported 2007 emissions were at record levels due to closure of a nuclear power plant.

An MIT report in Geophysical Research Letters indicated that levels of methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide, rose abruptly in Earth's atmosphere in 2007. Methane has more than doubled in the atmosphere since pre-industrial times, but stayed largely stable over the last decade or so before rising in 2007 simultaneously at all the places scientists measured around the globe.

Moving from the air to the oceans, an Australian study showed rising carbon dioxide levels in the world's oceans due to climate change, combined with rising sea temperatures, could accelerate coral bleaching, destroying some reefs before 2050. Scientists reported that the number of polluted "dead zones" areas of oxygen-starved water in the world's oceans is growing at about 5% per annum and coastal fish stocks are more vulnerable to collapse than previously feared. According to the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies in Spain marine organisms are more vulnerable to low oxygen content than currently recognized, with fish and crustaceans being the most vulnerable.

The Center for Australian Weather and Climate Research reported in Nature Geoscience that the Southern Ocean, the world's largest carbon sink, has maintained its ability to soak up excess carbon despite changes to currents and wind speeds. The ocean was becoming warmer and less saline. Currents had not changed in strength, though they had shifted closer to Antarctica. CO2 is absorbed by the ocean's turbulent surface layer and then carried to the depths by circulation patterns. It is also absorbed by phytoplankton and other organisms, which fall to the ocean bottom when they die. Some of the carbon-rich water from the depths rises near Antarctica, releasing CO2, while further away from the continent, it sinks again because it is less dense. Overall the ocean absorbs much more than it releases.

Scientists calculated temperatures had risen about 2 Celsius in the past 40 years in the Arctic and by a few tenths of a degree in Antarctica, where some winter sea ice has even expanded in recent decades. The University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Center reported that Arctic sea ice melted to its second-lowest level in the summer of 2008, 34% percent below the average from 1979 to 2000, but 9% above the record low set in 2007, the warmest year on record in the Arctic. The annual report of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded that autumn air temperatures in the Arctic had climbed to a record 5 degrees C due to major losses of sea ice caused by a warming trend dating back decades. Wild reindeer and caribou herds appear to be declining in numbers. Surface ice is also melting in Greenland.

However, in line with the adage that every dark cloud has a silver lining, the UN Environment Programme reported that a 3 km thick cloud of pollutants hanging over Asia may be delaying the worst effects of global warming. And the Earth Policy Institute published figures showing that while the number of cars and bicycles manufactured during the 1950's and 1960's was almost the same, nearly three times as many bicycles were manufactured as cars in 2007 and bicycle sales continue to rise even while car sales plummet.

I recently read John Firor's The Changing Atmosphere, which succinctly describes the phenomena of acid rain, stratospheric ozone and climate heating. Long before the end, one feels he is describing a situation that calls for immediate action - I was horrified to find the book was researched and published all of twenty years ago and, apart from getting rid of CFCs, we haven't made a lot of progress since then. However, we're heartened that the new US government plans to comprehend the environment in its proposed economic rescue package. They could well take a leaf out of the book of Portugal, which aims to have 60% of electric power provided by solar, wind, wave and other clean sources by 2020 and which last week signed an agreement with Renault and Nissan to create a national network for zero-emission cars by the end of 2011. Now that's what Detroit should be proposing to Congress is exchange for a bail-out...

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Invest in Timber: Save the Rainforest & Make Money Too..

2008-11-16T11:25:00.001-05:00

Tags: paulownia, managed forests, US Forest Service, underserved peoples, PanAmerican Properties, PanAm Pro, ENOCIS, Enoch Olinga College

What are the characteristics of timberland as an investment?

Trees grow. The value of timber products in each tree tends to increase over time. That is, trees grow into more valuable products over time (pulpwood into saw timber into poles and plywood). Even with constant stumpage prices, tree volume increases and more valuable products are available for harvest, so value naturally increases over time. Timber investment usually involves an additional investment in land. However, investing in a managed forest, the entrepreneur relieves themselves of the cost of the land, maintenance and personnel costs involved with independent investment in timber. PanAmerican Properties, Inc. offers a lucrative investment opportunity whose proceeds rest in a tax free zone. Additionally the program restores deforested areas of the rainforest and creates jobs for the underserved peoples of Panama. Proceeds from the project are used to educate students of excellence by providing them scholarships via the Enoch Olinga College

Timber investments offer the flexibility in cash flows; timber sales can be timed for the market.

Timber investment typically involves a long time period. However, the age structure of purchased forest stands establishes the possible cash flows. Timber can be illiquid, but this can create buying opportunities for investors. Natural risks like diseases, insects and fire can cause losses, but mortality due to all causes is less than 0.5 percent in large holdings.

One of the advantages of the PanAm Pro project is the investor receives a deed which can be negotiated, sold or gifted to third parties.

The paulownia reforestation program offers a much faster and more lucrative turnaround of their assets. Traditionally, it takes twenty or more years before the investor receives a return with paulownia the first return on investment is within 12-18 months. A typical paulownia contract is ten years.

What factors influence the rate of return?

Changes in timber prices. Since World War II pine saw timber prices have exceeded inflation by 2 to 3 percent annually and pine pulpwood has kept up with inflation. USDA Forest Service projections are for continued real price increases.

Tree growth and yield. Tree growth is highly impacted by site quality and forest management intensity. Tree growth can be accurately predicted via computer models.

Changes in tree value. Forest management practices control stocking and influence the size of trees on a tract (and thus the products that can be produced). Overall value can be maximized.

Changes in land value. Increases in land value typically increase overall rates of return.

Costs. Cost effective forest management will result in higher rates of return. Rates of return of 13 to 16% can be generated in Canada and the USA compared with returns of 3 to 6% in UK and Europe with even higher rates of return in Panama the difference rates of return can be attributed to the cost of land and lower labor costs.

What rates of return have historically been earned by timber investments?

University studies show real rates of return in the 10 to 12 percent range can be reasonably expected. A leading timber index based on actual returns found rates of return vary from 11 to 16 percent depending on region. Since 1986 the major timberland property index has returned just over 16 percent annually (40% from income and 60% from capital appreciation).

Timber income represents a cash flow; how predictable is this cash flow?

Timber can produce a managed cash flow. Timber can be stored on the growing tree in bad markets and will grow in volume while stored. Age structure of the forest stands dictates cash flow opportunity and age structure is known at the time of investment.

Timber income will be impacted by:
Stumpage price change, which is a function of timber supply and demand. Government projections show real price increases should continue for the foreseeable future.

Land value changes will obviously affect returns. Government projections are for continued real land value increases.

Tree growth is a major impact and can be modeled by computer; the level of forest management greatly affects tree growth.

How risky is timberland investment?

Stumpage price, land price and tree growth can be considered risks. As discussed under predictable cash flows, diversification minimizes these risks. Control of age structure and storing wood on the growing tree reduce stumpage price risk. Land prices tend to be rather predictable; timber is usually not produced on development-type land. Tree growth is variable, but easily modeled on a computer. Geographic diversification minimizes mortality risk from fire, insects and disease (which average less than 1% on large forest properties).

How do timberland assets correlate with other financial assets?

Published studies demonstrate timberland assets show relatively strong negative correlation with all other major financial assets (treasury bills, government and corporate bonds, and stocks). Timberland assets have a low, but positive, correlation with inflation. Geographic diversification will lower the magnitude and volatility of timberland returns. Additional diversification occurs naturally; timber product prices (pulpwood, saw timber, poles, plywood, etc.) are only lowly correlated.

How volatile are timberland returns?

Like all investments, higher returns usually mean more volatility. Timberland lies above the "capital market line"--meaning it produces high returns relative to volatility. For example, from 1960 to 2001 stocks (S&P 500) returned 10.1 percent with a standard deviation of 16.6 percent, while timberland returned 12.6 percent with a standard deviation of 13.2 percent.

The Capital Asset Pricing Model shows timberland is a negative BETA and a positive ALPHA asset class. This suggests timberland is a "negative risk" investment and should be required to generate even less return than a risk-free investment. That is, timberland appears to be undervalued in term of returns generated relative to risk.

What is the outlook for timberland as an investment?

Institutional investors own over 4 million acres of timberland in the South. Within a decade, this is expected to exceed 12 million acres. Timberland has been shown to provide excellent portfolio diversification. It is negatively correlated with most other financial assets, including real estate, and positively correlated with inflation. Professional timber management investment organizations can easily manage investment risk via geographical diversification and proper forest management. Timberland is above the capital market line; or another way of saying that is it produces significant returns that exceed those expected for its risk level. Timberland is expected to experience dramatic increases in its share of institutional investment over the next decade. Timberland's historic returns justify this interest.

For more information on paulownia, you may visit the web site paulownianow an informative site with a lot of pictures and technical information. There is even a pictorial instruction on how to plant paulownia seeds which can be purchased from the institution by contacting them at info@paulownianow.org

For investment information on managed paulownia plantations you may contact PanAmerican Properties, Inc.

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Panama and How Paulownia Can Help the Poorest Sector of the Nation

2008-10-31T10:56:00.001-04:00

Tags: Panama, paulownia, education, reforestation, environment, Panama Canal, Native Americans To fully understand the benefits of living and retiring in Panama you must first gain a perspective about the country of Panama and how it compares to the United States.

The Republic of Panama situated in the lower part of Central America and the Caribbean. The Republic of Panama is a small coastal isthmus nation with over 75,000 km 2 of area about the size of the State of Maryland with boundaries connecting it to Costa Rica and Colombia, and bisected by the Panama Canal. The climate is tropical, wet and rainy with a mean temperature of 27.7 C and average annual rainfall of 190.8 mm. Panama, a cultural melting pot, inhabited by diverse Native American groups, it was colonized by Spain and formed part of Colombia from 1821 until it declared independence in 1903 becoming the Republic of Panama.

The country now enjoys a politically stable and democratic government. The Balboa, Panama’s exchange of currency is par with the US dollar, and is interchangeable with it, even in coin machines. Merchants accept all major credit cards recognized in the US and there is free trade between the countries. American citizens can travel freely within the country. The parallels continue: The population is mostly Christian but enjoy complete religious freedom. There is 110 AC electricity, they are in the Eastern Time zone, and have the same sources transportation. Panama has a complete network of highways and many people travel by car or bus. Major airlines also service the country, as well as public transportation and rail systems.

Panama’s strategic geographical position and the Panama Canal have made the country a world leader in marine transportation, finance and commerce. The official language is Spanish but English is taught in most schools; and is the official second language. The literacy level of the population is 92.3% one of the highest in Latin America. 65% of the population is dedicated to commercial and service activities.

Panama has a population of approximately 2.8 million people and an annual growth rate of 3.9%. The per capita income is $2,794 a year one of the highest in Central America, with a .5% inflation rate the lowest in Latin America, and a 12.8% rate of unemployment. [1]

On the surface, Panama and the United States seem very close in culture and technology. In fact, Panama is closer to Texas than Texas is to New York City. In spite of similarities, Panama is strikingly different in so many ways. To grasp this, we must admit the painful; they are a third world country, with staggering demands and limited resources. The third world does not live the healthy, well-educated abundant life we almost take for granted. Panama is no different. Some unique problems cannot be legislated away with a humane constitution or eliminated by technical advancement in urban areas.

Although having a relatively high per capita income this number hides the fact that 10% of the poorest sector of the country receive only 0.5% of the total income of the Nation while 10% of the richest receive 42% of the total income of the Republic. Although one of the richest countries in Latin America it has one of the worst distribution of wealth. This absence of social equity affects approximately 50% of the population in a significant manner. The indigenous and other minority populations are affected most dramatically of all. [2]

During one of the darkest times in the history of Panama, the 1980’s when an international embargo was placed against the country and the banks froze all assets a financial anomaly occurred which is note worthy. Although loans of almost all types were going into default, two areas did not appear to be affected by the economic situation: home and educational loans.

In fact, the education industry experienced a slight increase in sales possibly because the increased amount of time unemployed people had on their hands. No other country other than Japan readily comes to mind as having such a high respect for education. When an educator dies people line up for the funerals. No notable private school has ever gone bankrupt and the laws regarding educational institutions are quite favorable making the education business one of the most secure investments in the Republic of Panama. Although schools do not make large earnings on the bottom line, they do demonstrate a steady income and growth potential. Educational facilities are one of the “blue chips” in private industry in Panama.

For the above reason the Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS) www.enocis.org has implemented a socio economic development project in the areas of extreme poverty of Panama, the PanAmerican Properties, Inc. paulownia elongata reforestation project. www.paulownianow.org The project has two objectives one, to create new sources of income for the poorest sector of Panamanian society and two, produce new sources of revenue for entrepreneurs with a high rate of return with an additional environmental benefit at no additional costs. You may read more about these opportunities or participate in the Paulownia Reforestation project at the following url. http://www.paulownianow.org/index_files/earth.htm

[1] Real Estate and Terminology, CB Richard Ellis LA, 1999. CB Richard Ellis is a US, internationally recognized real estate and development company traded on the US stock Exchange and operating in over 20 countries throughout the World.

[2] The National Census of Panama, the Office of the Comptroller General

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Enter the PanAmerican Properties Essay Contest.

2008-10-08T15:50:00.006-04:00

Tags: essay contest, paulownia, empress tree, environment, PanAmerican Properties, Sons of David, lumber, biodiversity, forest management, conservation, ecosystems

Enter the PanAmerican Properties Essay Contest.

Reduce your carbon footprint with every tree you plant...

WORLDS FASTEST GROWING HARDWOOD SHADE TREE!

THE ROYAL EMPRESS TREE

Also known as Sapphire Dragon Tree, Paulownia, Kiri Tree, Foxglove Tree & Princess Tree

Paulownia trees are your best choice for a fast growing, beautiful tree that is unsurpassed in its ability to help our environment simply by growing.

Save the Earth

Essay Contest

Trees on Steroids!! How planting paulownia trees, one of the fastest growing trees in the world, can help reduce your impact on the environment.

1. Entries received from 1 October 2008 to 30 November 2008 will be eligible to participate. All entries will become the property of the Sons of David Foundation, to be published at their discretion.

2. All entries should be from 750- 1500 words and may be submitted in English, Spanish, French and German. Send entries to essay@paulownianow.org

3. One winner will be selected within 60 days of the close of the contest.

4. The winning essay will be published by the Foundation on the Paulownia web site www.paulownianow.org and blog http://www.paulownianow.blogspot.com

5. The prize!! 100 paulownia seeds plus planting instructions, valued at more than $100 USD, will be sent to the winning contestant.

6. For any question please write to info@paulownianow.org. Your participation in this contest can make a difference in the lives of many living in extreme poverty.

Lumber from Paulownia trees has been greatly revered in Japan and China for centuries. With the decline of our native forests to the lumber industry, Paulownia trees have come into the spotlight worldwide for their ability to produce high quality timber at a much faster rate than any other hardwood tree.

With an extraordinary growth rate and huge air filtering leaves that convert carbon into oxygen at a higher rate than almost any other tree, Royal Empress Trees are rapidly becoming an important part of the solution to reducing our impact on the Earth.

PanAmerican Properties is developing a reforestation initiative designed to create a neutral zone between the indigenous reservations, legitimately established by both international and national law and the non indigenous communities that are invading these reservations and are cutting down the forests to grow grass for grazing cattle.

This newly titled property separates both populations and not only reduces racial tension but also permits the indigenous communities restore their ecology and the environment.

The project offers the nation a politically correct solution to a longstanding serious issue. Strategic reforestation, whereby the Latino and the indigenous populations will be responsible for the growth and maintenance of the trees and be the beneficiaries of the income derived from the selective cutting of the forest.

This sustainable development offers an environmentally friendly solution to generate income for both groups in areas of extreme poverty. This project creates new jobs and sources of income for students graduating from the PanAm Pro training programs for small business, agriculture, agro forestry, and forest ranger.

PanAm Pro pursues non-confrontational, pragmatic, market-based solutions to conservation challenges. This makes it essential for us to work collaboratively with partners—communities, businesses, government agencies, multilateral institutions, individuals and other non-profit organizations.

Most of the world’s biodiversity exists in areas inhabited by people. Effective conservation cannot be achieved unless the people who live and rely on those lands are an integral part of the conservation process. The Foundation depends upon partnerships with indigenous people and local communities to conserve some of the most biologically critical and threatened ecosystems on Earth.

PanAm Pro works with local communities to improve their quality of life from better management of the resource base, including water use, tourism and forest management. This will help maintain and improve local livelihoods, strengthen local economies and improve their capacity for conserving the remaining biodiversity.

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A Brief Overview of Subsistence Farmers in Panama

2008-09-20T12:28:00.003-04:00

Tags: Slash & burn, deforestation, subsistence living, Panama, extreme poverty, indigenous, malnourishment, rice, marginalization Authored by M.C.

Despite a deceptively high national per-capita income, there is much poverty in Panama. The "poster child" of Panamanian poverty would be malnourished, rural and indigenous. There would be no shortage of models for such a poster; 87.7% of the rural indigenous population and 33.5% of the total rural population has been classified as suffering extreme poverty. This means they have a per-capita income of less than $470 dollars per year, insufficient to provide a minimum daily consumption of 2280 calories (Government of Panama, 1998).

At the same time, the natural resources, which sustain the rural population, and with wise use could produce an acceptable standard of living, are being depleted at an alarming rate. For reasons of climate, geographical location and topography, Panama has an apparent comparative advantage in wood and other forest products. Nevertheless, little has been done to develop this advantage.

Often, thousands of dollars of valuable wood is burned to clear land where less than one hundred dollars of rice or corn will be harvested. The annual rate of deforestation has been estimated at 50,000 to 70,000 Ha. per year. Areas of extreme soil degradation due to erosion comprise more than 2,000,000 Ha. More than 1,700,000 Ha. of land that is unsuited to agricultural production is currently in use, and will likely be added to the total of degraded land in the future. Thus, it is probable that the migration to urban areas will continue or increase from its current level (Stewert, 1996).

Who they are and what they are like about 45% of Panama’s population is classified as rural, with 1,007,247 rural non-indigenous and 206,489 rural indigenous people (GOP, 1998). While exact figures for the number of subsistence farmers are not available, a drive through the countryside will suffice to know that the majority of the rural working population is engaged in subsistence agriculture at least part of the year. Within two hour’s travel in any direction from Panama City’s tall buildings, one will encounter subsistence farmers.

In spite of the existing environmental laws, the campesino has had almost unrestricted access to forested land, even in protected areas (Stewart, 1996). There they practice migratory or "slash and burn" agriculture. Usually grains such as rice or tubers such as yucca are planted for about two years, after which the land is abandoned to regrow a forest fallow, or converted into pasture, and the cycle is repeated elsewhere. The campesino combines his unskilled labor with available land, without having to invest money that he doesn’t have, to produce a crop for his family’s consumption.

In areas where there is paid labor available, many campesinos will work for large landowners during part of the year. This depends greatly on transportation and availability of productive land. A man will often abandon planting his own crops to chop woody plants in pastures for $3 per day (Veraguas province) to $6 per day (Coclé) (Personal communication, 1999). He may leave his home for two or three months a year to cut sugar cane for the same daily wage. This indicates that the daily production of the migratory farmer is less than that- certainly an indication of extreme poverty, given the average family size of 5.6 persons (total rural) to 7.2 persons, for indigenous areas (GOP, 1998).

The rural poor spend an average of 71% of its meager income on food, leaving very little for other basic necessities. At the same time, 43% of the rural poor have access to land, indicating that the land, which is available, is underutilized for food or income production.

What are the unmet needs?

According to the government of Panama (1998), poverty is concentrated in rural areas (88% of the national total for extreme poverty), indigenous areas (88% of the total indigenous population is extremely poor) and affects children to a great degree (52% of all children under 5 years and 37% of the total population are poor). The government classifies extreme poverty as per-capita income less than $470 dollars per year, insufficient to reach the minimum daily caloric intake of 2280 calories. The poverty line is set at $726 per-capita per year, sufficient to assure a minimum requirement of calories, plus essential goods and services.

The government characterizes the poor rural population in the following manner (1998):

* Large families- average 5.6 members (national) to 7.2 (indigenous)

* Poorly educated- average 4.5 years of school, 20% illiteracy among the poor, 50% among indigenous women

* Rustic housing- 40% of rural poor (61% of indigenous poor) has dirt floors

* Need for potable water- 27% of rural poor (57% of indigenous) don’t have water systems

* Lack of sanitary facilities- 14% of rural poor and 60% of indigenous poor don’t have latrines or other facilities

* High degree of malnutrition among children- about 1 of 3 poor rural children and 1 of 2 poor rural indigenous children suffer from chronic malnutrition

(2 standard deviations less than average height for age)

* Lack of technical assistance- 5% of all farmers receive technical assistance, this falls to 2.6% among rural poor and 1% for indigenous

* Lack of credit for poor farmers- the non-poor receive 93% of the total value of all agricultural loans

* Deforestation, especially of watersheds, and soil erosion due to lack of soil conservation techniques, are serious problems in rural areas

* Marginalization of women and low productivity of young agricultural workers add to over-all family and community poverty

To sum up-

The large percentage of the Panamanian population, which lives in the countryside, faces a broad range of inter-related problems relating to income, nutrition, housing, water and sanitation and other basic needs.

The available resources- human and "natural" are poorly utilized, and in some cases, being lost. At the same time, the education and technical assistance, which are available, are not nearly sufficient to meet the need for learning the low-input techniques that are required in the situation of lack of credit or other money to invest in small-scale agriculture and community development.

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Women's Secure Access to Land and Productive Assets

2008-09-03T07:37:00.004-04:00

Tags: paulownia, disadvantaged groups, women forests, socio-economic development

"The Gleaners"
by Lewis Rubenstein (1908-2003)

The land is nurturing the mother, who nurtures the child on her back who in time will tend the fields.
For more about the Artist click here

Women need forests,
Women need water,
Access to education and to power,
Freedom from bondage,
Freedom from hunger.
Let us bring them 'the honour'.
Land to women is actually revolution.
As it saves children from malnutrition
And makes families function

Extract from Words of Women at the WRAP workshops in India:

Across the developing world, rural women are among the poorest and most disadvantaged groups. They face gender-based discrimination, which is reflected in inequalities in their rights and in their access to resources – especially land, technology and social services, including education and health. Their voices in public life are seldom heard, as women are under-represented in decision-making at all levels. Moreover, their social and economic contributions to their households, and to their communities, are neither understood nor documented.

Women’s access to land can be directly related to the important role played by them in rural economy, especially agriculture; it is a basic factor in food security for family and communities. However, women represent the majority of persons without title deeds to the land they use. In a changing socio-economic environment, where women are becoming heads of rural households at an accelerating rate, it is vital that the visibility of rural women farmers be raised; although the economic roles and contributions of women are increasing, their rights to land are not. It must be realized that respect for women’s land rights is something that will benefit the population as a whole.

For more information on land use by women and indigenous populations please refer to our web site www.paulownianow.org.

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What Trees have to do with Peace

2008-08-18T18:47:00.001-04:00

Tags: Green Belt Movement, Reforestation, women's rightsThirty years ago, in the country of Kenya, 90% of the forest had been chopped down. Without trees to hold the topsoil in place, the land became like a desert. When the women and girls would go in search of firewood in order to prepare the meals, they would have to spend hours and hours looking for what few branches remained. A woman named Wangari watched all of this happening. She decided that there must be a way to take better care of the land and take better care of the women and girls. So she planted a tree. Then she planted another. She wanted to plant thousands of trees, but she realized that it would take a very long time if she were the only one doing it. So she taught the women and they were paid a small amount for each sapling they grew. Soon, she organized women all over the country to plant trees, and a movement took hold. It was called the Green Belt Movement, and with each passing year, more and more trees covered the land.

But something else was happening as the women planted those trees. Something else besides those trees was taking root. The women began to have confidence in themselves. They began to see that they could make a difference. They began to see that they were capable of many things, and that they were equal to the men. They began to recognize that they were deserving of being treated with respect and dignity. Changes like these were threatening to some. The president of the country didn't like any of this. So police were sent to intimidate and beat Wangari for planting trees, and for planting ideas of equality and democracy in people's heads--- especially in women's. She was accused of "subversion" and arrested many times. Once, while Wangari was trying to plant trees, she was clubbed by guards hired by developers who wanted the lands cleared. She was hospitalized with head injuries. But she survived and it only made her realize that she was on the right path. For almost thirty years, she was threatened physically and she was often ridiculed in the press. She didn't flinch. She only had to look in the eyes of her three children and in the eyes of the thousands of women and girls who were blossoming right along with the trees to find the strength to continue. That is how it came to be that 30 million trees were planted in Africa, one tree at a time.

The landscapes--both the external one of the land and the internal one of the people— have been transformed. In 2002, the people of Kenya held a democratic election, and the president who opposed Wangari and her Green Belt Movement is no longer in office. Wangari is now Kenya's Assistant Minister for the Environment. On her sixty-fifth birthday Wangari Maathai planted one more tree in celebration and thanksgiving for being given a very great honor; she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She is the first African woman to receive this award. After she was notified, she gave a speech entitled, "What Do Trees Have To Do With Peace?" She pointed out how most wars are fought over limited natural resources, such as oil, land, coal or diamonds. She called for an end to corporate greed and for leaders to build more just societies. She added: "Our recent experience in Kenya gives hope to all who have been struggling for a better future. It shows it is possible to bring about positive change and still do it peacefully. All it takes is courage and perseverance and a belief that positive change is possible. That is why the slogan for our campaign was "It is Possible!" On behalf of all African women, I want to express my profound appreciation for this honor, which will serve to encourage women in Kenya, in Africa, and around the world to raise their voices and not to be deterred. When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope. We also secure the future for our children. I call on those around the world to celebrate by planting a tree wherever you are."

As she received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, she invited us all to get involved: "Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own."

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Panama vs Costa Rica: Reforestation – Reforestation The Role You Can Play and How You Can Benefit

2008-06-26T19:12:00.003-04:00

Deforestation in Indonesia:Tags: teak, paulownia, FAO, reforestation, Costa Rica, Panama, Myrnamar, ENOCIS, Enoch Oling College, PanAmerican Properties

In an article in Newsday, Edward A. Gargan, says that in Bangsri, Indonesia has the last great teakwood forest. The wood ends up in places like Abdul Jambari's garden furniture workshop. For about $100, Jambari's chair will sit on a patio or deck somewhere in the United States or Europe. But that chair and the 4,000 others that are part of Jambari's latest export shipment, have left behind a swath of utter devastation, one of thousands that afflict this archipelago and spell the end of the majestic forests that once blanketed Indonesia.

Their disappearance also means the extinction of innumerable animal and plant species indigenous to this country. One-tenth of the tropical forests are located in Indonesia. In an unpublished report, the World Bank found that all the lowland forests in one of Indonesia's largest islands, Sumatra, will be extinct this decade, and that unless the government acts immediately to stop rampant illegal logging, "the only extensive forests that will remain in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Selawesi in the second decade of the new millennium will be the low-stature forests of the mountains."

Deforestation in Costa Rica:

In Costa Rica, people have denuded the forests to provide pastureland for cattle ranching. Pristine forests fell to make way for a world-wide demand for beef. Since the end of World War II, approximately 80% of the forests of Costa Rica have disappeared. Many people considered bananas or coffee, or even sugar cane, as the prime exports of Costa Rica. Sadly, the fact became apparent that top soil, the very life source to Costa Rica's agriculture, was becoming the prime export. Down from the denuded hills into the streams and out to the oceans, top soil was disappearing from the land mass, year after year. The deforestation of tropical rain forests is a threat to life worldwide. Deforestation has profound effects on global climate and causes the extinction of thousands of species annually. Stopping deforestation in the tropics has become an international movement and has promoted the search for ways to reverse its effects.

Reforestation in Central America:

The Costa Rican government, in a typically pragmatic approach to the problem, has offered excellent incentives for those interested parties who wish to assist in the reversal of the denuding of the country. The Forestry Law of Costa Rica, Article #70, recognizes Investor Status, for the development of reforestation projects, to any person who invests a minimum amount of US$100,000.00 to apply for "Permanent Resident Investor Status" in Costa Rica.

The individual must be present in Costa Rica for a minimum of one day each year to have their 'Cedula' (ID card) stamped, but the investor has the right to live and work in Costa Rica. The spouse and any children under the age of 18 have the right to live in Costa Rica (as well as children under age 25 if full time students and living with cedula holder). In addition it is granting tax free returns of dividends.

The Republic of Panama offers similar migratory status for investors of reforestation in that country.

It is a real win-win situation. The hills that covered with forests today were bare 10 years ago. Now they are green again growing a profit-crop for everybody.

Why Not Teak

Despite all of the above positive facts Teak reforestation continues to suffer a bad reputation in certain un-informed circles. The bad reputation can be traced to the early and mid 1970's when promoters were projecting unrealistic growth projections coupled with unrealistic prices. In an article of Dr. Raymond Keogh in Teak he says: "Growth rates which exceed an average of twenty cubic meters per hectare per year in twenty years are unlikely to be encountered".

But Teak has been particularly favored as the type of tree to use in plantations for various reasons: it grows fast; it has a worldwide reputation as a species, and few if any natural enemies. Teak does not support combustion (won't burn) and there is rapid growth in demand and price.

Costa Rica has a number of conditions that lend itself to the growing of teak such as the perfect climate with a pronounced dry season and a reliable rainy season which are both required for the growth of ideal teak, an excellent labor force, excellent Forestry Engineers who are all Government qualified, stable Government which ensures the viability of the growth. The perfect plantation sites for teak reforestation are found on those soils worn out by overgrazing cattle. Land and soil which has suffered many years of constant use and possible abuse and can no longer support a walking crop lends itself perfectly to site preparation for long term teak growing.

No longer can a person consider the merits of 100 year old teak versus plantation teak. Doing so would be a case of comparing the unobtainable to the available.

Intensification of teak plantations

The rotation of new high-intensity teak plantations is generally between 20 and 25 years (Torres, 1999; Ugalde Arias and Pérez Cordero, 1999), which is three to four times shorter than for older low-intensity plantations. The expected mean annual increment (MAI) is more than 10 m3 per hectare per year (as compared with 3 to 8 m3 per hectare per year in low-intensity plantations on good sites) (Subramanian et al., 1999; Maitre, 1983). With intensive management, there is growing concern about the adverse effects of short-rotation monoculture, particularly on the environmental and productive sustainability of successive rotations with high nutrient uptake. The decline in productivity during the second rotation was already an important concern many decades ago (Blanford, 1933; Davis, 1940). The evidence suggests that this is most often a result of the failure to implement various prescriptions (Evans, 1999).

Nevertheless, the current intensification calls for more studies on soil properties, nutrient cycles and possible impacts on productivity. Other concerns related to intensive management include the narrowing of the genetic base in production stands and its consequences for long-term productivity, and environmental impacts of application of fertilizers and pesticides. Growth rates and yield under different conditions and treatments are of particular interest, particularly in the context of increasing investment in teak and unrealistic claims of productivity (Gangopa-dhyay, 1997).

Many of the new high-intensity plantations are in areas that would have been considered marginal for teak growing two decades ago. Some plantation sites in Latin America are in areas with extremely high rainfall (over 4 000 mm per year) and no or very slight dry seasons. These conditions are not found in the natural range of distribution of the species but seem favorable to its growth. However, as most research has been done in other areas, new problems could be encountered.

Particular attention to pest and disease monitoring is especially called for in plantations newly established in ecological conditions that are marginal for the species. In Côte d'Ivoire, for example, root rot disease caused important damage in a young plantation at the limit between the evergreen and the mixed deciduous forest zones. This type of problem could be related to environmental factors but could also result from inadequate silvicultural practices (lack of thinning). Pest and disease problems may be aggravated by the low level of genetic diversity of the selected planting material used in high-yielding plantations. Integrated pest management (IPM) research is thus indispensable to expanding the frontier of teak planting, as well as additional research on provenance or genetic material and site matching.

Marketing in a global economy

A related issue is marketing of teak wood, especially in the context of the emergence of new production centers and, more important, the growth of farm planting. No systematic studies are available on the future demand for teak, specifically taking into account the potential changes in consumption pattern, including the potential for substitution. There is also an urgent need to develop information systems that focus on assessing and analyzing supply, demand, prices, etc. and that make the information accessible to those involved in cultivation, processing and marketing of teak wood. (C.T.S. Nair and O. Souvannavong C.T.S. Nair is Senior Forestry Officer in the Forestry Planning and Statistics Branch, FAO Forestry Department. Oudara Souvannavong is Senior Forestry Officer in the Forest Conservation, Research and Education Service, FAO Forestry Department.)

A Viable Alternative: Paulownia Elongata

Paulownia trees are your best choice for a fast growing, beautiful tree that is unsurpassed in its ability to help our environment simply by growing.

Environmental Qualities for Micro Industry:

Growth Rate

· Grows 10-15 feet a year

· Can grow to a harvestable sized timber tree in 7-10 years.

Regeneration

· Tree should be cut back to the ground in early spring of year two for even faster growth.

· Paulownia trees can regenerate up to 7 times from 1 stump.

Animal Fodder

· The leaves of the Paulownia are high in protein (21%) and nutrients, providing a good fodder for livestock.

Intercropping

· Paulownia trees are excellent for intercropping (growing different crops together in same field). They are used widely in China by farmers who plant them in the fields and grow grain crops beneath them. The trees roots go very deep and do not compete with the crops for water and nutrients.

· Grain crops planted beneath Paulownia trees have a higher yield because the trees improve the climate and reduce the damaging effects of strong winds.

· When the leaves drop they decompose quickly and release valuable nutrients back into the soil.

· After 8-10 years the trees can be cut for timber and become an added income for the farmers. They will regenerate again from the cut stumps, saving the cost of replanting the fields.

· In China, paulownia trees are being used successfully in agroforestry projects and for intercropping with agricultural crops on close to 5 million acres of farmland.

Environmental Qualities and Statistics of Paulownia Trees:

Paulownia is truly a remarkable solution to some of the world's most pressing social, environmental and economic problems holding a record of 31 feet in 7 months.

Paulownia grows successfully in many regions of the world and has found many friends over the last ten years since it became accessible. It is widely used to beautify cities and proven to reduce air pollution especially CO2. It is highly sought after as it is considered to bring good luck where ever it is planted.

· Each tree removes 48 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year. (115,200 lbs. per acre per year)

· Each tree releases about 13 lbs. of oxygen per day. (31,200 lbs. per acre per day)

· Each acre of trees will scrub 13 tons of harmful CO2, gases and dust from the air per year.

· Each tree can absorb 24 gallons of wastewater per day. (57,600 gallons per acre per day)

· Gentle on the earth, few surface roots, long taproot that helps to lower water table and prevent salinity. A very clean tree, no berries, no sap drop, drops its leaves in autumn and they disintegrate within a few days.

· Non evasive water sensitive root systems.

· Public Health Benefit - CSIRO studies confirm eucalyptus react with pollution causing problems for asthma sufferers. Paulownia absorbs more pollution and has a very low pollen count.

· The paulownia has a beautiful flower in the fall generally a lavender color it is eatable and has medicinal qualities known for it association with the lungs. Mix with protein foods for a cure for bronchitis and many other lung associated problems.

Conclusion: Although Teak attractive production numbers per hectare and reasonable financial return for managed forests paulownia is a better financial investment and proves to be beneficial instead of detrimental to the environment.

Paulownia elongata every ten years can produce approximately 680 cubic meters of lumber every ten years while teak takes 20-25 years to produce approximately 380 cubic meters of lumber in twice the time. The current and present world market price for paulownia is higher than that of teak.

After selective harvesting of teak there will be a new expense for replanting, not so for paulownia elongata not to speak of the related environmental benefits.

If you would like further information on paulownia elongata in Panama, it’s environmental and investment benefits, reforestation and investment incentives offered by the Government of Panama you might want to contact PanAmerican Properties, Inc or look at their paulownia web site www.paulownianow.org and how they are working with the Enoch Olinga College (ENOCIS) Panama and the underserved populations of the country to offer new socio and economic opportunities for the neediest sectors of Panamanian society.

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Micropropagation Technique May Speed Reforestation Efforts

2008-06-12T07:30:00.003-04:00

Agricultural Research, Dec, 2004 by Jan Suzkwi

Reforestation efforts may get a lift thanks to a new advance in plant-tissue culturing at ARS's National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, Illinois. Plant physiologist Brent Tisserat has devised an automated plant culture system (APCS), coupled with enhanced CO₂ treatments that bolsters yield and survival of delicate shoots.

In reforestry operations, budding shoots are cultured inside small glass tubes or in Magenta vessels and nourished on an agar gel. Tissue culturists treat these shoots, originally derived from leaves, with growth regulators to coax them into multiplying secondary shoots. Transplanted to soil, these shoots eventually root and become whole, free-living plantlets that can then be put in the field.

With this technique, known as micropropagation, forest-product companies can restock plantations with millions of genetically identical tree plantlets. The yield of trees clonally derived from these plantlets is much more predictable than that from fertilized seed, says Tisserat.

Even so, not all micropropagated shoots survive transplanting--especially "vitrified" shoots, the source of axillary branches that do not readily root. In contrast, nonvitrified shoots readily form roots but produce few axillary branches.

The standard approach to solving yield problems would have involved tweaking the agar medium's nutritional composition. But Tisserat changed the way nutrient medium is applied to the shoots, modified the physical environment in which they are grown, and switched from Magenta vessels to larger growth chambers, which provide the tender shoots with much more space and media.

Tisserat's APCS uses an automated pump to microirrigate the shoots with liquid medium piped in from a separate tank. The medium is applied and removed several times over a 24-hour period. In trials, this resulted in a 10-fold increase in shoot yields compared to traditional culture methods and a 14-fold increase in fresh weight.

The CO₂treatments resulted in a 94percent survival rate for transplanted shoots (including vitrified ones). The APCS also speeds seedling growth of loblolly pine, a chief lumber resource in the southeastern United States. Tisserat and co-investigators had earlier success micropropagating and rooting peas, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, and spearmint.

This research is part of Quality and Utilization of Agricultural Products, an ARS National Program (#306) described on the World Wide Web at www.nps.ars. usda.gov.

Brent Tisserat is in the USDA-ARS Fermentation Biotechnology Research Unit, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, 1815 University St., Peoria, IL 61604; phone (309) 681-6289, fax (309) 681-6427, e-mail tisserbh@ ncaur.usda.gov.

About Paulownia From Wikipedia Encyclopedia

2008-06-07T09:56:00.013-04:00

Paulownia: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paulownia is a genus of between 6–17 species (depending on taxonomic authority) of plants in the monogeneric family Paulowniaceae, related to and sometimes included in the Scrophulariaceae. They are native to much of China (its name in Chinese is pinyin: pàotóng), south to northern Laos and Vietnam, and long cultivated elsewhere in eastern Asia, notably in Japan and Korea. They are deciduous tree 10–25 m tall, with large leaves 15–40 cm across, arranged in opposite pairs on the stem. The flowers are produced in early spring on panicles 10–30 cm long, with a tubular purple corolla resembling a foxglove flower. The fruit is a dry capsule, containing thousands of minute seeds.

The genus was named in honour of Queen Anna Pavlovna of the Netherlands (1795–1865), daughter of Tsar Paul I of Russia.

Paulownia fortunei is a fast-growing tree that is grown commercially for the production of hardwood timber.

Paulownia tomentosa is listed as an invasive species in the southeastern United States, having been introduced there as an ornamental tree for its decorative flowers.

Uses

It is popular in its native China for reforestation, roadside planting and as an ornamental tree. It grows well in a wide variety of soil types, notably poor ones, but needs a lot of light and does not like a high water table. Paulownia timber is a pale whitish coloured wood with a straight grain. Its characteristics of rot resistance and a very high ignition point ensure the timber's popularity in the world market. Paulownia grown on plantations generally has widely spaced growth rings and is therefore much less valuable. The wood is also important in China, Korea, and Japan for making the soundboards of stringed musical instruments such as the guqin, pipa, koto, and kayagum.

Testing by CSIRO in Australia has shown that Paulownia wood is very attractive for wood-boring insects. Paulownia species are also used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Endoclita excrescens.

Paulownia is known in Japanese as kiri, specifically referring to P. tomentosa; it is also known as the "princess tree". It was once customary to plant a Paulownia tree when a baby girl was born, and then to make it into a dresser as a wedding present when she gets married. Paulownia is the mon of the office of prime minister and also serves as the emblem of the cabinet and the government (vis-à-vis the chrysanthemum being the Imperial Seal of Japan). It is one of the suits in hanafuda, associated with the month of December. Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (page 1189; Tokyo: Kodansha, 1993. ISBN 4-06-931098-3) states:

Paulownia wood is very light, fine-grained, soft, and warp-resistant and is used for chests, boxes, and clogs (geta). The wood is burned to make charcoal for sketching and powder for fireworks, the bark is made into a dye, and the leaves are used in vermicide preparations.

The fine grained soft and warp resistant properties also make Paulownia wood exceptionally suited for making wooden surfboards. Tom Wegener, Roy Stewart and more recently "Empress Surfboards" are amongst the shapers who pioneered its use. The resulting surfboards do not need to be glassed unlike Balsa wood.

More recently, it is used as body material for low-cost electric guitars and as the core for lightweight touring skis. It is often used in guitars as the core body, then finished with another kind of wood, such as the Dean ML XM that is made of paulownia as the body but is finished with mahogany.

Paulownia is extremely fast growing; some species of plantation Paulownia can be harvested for saw timber in as little as five years. Once the trees are harvested, they regenerate from their existing root systems, earning them the name of the “Phoenix tree." Paulownia has the ability to reclaim ecologically stressed and degenerate patches of land relatively quickly. Its root systems run deep and penetrate compacted and contaminated soils which have resulted from industrialized development. Paulownia is a phyto-remediator, increasing the organic content of degraded soils, processing and filtering contaminants through the uptake of its vascular system, and emitting oxygen into the atmosphere.

Paulownia Elongata

Paulownia elongata is a species of plant in the Paulowniaceae family. It is used as a forestry tree in North America and China. It is reportedly the fastest growing hardwood trees, which are known to grow up to 15 or more feet in the first year. Commercial plantations are normally established from selected clones resulting from micropropagation. Some proponents claim that P. elongata plantations can reach a harvestable size in five to seven years. Leaves are very large and pubescent. This species can withstand a very wide range of environmental conditions; however, it will not grow at altitude.

P. elongata has a number of uses:

An ornamental tree of parks and gardens; grown for its purple flowers and shade tolerance.
It is a forestry tree producing strong, yet light wood.
Owing to the large quantity of biomass produced annually, it is suited for use as a feedstock for biofuel production.
For more information on paulownia you may visit our website at www.paulownianow.org

Plant a Tree for Friendship – or Father’s Day

2008-06-02T07:07:00.000-04:00

A tree is a gift given many times over. Not just the giving of the tree itself, but also the time spent planting it together, and years and years of enjoyment as it grows!

During the early years of Rotary International, its founder, Paul Harris, traveled the globe, fostering world peace and understanding. To create living memorials to these new friendships, he commemorated his visits by planting Friendship Trees. Harris planted approximately 50 Friendship Trees during his lifetime, many of which are still standing.

Planting a tree as a tribute is a great idea. Because trees grow, add beauty, and enhance the environment for many years to come, they are ideal for commemorating love and friendship. And they make great gifts for those hard-to-buy-for family members. To select the right tree for your tribute, think about site conditions, your goals for the planting, and the species type that suits you aesthetically.

So, surprise Dad this year with something a little different

Paulownia: The World’s Most Versatile Wood!

2008-06-01T06:41:00.002-04:00

Most people know the Royal Empress Tree as the world’s fastest growing shade tree. Its extraordinarily fast growth (as much as ten feet per year) and beautiful springtime blooms have endeared this tree to many homeowners. However, this tree is also being grown commercially and people are starting to notice the incredible versatility of this wood.

Empress Tree wood is almost one third the weight of Oak and half the weight of Pine. Nevertheless, it has one of the highest strength to weight ratios of any wood. This makes it perfect for the manufacture of plywood, moldings, window frames and other building materials. Additionally, it’s ideal for industries that require high strength to weight ratios in products such as boats, surfboards, and RV’s.

Also, the tree’s high temperature resistance makes the wood extremely fire resistant. Consequently, it’s very desirable in your home. Ignition temperature is about 400 degrees Celsius, twice that of conventional woods.

Royal Empress (Paulownia ) wood is also extremely stable. It is rot-resistant and won’t warp or crack. This makes it outstanding in the manufacture of furniture and handicrafts of all kinds.

The high consistency of sound radiation quality of Empress Tree wood also makes it highly prized in the production of musical instruments. Empress Trees are even used as animal feeds and for medicinal purposes!

There is seemingly no end to the high quality uses for the Royal Empress Tree, the world’s most versatile wood.