permaculture

[Brandy Davis <brandydavis@bellsouth.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Preston Roberts <preston707@gmail.com>
> Date: June 2, 2009 8:44:55 AM EDT
> To: Brandy Davis <brandydavis@bellsouth.net>
> Subject: Re: [permaculture] QRY: Evidence of reforestation  
> increasing  rainfall?
>
> Brandy,
>   My apologies for the slow response.  If it's not too late, it may  
> be useful to be aware of Arboriculture and Urban Forestry Online  
> when researching the reforestation/rainfall connection.  I've not  
> read anything about that, but it's worth looking into.  Thanks.
>
> http://joa.isa-arbor.com/
>
> This is a great journal with plenty of objective science.
>
> On 5/28/09, Brandy Davis <brandydavis@bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Do you know of any sources of info?
>
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Brandy
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> > From: Keith Johnson <keithdj@mindspring.com>
> > Date: May 28, 2009 11:11:05 AM EDT
> > To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Subject: Re: [permaculture] QRY: Evidence of reforestation  
> > increasing rainfall?
> > Reply-To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
> >
> >
> > Chris,
> > I just posted to my blog the story about forest restoration in Borneo
> > that has resulted in a return of rain documented with satellite  
> > imaging
> > over a period of years. It's a good place to start.
> >
> >
> >      Willie Smits restores a rainforest
> >      <http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/2009/05/willie-smits-restores-rainforest.html 
> > >
> >
> > Keith
> >
> > Chris Wardle wrote:
> > > I'm running into a research stumbling block and wonder if this
> > > somewhat public musing could tap into the greater wisdom accessible
> > > through cyber-networking?
> > >
> > > But first some background ...
> > >
> > > A month or so ago I was doing some bushwalking in the North-East of
> > > Pakistan's Balochistan Province, with one of my younger
> > > brothers-in-law, Danish. As we reached the top of a large mesa-like
> > > hill called Dhera and looked out at his - and my beloved's - home
> > > village of Phugla to the north, we were struck by how few trees we
> > > saw.
> > >
> > > This got us to chatting about climate change, the area's potential  
> > > for
> > > agro-forestry, and the possible impact of large scale tree  
> > > planting on
> > > the weather pattern.
> > >
> > > Within twenty kilometres to the northwest, native Olive trees thrive
> > > in the area's sandy soils and hot summer, which prompted me to ask,
> > > "With a similar climate and soil, why don't people look to plant
> > > commercial Olive varieties here?"
> > >
> > > It was a question we later repeated with community members and their
> > > answers seemed to confirm our prediction that it rested somewhere
> > > between:
> > >
> > > * a lack of awareness,
> > >
> > > * an unwillingness to collaborate or experiment, and
> > >
> > > * no patience to wait for the long-term gains offered through agro- 
> > > forestry.
> > >
> > > Well, these are challenges we'll return to another time, but as we
> > > discussed climate change, Danish noted that there was much more
> > > reliable rainfall fifteen to twenty years ago and remarked that if
> > > tree loss accounted for a decrease in rainfall, would reforestation
> > > improve the rainfall pattern and how much effort would people have  
> > > to
> > > put in, to effect real change?
> > >
> > > "Specifically," he asked, "how many trees would every person in this
> > > community have to plant, in order to increase our rainfall - five,
> > > ten, fifty trees each?"
> > >
> > > In answering I said I didn't know, but thought it might be in the
> > > order of thousands, but that was just a very rough guess and I would
> > > go and find out for him.
> > >
> > > So, after a very long introduction, here's my question:
> > >
> > > Is there any well-documented evidence that reforestation mitigates  
> > > the
> > > negative impacts of climate change by increasing rainfall, and on  
> > > what
> > > sort of scale do we begin to see such effects, if they exist?
> > >
> > > When I look at policy-level climate change mitigation strategies, I
> > > consistently read that we need to plant more trees, but this seems  
> > > to
> > > be based on documented evidence of tree loss. Sure, there is  
> > > evidence
> > > that tree planting decreases erosion and increases soil moisture
> > > retention, but I am yet to find references to positive rainfall  
> > > gains
> > > from reforestation.
> > >
> > > Please don't get me wrong, I'm very much on board with this issue.  
> > > In
> > > the previous century I've encouraged and worked with my children on
> > > community tree plantings in my home town of Darwin and on saving the
> > > one remaining remnant of tropical rainforest on the fringe of Darwin
> > > city - the Duke Street Rainforest. More recently, my beloved Maha  
> > > and
> > > I spent four wonderful months of joyful, practical learning during  
> > > our
> > > voluntary permaculture internship on an organic coffee plantation in
> > > Nepal.
> > >
> > > In my heart of hearts and from my permaculture training, I feel  
> > > that a
> > > reforestation strategy should work to increase rainfall, but my
> > > attempts to uncover hard evidence keep running into a brick wall.
> > >
> > > Maybe I'm not using the right search terms or looking in the right
> > > places, so I turn to you, dear reader, for guidance and possible
> > > permaculture solutions and research experience in this regard.
> > >
> > > Thanks in anticipation of your kind responses and my apologies for
> > > cross-posting.
> > >
> > > Looking forward to hearing from you in due course and wishing you
> > > salaams from Quetta,
> > >
> > > Chris Wardle.
> > > ===========
> > > skype: cjwardle
> > > mobile: +92 333 784 1679
> > > ===========
> > > View my profile on
> > > LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cjwardle
> > > or
> > > facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=621431473&ref=profile
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> >
> > --
> >
> > Keith Johnson
> > "Be fruitful and mulch apply."
> > Permaculture Activist Magazine
> > PO Box 5516, Bloomington, IN 47407
> > (812) 335-0383
> > - Permaculture Activist <http://www.permacultureactivist.net/>
> > - Permaculture Trading Post <http://www.permaculturetradingpost.com/>
> > - Patterns for Abundance Design & Consulting
> > <http://www.permacultureactivist.net/design/Designconsult.html>
> > - Permaculture & Regenerative Design News Blog
> > <http://kjpermaculture.blogspot.com/>
> > - APPLE (Alliance for Post-Petroleum Local Economics) It's a small  
> > world
> > after oil. <http://www.relocalize.net/groups/applebloomington>
> >
> > - Transition Indiana <http://transitionindiana.blogspot.com/> - Blog
> > <http://transitionindiana.blogspot.com/>
> >
> > - Transition Bloomington <http://transitionbloomingtonind.ning.com/>
> > - Association for Regenerative Culture <http://www.arculture.org/>
> > - The Gardeners' World Blog <http://theecosystem.blogspot.com/>
> > - Renaissance Farm and Permaculture Center
> > <http://bloomingtongrowers.locallygrown.net/growers/show/212>
> > - Bloomington Permaculture Growers Cooperative
> > <http://bloomingtongrowers.locallygrown.net/>
> > - Bloomington Permaculture Guild Blog
> > <http://bloomingtonpermacultureguild.blogspot.com/> - Calendar
> > <http://my.calendars.net/bloomingtonpccal/>
> > - Continental Bioregional Congress Blog
> > <http://bioregional-congress.blogspot.com/>
> > - Switch to Solar Power the Easy Way
> > <http://www.jointhesolution.com/KeithJ-SunPower>
> >
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>
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>
> --
> Preston Roberts
> Take Root Project Coordinator
> ISA Certified Arborist  # SO-6202A