May 7th, 2009
Milton Keynes is known as the city of trees, despite being one of the UK’s most successful purpose built towns it has retained as much of the local greenery as possible.
In Newlands, opposite Willen Lake stands Milton Keynes cathedral it’s a little unconventional; it’s made out of trees.
The outline of the cathedral is based on Norwich Cathedral and was designed in 1986 by landscape architect Neil Higson.
Different species of trees were used to represent the character of each of the cathedrals sections: Hornbeam and tall-growing lime for the nave, evergreens to represent the central tower and spires, flowering cherry and apple as a focus in the chapels.
In the spring a wide range of colourful bulbs appear, these were put in to represent the sun shining through stained glass windows on the ground.
A poem by Steve Clark celebrates this unusual city feature.
Cathedral of trees
Among the arches of oak and yew,
Grown great on rain and dew,
I sense a lesson to be learned.
The northern wind in branch and bow,
Gives ministry to fawn and sow,
A quantum peace that I’ve not heard.
No font to wash away my sins,
But a rambling brook, who’s tumbling din,
Tells tales in tones of clarity and purity.
No stained glass here, depicts a life,
Of servitude and mortal strife,
First taken then risen to infinity.
Each branch it seems, a crafted beam,
Where prayers, the carriers of dreams,
Pass between, with no account of whispered secrets, not for all.
The leaves that gently kiss my feet,
Demand no thought for their upkeep,
But lie again anew each autumn fall.
The catacombs, silent below,
Are tended to by shrew and vole,
Who’s work I’ll never know, dutiful and patient.
Something else I never knew,
The tree that fell and is my pew,
Gave up itself, so I could sit in quiet contemplation.
Would man make such sacrifice,
That I find peace, give up a life,
When suddenly I laugh, I see it all.
My being here is meant to be,
This great design, is mine to see,
It brings me gently to my knees.
For here is God,
In his Cathedral of trees.
Steve Clark.
Tags: Cathedral, Milton Keynes, trees
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March 19th, 2009
The American chestnut was a magnificent tree which mainly resided on the east coast of America, dominating forests from Maine to Georgia. It grew to over 100ft and most had a diameter of up to 5ft. These trees were massive and incredibly popular.
They were strong, growing with a straight grain and were rot resistant. This meant they were perfect for making almost anything from railway sleepers to furniture. The American chestnut also provided an excellent food source for both humans and wildlife, producing a yearly crop of lovely brown chestnuts.
In the late 1800’s Americans introduced a new species of chestnut tree, the Asian chestnut. This was a big mistake as these trees carried a disease called Cryphonectria parasitica or chestnut blight, which would soon almost wipe out the good old American chestnut.
Unfortunately the American chestnut has been hit hard by blight in the past 100 years and is almost extinct. Blight spreads easily and very quickly, simply on the wind or by small animals. Also Oak trees, which are not affected by the disease, can act as carriers. The disease gets into the natural cracks in the American chestnut and spreads around the tree, the tree then dies from there up.
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), which was set up in 1983 is now working hard to bring the tree back. They are hoping to breed a blight resistant strain which will have the same attributes as the original American chestnut. The goal of the breeding program is to combine the blight resistance of the Asian chestnut with the desirable characteristics of the American chestnut.
Hopefully the cross pollination breeding program will work and American chestnut trees will once again dominate the East coast of America.
Tags: American chestnut, Asian chestnut, Blight, extinct, Forest
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March 10th, 2009
Friday 13th March 2009, sees the return of Comic Relief to the BBC.
The money raised will help projects in both the UK and Africa.
There are many big projects underway the most publicised probably being the 5 day climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, in Africa. Nine celebrities accomplished the climb, Gary Barlow (Singer), Chris Moyles (Radio Presenter), Ronan Keating (Singer), Cheryl Cole (Singer), Kimberly Walsh (Singer), Fearne Cotton (Presenter), Ben Shepard (Presenter) , Denise van Outen (Presenter) and Alesha Dixon (Singer).
The mountain stands at 19,340ft above sea level, the gruelling climb was Take That’s Gary Barlow’s idea, it has been reported that he has been suffering with excruciating back pain and had to take complete rest for two weeks before setting off to Africa.
Gary has battled on and all of the celebrities made it to the Uhuru Peak on volcano kibo on Saturday. They took the Machame route which is slightly more difficult than the ‘easy’ route called Marangu.
Due to the mountain’s equatorial location as well as its high elevation, climbers can experience almost every climate type on earth during their climb to the top. It is also known to many for its year round snow-topped summit. The snow is slowly disappearing which scientists believe is due to global warming.
Radio one is encouraging listeners to text in and has raised thousands and it increases everyday. Details of how you can donate are on both the Radio One and Comic Relief websites. The money raised from the climb will be split with 40% going to the UK and 60% going to Africa.
In Africa they plan to use the money to fight malaria which kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds. Simple measures such as mosquito nets will save lives.
All 9 of the celebrity climbers reached the top, it is an amazing achievement for them on a personal level but it is also great for the charity. The celebrities arrived back to the UK today (10th March 09).
British Telecom is covering the cost of the climb. To help raise cash five of the celebrity climbers have taken over the speaking clock. When callers dial 123 they will be given an accurate time check by either Cheryl, Kimberley, Gary, Chris or Fearne. Each has re-branded the pips with their own comical versions – ranging from raspberries to piano chords or blowing kisses.
The climb which has raise over £1.5 million will be shown in an hour special on BBC 1 on Thursday 12th March 09 from 8pm.
Tags: Celebrities, Charity, Comic Relief, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mountain Climbing
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March 3rd, 2009
According to Greenpeace rainforest trees are getting bigger, which is excellent in the battle against climate change.
A group of scientists who are reporting on a 40 year study of African tropical forests have found that over the past few decades each hectare of intact African forest has trapped an extra 0.6 tonnes of carbon per year.
Dr Simon Lewis, a Royal Society research fellow at the University of Leeds, and the lead author of the paper says that “we are receiving a free subsidy from nature,” because “tropical forest trees are absorbing about 18 per cent of the CO2 added to the atmosphere each year from burning fossil fuels, substantially buffering the rate of climate change”.
This study has been based on 3 major forests, the Amazon in South America, the Paradise Forests in south east Asia, and the forests of the Congo Basin in central Africa. Each one an essential part of the worlds eco system, slowly helping to remove some of the carbon monoxide we produce daily.
Dr Lee White, co-author on the study and Gabon’s chief climate change scientist, said: “To get an idea of the value of the sink, the removal of nearly 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by intact tropical forests, based on realistic prices for a tonne of carbon, should be valued at around £13 billion per year. This is a compelling argument for conserving tropical forests.”
Rainforests are amazing they actually suck the carbon monoxide from the air, expelling oxygen. These rainforest are slowly being destroyed basically for human pleasure.
Unfortunately, at the moment we are not valuing these ancient forests for what they provide. Worldwide, rainforests are still being cut down and degraded at a staggering rate. They urgently need protecting. Charities like Greenpeace are doing all they can to highlight this issue to people in position of power so that something will be done.
Funding and education are essential to the cause so that the people living in these forests can understand their importance and see value in keeping the forests how they are rather than cutting them down.
We all know the world is changing perhaps this study will finally highlight the importance of trees. Forests have been destroyed all over the world and each hectare which disappears takes away some of our protection from Co2 and climate change.
It is estimated that 13 million hectares of the worlds forests are destroyed each year, 6 million of these have been largely untouched and undisturbed by man.
The result of this major deforestation is a loss of habitat for wildlife and also a reduction or complete removal of the ecosystem services provided by these forests.
Its time to stop, look and listen… we can not afford to keep destroying the planet in this way, no matter how much economic value is in the land and trees themselves.
Tags: Climate Change, Forest, global warming, Greenpeace, rainforest, science, trees, wildlife
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December 15th, 2008
Every year large evergreens invade our homes during the month of December. The Christmas tree is a long standing tradition around the world but what do we actually know about this family favourite?…
Traditionally the Christmas tree is an evergreen coniferous tree which is cut and brought into the house. Today it is the fir (Abies), which has the benefit of not shedding its needles when they dry out, as well as retaining good foliage colour and scent. The tree is then decorated with lights and decorations and a star or angel is placed on the top to symbolise the star of Bethlehem or a host of angels from the Christian Nativity.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: christian, Christmas, Environment, evergreen, fir, Tree, xmas
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November 21st, 2008
British beaches were once something to be proud of but according to Surfers Against Sewage (S.A.S) almost 1/3rd (32.3%) of English and Welsh designated bathing beaches failed to meet UK guideline standards for water quality during the 2008 bathing season.
An article on the S.A.S website states that out of 495 designated bathing waters in England and Wales 160 could not meet the tougher of two water quality standards set by the European Union to protect public health and the environment from faecal pollution at bathing waters.
You would think that these guidelines had just come in to existence but they have actually been set for 32 years under the 1976 EU Bathing Water Directive. It is understood that changes in UK weather conditions are causing the problem, making it increasingly difficult to meet the standards set out by the directive.
In the last 2 years Britain has seen extremely wet summers, which has highlighted how vulnerable our nation’s beaches are to the adverse effects to water quality after periods of heavy rainfall. The government have put massive investment into the nation’s sewerage infrastructure but it has had little effect on curving the problem of water pollution.
The S.A.S point out in their article that a solution which reduces the impact of heavy rainfall on future water quality results, should not just fall on the shoulders of the nations water companies but it will require co-operation from a large number of authorities.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Beach, European Union, Ocean, pollution, Sea
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November 5th, 2008
Hi fans of the logblog
I’ve just put the remaining 3 trees into larger pots for the winter and its reminded me that I’ve not given you an update about the tree planting for a while… so here goes.
So far we have planted
50(ish) into pots to give to the team
A dozen directly into the field
And a couple of hundred (by hand) over the last few years
Behind Schedule
As you’ll remember - what we wanted to do was to plant 8,000 this year… but we didn’t 
.
The problem being that the winter lasted for so long (especially in the north east) last year that when the spring finally came (you plant trees at the start of spring) it was too wet to mechanically plant the thousands that we had planned to.
What we should have done was just let the contractor plant them when they wanted, they are local to the area so can tell at short notice if its the right time to do it.
So, I have given permission to the contractor to plant 8,000 (ish) baby spruce trees on the site next year… this will be done between Feb and March - they’ll let us know when its done.
For those of you that don’t know about the project - we are planning to plant 50,000 trees over the next 5 years. As these trees grow they will remove 1 million kgs of CO2 (and other nasty stuff) from the atmosphere each year. This is by far (we think by a factor of ten) in excess of what K International produces in its business activities - thus making us carbon neutral.
Thanks
Rich
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November 4th, 2008
As (I hope) you have noticed we have just relaunched thelogblog with a new design.
Its all based on Wordpress, uses a theme that was designed in our own multi-language design studio and brings the site right up to the minute in terms of technology.
Please let us know what you think.
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November 1st, 2008
The ocean has always inspired awe among humanity.
When you stand on a beach and look out, the expanse of water seems to be limitless. It’s easy to see why ancient sailors believed in sea monsters and mermaids.
Unfortunately, as vast as the ocean is, it is not large enough or deep enough to be immune from the effects of human carelessness. As the New York Times reported on Sunday, the sea has been inundated with our trash-a problem that keeps growing every year, thanks to the massive amounts of plastic that we buy, use and throw away every year. If there are sea monsters and mermaids somewhere in the depths, they are ticked off! Read the rest of this entry »
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October 20th, 2008
Last Thursday, the government of Brazil released photographs of a hidden tribe living deep in the Amazon, a tribe that the outside world has never seen or communicated with before.
The people in the photos are obviously disturbed by the low-flying plane-they have painted themselves in red and black body paint and are threatening it with arrows. Undoubtedly, the story of the day the plane flew by will be passed down among these people for generations to come… if they are protected and allowed to continue living undisturbed.
These photographs remind us how much of the rainforest is still left to protect: a jungle large enough to shelter tribal groups that have never come into contact with modern society. This jungle is important to all of us on planet Earth, no matter where we live. The rainforest contains an astonishing number of plants and animals, some with untested medicinal potential. Read the rest of this entry »
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