Encouraging a Love of the Great Trees.
Image Right.. The great 'Mountain Ash' of Australia. (up to 470 ft high!)
130 years ago, these trees were the tallest in the world! (about 6 stories higher than the California Redwoods!) The Ozy timber cutters of the day knew this, but, sadly, cut down all the ones over 300 ft! (often for Firewood!)
This madness is probably explained by a simple 'Trophy mentality'. The £20 prize (in 1888) for felling the tallest tree is probably not a cause as most of the biggest ones were already gone.
Note the horses at the base of the tree on the right.
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95% of the California Redwoods (from 1700) have since been destroyed..
Note the destructive ant-like swarm of 'homo-non-sapien' species about to drag away their Redwood 'kill' in the image below.
The Redwoods are also now in serious decline from rising temperatures and a reduction in the frequency of the coastal Fogs that the taller trees depend on.
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A massive sequoia - note the horse team on top of this "log".
Below, the massive trunk of a great 'Plane Tree' (Platanus orientalis)
courtesy - Pictures of England.com
Below, the 10 story high canopy of another massive 'Plane Tree'..
The 'Plane Tree' is one of the most revered 'Shade Trees' on earth. They were made famous as the subject of Handels 1740 Opera 'Xerxes' and its Aria 'Ombra Mai Fu' ('Never was such a Shade Tree') (Xerxes was King of Persia, 500 BC)
You could fit 1000 standard bedrooms in the cubic space under this canopy.
The canopy of the Plane Tree usually extends to the ground and so traps in the cool night air for most of the day. A wonderful place to be in a hot, dusty, barren land like Xerxes' Persia.
Things we can do..
All the great tree species across the world are in serious decline..
The adult generation and politicians of today don't seem to care..
As with most entrenched social problems, the only hope is to turn the hearts of the children..
To ensure the future preservation of our great trees,
we need to instill a love for them in the hearts of our children.
1. Take your children to see & touch the great trees in your area.
The younger the better.. The strongest attachments form in children at ages under 6!
Above - Poinciana (Delonix regia). (Yeronga QLD Australia)
Another great 'Shade tree'. This one is 22ft around the trunk and 5 stories high. If its canopy (image below) was a carpet, it could 'carpet' 70 bedrooms! You could fit 300 standard bedrooms in the cubic space under the canopy.
2. Search the web for images like the ones on this page; Google some interesting facts about that species, or just about the general destruction of the great trees; Present a brief 'show and tell' to your children. Eg. www.ten-thousand-trees.blogspot.com.au
3. Get your children to plant a small tree of their own in a pot or garden. Whether it lives or dies, they will learn many valuable lessons and form an attachment to all trees.
Below, massive 'Buttress roots'.
Watch our YouTube video (below) on this topic.. (7 min)
wip.