Gabriel Hemery's Blog: Gabriel Hemery, page 17

Live on Kickstarter – Trees of the Planet

[image error]Trees of the Planet



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Trees of the Planet has gone live on Kickstarter. Click here to find out more about the project, how you can support it, and get your copy of the stunning art book.

For a more detailed summary of the project, read my recent post.

[image error]Big Edition of Trees of the Planet



[image error]Sample spreads from Trees of the Planet

Glen Finglas in autumnal glory

As an external advisor to the Woodland Trust on conservation matters, I have been lucky to travel to some beautiful sites around Britain over the last four years. Earlier this week, I visited Glen Finglas with other advisors. It was my first visit and I was taken aback by the autumnal beauty of this area in The Trossachs National Park in the Highlands of Scotland.

[image error]Glen Finglas stormy landscape, Gabriel Hemery

While we talked in depth about treescapes, grazing, deer, rewilding, research and monitoring, in between I managed to take a few shots with my iPhone. The autumnal colours were at their peak, while the stormy clouds and brief visits of sunshine added drama to the intrinsically beautiful landscape.

[image error]View from the top of the Glen[image error]‘Spider’ oak[image error]Silver birch and wetland[image error]Rainbow treescape in the Trossachs



Size: 4,095 ha (10,119 acres)
Grid reference: NN521108
Map reference: Explorer 365 | OS Landranger 57
Show on Google Maps

Find out more about Glen Finglas on the Woodland Trust website

Read more about my tree photography

Trees of the Planet

I’m excited to be a contributor to an amazing new book project celebrating the beauty of trees through photography. The publication of the book will hopefully be supported by crowdfunding raised via Kickstarter, and the project goes live in ten days time.

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Launching on Kickstarter 14th October

I will add a post on 14th October with a link to the Kickstarter fundraising page. Make sure you check back here then to find out how you can support this amazing project. You can always Subscribe to my blog, then you’ll receive a handy reminder in your inbox!

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An extraordinary art book on the trees of the world, as well as a travelling exhibition. A truly collective and international project, it will be ‘crowdfunded’ in two ways: both in the funding and, uniquely, in the art itself. All the profits will go to organisations devoted to caring for trees.

Trees of the Planet – film launched on 14th October

Read more about Trees of the Planet on my book pages

What Lies Beneath

Recently I contributed to an article about the dark web which lurks beneath the woodland floor, namely the fungi.

Written by Fiona Collins, the article draws heavily on the recognised expertise of fungal expert Professor Lynne Boddy from the University of Cardiff. I’ve had the privilege of working with Lynne in various ways during my professional life, and what she doesn’t know about fungi, is definitely worth knowing because she is always the first to admit that there is so much we don’t know.

“There are so many unanswered questions. We don’t really know what impact non-native fungi might have on our native networks when imported on roots for example. We don’t know if we can improve the fungi in soils to make trees more resilient and healthy. We don’t even fully understand what triggers fungi to fruit and create the mushrooms and toadstools we see in our woods.”

Dr Gabriel Hemery, From: What Lies Beneath, by Fiona Collins

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What Lies Beneath, by Fiona Collins. In: Nature Focus, a magazine published by the Woodland Trust

A mycorrhizal network is like looking down on a town at night and seeing the streets aglow with moving traffic,” says Gabriel Hemery. “That’s what’s going on below our feet.”

Dr Gabriel Hemery, From: What Lies Beneath, by Fiona Collins

Download the full pdf article

A masterly told story of a noble quest

Green Gold has received a book review by Michael Layland for The Ormsby Review.

The Ormsby Review is run by BC BookLook and focusses exclusively on the literary culture of British Columbia, the province of Canada with the highest per-capita book reading rate. The protagonist of Green Gold, John Jeffrey, travelled extensively through British Columbia, so it was very fitting that the book was reviewed for readers with an interest in this beautiful region of the world.

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The Strange Fate of John Jeffrey

It’s a shame that the reviewer took against the cover of Green Gold, but other than that, it is a generous and very thorough review.

“The book is a semi-fictional recounting of the adventures of a real person. While holding fast to the known facts, it adds highly plausible augmentation. The result is a masterly told story of a noble quest against fearsome challenges by a youthful hero of modest roots and demeanour.”

Michael Layland, The Ormsby Review, #613, September 2019

Read the full article on The Ormsby Review

Read more Book Reviews on my website

Michael Layland is an author from Victoria B.C. whose third book recounting various aspects of the history of exploration and early settlement of Vancouver Island is due for publication in October 2019. In Nature’s Realm: Early Naturalists Explore Vancouver Island (Victoria: Touchwood Editions) includes four pages on John Jeffrey’s mission, as well as the stories of several other Scottish botanists who came to this region. Details are on his website: michaellayland.com

What3Words could transform treehunting

Not everyone is comfortable with GPS, grid references, lat/long, and so on. Although I’m a geography graduate and happy using these, I’m also a bit of a geek, and a big fan of innovation. It’s not often that a new simple system comes along which revolutionises how we detail and share locations. Recently I’ve starting using What3Words. Not heard of it? Read on . . .

How what3words works

Thanks to the impressively innovative What3Words, it’s now possible to locate a 3x3m location anywhere in the world with just three unique words. The system is supported by a simple app, and an easy to use website.

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Three backslashes followed by three words separated with stops is all that’s required to find any 3x3m location in the world. The three words for each 3x3m location are randomly predetermined and fixed.

If you’re a fan of the outdoors and exploring it could be really useful for you in sharing locations with friends. It’s also potentially a life saver in emergency situations in remote locations. There are lots of examples of What3Words saving lives. The system is quickly gaining traction among emergency services, car manufacturers, and gps systems.

Some interesting tree locations with what3words

If you want to track down a specific tree, perhaps one of those in a public list of great trees (e.g. Great British Trees), most will be well-signposted or in easily identifiable places, like the Llangernyw Yew, the oldest tree in Europe (4-5,000 years old), situated in the churchyard of St Digain’s, Llangernyw in Conwy. Imagine instead, that with just three words you can describe exactly (down to 3×3 metres) the location of any tree far from any road, anywhere in the world, without resorting to the long numbers, eastings/westings, latitude and +/- of longitude (and is that decimal or not?).

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Imagine being able to describe in just three words the location of any tree in the world!
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Here are a few examples of trees or places that mean something to me. Why not share some of yours by leaving some feedback below? Extra credit for anyone finding out what famous tree is found at ///conflict.rucksack.misled !

SiteDescription what3words.com Westonbirt Arboretum, UKroad entrance: as featured in The New Sylva///aunts.plotter.foodsPiles Copse, Dartmoor National Park, UKlocation of long-term photo monitored tree///ramming.porch.nicelyMajor Oak, Sherwood Forest, UKtree location///windmill.zinc.catapultBlackwood of Rannoch, UKparking: as featured in The New Sylva///tipping.catapult.reachOxford Castle, UKtwo sycamore trees///window.tricks.cakeRedwood National Park, CA, USAthe home of the world’s tallest trees///humanities.things.plots

I Love Ash 2019

In 2017, I took this photograph of a beautiful ash tree, which for obvious reasons I titled ‘I Love Ash.’

I Love Ash 2017 by Gabriel Hemery

Just two years later, I returned to see how the trees was faring, and I was saddened to see how quickly it was succumbing to ash dieback.

[image error]I Love Ash 2017 by Gabriel Hemery[image error]I Love Ash 2019 by Gabriel Hemery

I took the most recent picture just a couple of weeks ago (mid July 2019). It is displaying classic signs of early stage crown thinning, due to ash dieback.

Read more about ash dieback

Outbreak of Oak Processionary Moth

Oak Processionary Moth or OPM has been discovered in Hampshire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire. The Plant Health Service have announced an urgent review of import controls on large oak trees, but is it too little too late?

I last wrote about OPM in July 2012, and warned then:

“Ignoring OPM is not an option – its spread is a disaster already happening – soon impacting our gardens, parks and forests across England unless action is taken urgently. “

Gabriel Hemery, July 2012 Article

[image error]Oak Processionary Moth caterpillars. Photo Forest Research

OPM is already an established pest in areas of London, while the rest of the country is designated as a Protected Zone. Swift action is being taken by the Plant Health Service to eradicate recent findings of OPM in Hampshire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire, including surveillance, tracing work and destruction of both the caterpillars and infested trees. The Plant Health Service has announced an urgent review of import controls on large oak trees (girth more than 8cm at 1.2m above the root collar).

Take Action

If you suspect OPM, you should not attempt to destroy or move infected material yourself as the nests and caterpillars can pose some risks to human health. For more on how to identify OPM, visit https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/opm. 

About Oak Processionary Moth

OPM caterpillars feed on oak leaves and can increase trees’ vulnerability to attack by other pests and diseases, making them less able to withstand adverse weather conditions such as drought and floods. These new cases highlight the need for continued vigilance from industry and government to protect the UK’s trees, coming soon after research which indicated that ash dieback may cost Britain many times more than the foot and mouth disease (read more).

The caterpillars can cause serious damage to trees by defoliating entire canopies but this is a minor problem in comparison to their effect on human health. The caterpillars of the third to sixth instars have poisonous hairs or setae that carry a toxin that can cause serious irritation to the skin, eyes, nose and throat of humans and other animals.  If inhaled they can cause respiratory distress, asthma and even anaphylactic shock.

More information



Larger oaks are defined here as those with a girth >8cm at 1.2m above the root collar.To report sightings of pests and diseases, use the TreeAlert online portal: https://treealert.forestresearch.gov.uk/The Plant Health Service is made up of Defra, Animal and Plant Health Agency and the Forestry Commission.For more on OPM, visit: https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/pest-and-disease-resources/oak-processionary-moth-thaumetopoea-processionea/For guidance on importing trees and plants to England and Wales from the EU visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/importing-trees-and-plants-to-england-and-wales-from-the-euTo find out more about plant health Protected Zones visit: https://planthealthportal.defra.gov.uk/resources/plant-health-protected-zones/To
find out how the government will work with others to protect England’s
tree population from pest and disease threats, see the Tree Health
Resilience Strategy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tree-health-resilience-strategy-2018.The
Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI) is part of the Animal and
Plant Health Agency (APHA) and implements and enforces plant health
policy in England, and in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government. For
more information on plant health controls, visit: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plant-health-controls

Show Your Climate Stripes

Thanks to a clever idea by scientists at the University of Reading, you see how much average temperatures have risen over time where you live. It’s part of an international campaign to highlight the importance of climate science. You can then ‘show your climate stripes.’

[image error]Show your stripes, Oxford. 1814-2018.



[image error]Show your stripes, Global[image error]Show your stripes, California, USA

I created my own stripes for my home city of Oxford, and it’s really interesting comparing these to the global version, and for further comparison, one for California in the USA (see above).

The team from the University of Reading’s Institute for Environmental Analytics developed this really interesting way of communicating about global warming. They are asking everyone to ‘show their stripes’ to help raise awareness of the climate crisis, and to support climate scientists worldwide who are helping to fight it.

“It is crucially important that society wakes up to the dangers of allowing global temperatures to continue to rise unchecked. Global warming is already presenting risks to health and society as we know it, and the climate crisis will become very real unless we take action now.”

Gabriel Hemery

Anyone can see how temperatures have risen where they live and share this with others by creating a unique set of stripes for their home town. It will help bring home how the climate crisis is an issue for us all, no matter where in the world we live.

In every case, the thick band of red stripes on the right-hand side acts as a stark warning of how human action has contributed to the climate crisis, making the graphic an effective way of raising public awareness of the issue.

Get your Your Climate Stripes

There is even some Climate Stripes merchandise!

Read more about global warming, the climate crisis, and resilience

Green Gold featured on BookBub

Available for a very limited time, Green Gold has been hand-picked to feature on BookBub, offering a significant discount to readers.

BookBub is a free service that helps readers discover books they will love. It offers unbeatable deals, handpicked recommendations, and updates from favourite authors. BookBub doesn’t actually sell books, but simply introduces readers to books on retailers like Amazon’s Kindle store, Barnes & Noble’s Nook store, Apple Books, and others.

Green Gold is only available as an Ebook on BookBub. If you would prefer a paperback copy, the book is still available in all good bookshops, and from online retailers like Amazon.

[image error] Grab yourself a bargain on BookBub

Visit BookBub to find out more