Taking care of forests

C.W. Nicole writes about forests in his latest essay for The Japan Times. He is always an inspiration. Did you know that only 2 percent of Japan's forests are so-called "old-growth" i.e. "natural" and not planted? Read more here. This quote also caught my attention:

Gov. Shintaro Ishihara announced to the press in October that two-thirds of the cedar plantations in Greater Tokyo will be changed to mixed woodland. This will mean trimming out some 20,000 hectares of sugi and either replanting with broadleaf saplings, or carefully nurturing young broadleaf trees that spring up in the cleared spaces. The declared intention is to do this at a rate of 120 hectares a year. The dynamic proposal also calls for the remaining one-third of the cedars to be replaced with ones that produce less pollen. If it is carried out, I think this would be splendid.

This website har wonderful photos of really old trees from different regions all over Japan. Enjoy the magic of these silent, beautiful giants, that have been carefully protected over the ages, often near temples or shrines.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War

マーティンの鵜の目鷹の目 -世界の消費者運動の旅から

Salvador Dali, Hiroshima and Okinawa