trees

Western Wildfires Are a Boon for These Native Species

Western Wildfires Are a Boon for These Native Species

By Tara Lohan Earlier this month a series of lightning strikes touched off dozens of fires across California, burning 1.5 million acres, choking cities with smoke and claiming at least six lives. Outside California, large wildfires are burning in Colorado and Oregon, too. For people who live near the path of flames or the drifting […]

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    Tree Planting Unites Portland Community

    Tree Planting Unites Portland Community

    On hot summer days, trees help cool city neighborhoods. And during extreme storms, they help absorb stormwater and reduce flooding. But low-income neighborhoods often have fewer trees than other areas, and reversing this inequity requires more than saplings and shovels. Haley Miller of the Oregon-based nonprofit Friends of Trees says it takes community outreach and […]

    Discover How Trees Secretly Talk to Each Other Using the “Wood Wide Web”

    Discover How Trees Secretly Talk to Each Other Using the “Wood Wide Web”

    By Fino Menezes Imagine an information superhighway that speeds up interactions between a large, diverse population of individuals, allowing individuals who may be widely separated to communicate and help each other out. When you walk in the woods, this is all happening beneath your feet. No, we’re not talking about the internet, we’re talking about […]

    Ethiopia to Plant 5 Billion Tree Seedlings in 2020

    Ethiopia to Plant 5 Billion Tree Seedlings in 2020

    By Kimberly White Ethiopia has set out to plant 5 billion tree seedlings this year. The planting is part of the country’s larger reforestation initiative spearheaded by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Launched in 2019, the Green Legacy initiative aims to combat environmental degradation, build resilience, and transition into a green society. The nation has lost […]

    Fungal Disease Is Threatening Native Hawaiian Trees

    Fungal Disease Is Threatening Native Hawaiian Trees

    By Shannon Brown Hawaiian myth says that ‘ōhi’a lehua trees were created by Pele, the goddess of fire and creator of the Hawaiian islands. Spurned by a handsome young warrior, ʻŌhiʻa, she turned him into a twisted tree; the other gods, out of pity, turned his heartbroken lover, Lehua, into a flower, so that they […]

    Human Activity Is Making Forests Shorter and Younger, Study Finds

    Human Activity Is Making Forests Shorter and Younger, Study Finds

    More than a third of the world’s old growth forests died between 1900 and 2015, a new study has found. In the study, published in Science Friday, nearly two dozen scientists used satellite data combined with more than 160 previous studies to show that deforestation and the climate crisis are killing off older, taller trees […]

    Indonesia Revokes Ending Legality License for Wood Exports

    Indonesia Revokes Ending Legality License for Wood Exports

    By Hans Nicholas Jong The Indonesian government has backed down from a decision to scrap its timber legality verification process for wood export, amid criticism from activists and the prospect of being shut out of the lucrative European market. On May 11, the Ministry of Trade issued a regulation revoking its decision from February to […]

    Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Increases for 13th Consecutive Month

    Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon Increases for 13th Consecutive Month

    by Rhett A. Butler Despite the global economic slowdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon appears to be continuing largely unabated with forest clearing over the past 12 months reaching the highest level since monthly data started being released publicly in 2007, according to official data released Friday by the country’s […]

    Washington State Declares Emergency Over Invasive Gypsy Moths

    Washington State Declares Emergency Over Invasive Gypsy Moths

    As it races to stop “murder hornets” from making themselves at home, Washington state has another invasive insect to worry about. Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation Tuesday against the “imminent danger” of a gypsy moth infestation in parts of the state’s Snohomish county, as CNN reported Friday. “[T]his imminent danger of infestation seriously […]