| <div class="ck-content"><h3><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(31,31,31);">How local heroes reforested Rio’s green heart</span></h3><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(31,31,31);">Good news is….really good to get. So I thought you'd enjoy reading this </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/oct/10/i-think-boy-im-a-part-of-all-this-how-local-heroes-reforested-rios-green-heart"><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(31,31,31);">article</span></a><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(31,31,31);"> about a wonderful reforestation in Rio de Janeiro.</span></p><blockquote><p style="margin-left:0px;">Rio de Janeiro’s striking blend of urban infrastructure and tropical jungle, cradled between granite peaks and the sea, earned the city <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1100/">Unesco world heritage status</a> in 2012. Yet few people realise that the verdant forests cloaking Rio’s dramatic hills are largely the result of human intervention.</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">“None of this was here before. Nothing, zero trees,” says Santos, motioning towards the woods surrounding Tavares Bastos, a small favela clinging to a hill that overlooks Guanabara Bay. The 40-year-old, who uses the name Leleco, planted some of those trees himself as part of a pioneering reforestation project run by the municipal government.</p></blockquote><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8270add7cac1fd9ec2b895042e8c74dec015deba/0_0_1416_826/master/1416.jpg?width=800&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none" alt="REPLACE"></div><h3>The Sea Turtles Know Grass</h3><p>If only humans could learn to trust, respect and share the world with the many wonderful creatures who have evolved over hundreds of millions of years, just like us. This <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/turtles-map-seagrass-better-satellites">Guardian article</a> tells a remarkable tale.</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1wisLfnEhy7Rlsw4-5Z4ys8XBcCTE2rIV&sz=w500" alt="REPLACE"></div><blockquote><p>Mann and his colleagues tagged 53 green turtles on four Red Sea beaches in Saudi Arabia, waiting until after the turtles finished nesting to avoid disrupting their reproduction. Once the animals swam away, the tags would relay their coordinates to satellites every time they surfaced to breathe. Researchers tracked each turtle’s movement for up to a year. When a turtle’s path crossed over itself multiple times in the same spot, the scientists assumed there was a seagrass meadow at that location. In total, the turtles marked 34 seagrass patches that had never been recorded before. One-third of those were deeper than 8 meters, below the depth visible in most satellite images.</p></blockquote><h3>Florida council toppled over sewage plant plan</h3><p>I love <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/01/florida-council-sewage-river-plan">this story</a>. A community finally reaches its limit. People say enough is enough. They exercise the power of their vote to take back control from those who would ravage their world. And in Florida, of all places!</p><blockquote><p style="margin-left:0px;">A citizens’ revolt in a small <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/florida">Florida</a> city ousted an entire slate of councilors who were pushing for a new sewage plant to be built close to one of the state’s most pristine and treasured rivers.</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">The Save Blackwater River campaign, in partnership with a citizen action group, <a href="https://www.pnj.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/05/election-results-escambia-county-milton-city-council-results/76044973007/">toppled all four Milton politicians</a> running for re-election last month in a remarkable victory for grassroots activism.</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">As a result, plans for the <a href="https://www.pnj.com/story/news/local/milton/2022/02/22/miltons-planned-wastewater-treatment-facility-still-raising-ire/6846939001/">25-acre wastewater treatment facility</a> that was to have been constructed partly on wetlands feeding the environmentally sensitive river are in suspension.</p></blockquote><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Another area of Chapel Hill I will be rescuing</h3><p style="margin-left:0px;">A resident of a lovely road filled with cute, small, oldish homes and bordering on 54 recently got in touch to ask for help with the big wisteria vines attacking mature, native trees in the strip between homes and highway. She'd already done an absolutely outstanding job of killing many of the vines. Now she needed help with some of the biggest vines and general spread of invasives (wisteria, privet, thorny olive…).</p><p style="margin-left:0px;">So I got to work! Here's one before-after. I didn't do a full clean-up around the trunk, so the change is not so dramatic. But look closely and you will see on the left many thick wisteria vines that were contributing to growth on the crown of the tree that would soon kill it. They are now gone. In the spring of 2025, this tree is going to be so, so happy!</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=15BfCXxMqXJ0I3GA67Ygc55UpaJUQPbDu&sz=w600-h400" alt="REPLACE"></div><p>So message to everyone reading this: if you know of a similar situation (invasives on your property or even nearby municipal property that you can give me access to), get in touch! I'd love to add it to my rotation of “trees to rescue when I am not heading to a preserve”. Bit by bit, we will heal our planet. Together, we can make a big difference for all our non-human neighbors!</p><h3>Join Treeist!</h3><p>Treeist is one of many tree service companies in the Triangle, but I sure do like them a lot. For example, their ethos: </p><blockquote><p>We value ourselves in educating our community about their trees, not scaring folks into unnecessary services. We're in it for the long game with our neighbors & their trees</p></blockquote><p>They offer free community classes, such as on how to use chainsaws safely (still need to take that one!). They provide free tree services through their <a href="https://www.thetreeist.com/gratitude">Community Gratitude Fund</a> to folks who otherwise could not afford it or otherwise deserve it.</p><p>Why am I telling you this? Because they are looking to <a href="https://www.thetreeist.com/invasive-plant-control-tech">hire</a> an <span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(var(--color_36));">Invasive Plant Control Technician. Compensation: $17-$25, depending on experience and skills (full-time or part-time). Here's the summary of the job: </span></p><blockquote><p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(var(--color_36));">Are you interested in improving ecosystems but can also embrace the strategic application of pesticides? When you see a quarter acre overrun with invasive vegetation, would you like to transform it into a healthy woodland? If so, this job might be a good fit for you.</span></p></blockquote><p style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(var(--color_36));">More information </span><a href="https://www.thetreeist.com/invasive-plant-control-tech"><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(var(--color_36));">here</span></a><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(var(--color_36));">.</span></p></div><div class="ck-content"><h3>Receive all my reports on tree rescues</h3><p>If you'd like to get some good news about restoring native habitats delivered straight to your brain upwards of a few times a week, sign in to <a href="https://rewildearth.net">Rewild Earth</a>, click on your name in top right, then My profile. Under Communication Preferences, switch “Send reports of all events” to ON. </p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1BeynVqu8taOGrsvi56u0mmDKuNJko22h&sz=w600-h400" alt="REPLACE" width="358" height="138"></div><h3>Resources you might find useful</h3><ul><li><a href="https://shop.naisma.org/collections/buckthorn-blaster">Buckthorn Blasters</a>: safe, easy herbicide delivery system from the North American Invasive Species Management Association. Don't start cutting without them!</li><li><a href="https://nc-ipc.weebly.com/nc-invasive-plants.html">NC Invasive Plants list</a>: recently updated by NC-IPC, the NC Invasives Plants Council.</li><li><a href="https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AG259">Overview of different herbicides</a>: glyposphate, triclopyr and others - which should you use?</li><li>Volunteer for <a href="https://triangleland.org">Triangle Land Conservancy</a>: the biggest land conservancy group in our area. </li><li>Volunteer for <a href="https://ellerbecreek.org">Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association</a> (Durham): a wonderful group working hard to maintain contiguous natural areas along Ellerbe Creek.</li></ul></div> |