Forest Stories: restoring the sacred & addressing climate
Forest Stories: restoring the sacred & addressing climate
Stories and recent studies address the challenges, spirit and hope of forest restoration
This week there was a number of stories, reports/studies centering forests—so much so that they really need a post of their own. Here find stories of restoration as well as recent forest studies on heat, restoration, fires, and the effectiveness (or not) of using canopies as carbon offsets. Also, a reminder that forests can be vital again! And most importantly, that they are sacred. Find this week’s main news and updates here.
Forests are essential to the wellbeing of humans, species, and this planet. Following here find recent studies that will help us learn what is effective and what must be avoided to ensure the health of forests in the US and globally.
New Funding for Biodiversity! Globally negotiations have been underway for years as to how to protect nature (and so ourselves) from further destruction and exploitive practice. Another challenge is the question of who pays for this. These negotiations for a global biodiversity framework are paying off with an announcement this week of a biodiversity fund agreed to by 185 countries this week. Reporting from Mongabay: New global biodiversity fund to restore nature worldwide by 2030 officially launches.
Conservation areas are boosting biodiversity. Where forests and natural areas are set apart and protected, not only does biodiversity increase, but there is benefit beyond the park boundaries as well, as birds and creatures and plants make the area their home. As with all things, there are also challenges. In this case, not all species are seeing equal outcomes—likely this is due to hunting. This article from The Conversation breaks down the study: Leakage or spillover? Conservation parks boost biodiversity outside them – but there’s a catch, new study shows. Read the study.
Forest Spirituality
There are always things to study and learn about forests. Yet forests are also about deep appreciation for nature, wonder, creation, wellbeing—they are a boon to the spirit and fill the heart. I created this page to look at new studies, studies that deal with fires, and the heartbreak of deforestation. To do that well, I want also to share a moment for appreciation and connection. There is so much to breathe in.
Ethiopia’s Sacred Forests. Ethiopia has endured widespread deforestation, but the undeniable beauty and diversity shines still in it’s beautiful landscapes, and where it has been carefully saved and conserved. These few (of many) article speak to the Sacred Forests in Ethiopia, remnants perhaps, but also seeds for growth. From The Guardian: Gardens of Eden: the church forests of Ethiopia – a photo essay. Seen by their guardians as sacred, Ethiopia’s church forests are protected and cared for by their priests and their communities. From BBC: The ‘sacred forests’ of northern Ethiopia.
Forest Bathing. Forests are a boost to spiritual, mental, and emotional wellbeing. The term ‘forest bathing’ comes from Japan. But what it names is as ancient as it is powerfully present in every forest, right now. Here is an invitation from Forestry England with helps: How to start forest bathing. And from NPR Life Kit: A guide to forest bathing. And I really love the local news with great ideas such as from WJOL Will County, Illinois: Get your hands dirty, learn about forest bathing with Forest Preserve programs.
A reminder of the sacred garden—and a forest is also a garden! Two recent and lovely articles from the Buddhist tradition published in Lion’s Roar: Dogen’s Instructions to the Gardener and Grow Your Mindfulness in the Garden
Tiny Forests - Mini but Powerful!
Restoration is 110% possible. We can start small, with mini-forests, tiny forests, quilt-patch forests, whatever description you like. Your backyard, or that greenspace behind the grocery store, will work wonderfully as a start. While restoration at large scale has a massive price tag at this point—double digit billions—planting a forest on the church, university, on seminary campus is far more straightforward. Just check with the local forest-keeper, riverkeeper or US Fish and Wildlife to be sure what you are planting is native and resilient to climate impacts.
Tiny Forests/Big Impacts. Small acts of renewal matter. They matter for the human heart, and they matter for the heart of the forest, too. A recent article from The New York Times celebrates tiny forests and their surprisingly wide impact: (gift link) Tiny Forests With Big Benefits. Native plants crowded onto postage-stamp-size plots have been delivering environmental benefits around the world — and, increasingly, in the U.S. Tiny forests are being planted globally, and among the many benefits, they grow quickly so get started and watch it grow :-)
Learning Forestry from Miyawaki. The New York Times article has a few links to explore. One I really want to amplify is this article from Justor Daily: The Miyawaki Method: A Better Way to Build Forests? India’s forest production company is following the tenets of the master Japanese botanist, restoring biodiversity in resource-depleted communities. This is afforestation that will inspire you!
Identifying and Meeting Challenges
Restoring Forests to health—it works! Another new study as the scientific community races toward better understanding and so better solutions and outcomes shows the value to climate and biodiversity to be gained in restoring damaged forests. Read an article about the study from Phys.org, Restoring degraded forests: An under-appreciated climate solution, and the Irish Examiner, Restoring degraded forests would massively boost climate and biodiversity efforts — study. Read the study.
Forests and Carbon Offsets—challenges. A study underway over the last number of months to determine how effective forests were as carbon offsets. The results are disappointing. An article about the study from Inside Climate News: Carbon Offsets to Reduce Deforestation Are Significantly Overestimating Their Impact, a New Study Finds. A study in six countries across three continents finds that most carbon offsets aimed at avoiding deforestation are failing to keep forests standing or cut atmospheric greenhouse gases. An article about the study from The Conversation: ‘Worthless’ forest carbon offsets risk exacerbating climate change. Read the study.
Heat, CO2, and Photosynthesis—too much heat is a problem. Plants grow by using light energy from the sun together with CO2—enormous forests are build this way! This marvelous process is photosynthesis. Like other earth processes, it requires certain conditions. Adding or subtracting CO2 or heat, or shade, or cold, impacts the process. Plants play a huge role in regulating CO2 as they absorb CO2—drawing it out of the air—when they photosynthesize. There is a hope that plants can continue to help us draw down excess emissions. Unfortunately, a new study shows that when the temperatures get too hot, this impedes or impairs the plant’s ability to do this. A couple of articles about the study: from CNN, Parts of tropical rainforests could get too hot for photosynthesis, study suggests; and from The Guardian, Tropical forests face ‘massive leaf death’ from global heating, study finds. Read the study.
Heartbreaking fires are a call to repentance
Yes. It’s climate change. Studying forests and forest fires means learning why the occurred as well as how to mitigate damage, build resilience, and raise the alarm around the true cost of burning fossil fuels. Forests are burning in catastrophic fires around the world. Studies show the CO2 connection. To just look at the Canadian fires this year, from The Guardian: Climate crisis made spate of Canada wildfires twice as likely, scientists find. Burning of fossil fuels made fires at least twice as likely, and the fire-prone weather at least 20% more intense, study shows. Read the study.
A prayer for a Banyan Tree. Climate grief can sometimes just overwhelm us. Such was the case in hearing the story of the firestorm in Maui, the loss of life, and the destruction of the community. So it has been with fire after fire. Yet something about the 150 year old Banyan Tree went deep. In our prayers, may we hear the stories of what was lost, what is precious, what might be saved, and how we might repent. From Scientific American: Why a Banyan Tree Damaged in the Maui Wildfire Was So Beloved.
A call to action from the Parliament of World’s Religions
Call for the Amazon. One PoWR event I want to especially amplify this week is this one: Leaders Gathered at the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions Offer Urgent Call for the Amazon This event was accompanied by a call to action, GLOBAL CALL FOR THE URGENT PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN BRAZIL, and a link to find more information at Interfaith Rainforest.
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