Gabriel Hemery's Blog: Gabriel Hemery, page 26

Students see the math in nature

I was pleased to donate one of my images with a link to my web-page on measuring tree height for the new STEM Garden at Wilson Botanical Gardens in North Carolina.

Wilson Botanical Gardens has received a $25,000 grant from the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation through their Ribbon of Hope grant program. These funds are supporting the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) Garden and its associated programs.

Focusing on the needs of middle and high school students, the STEM Garden incorporates elements of the core STEM programs including science concepts using plant/insect interactions, water use and conservation, technology in weather prediction and information systems , engineering in design and alternative power sources, and mathematical models. Students in Wilson and surrounding counties use the Garden.

[image error]Wilson Botanical Garden STEM garden and Gabriel Hemery’s tree height math

The article on measuring tree height remains one of my most popular with readers.

Find out more about the STEM garden at www.wilsonbotanicalgardens.org

Tagged: botanic, drawing, garden, height, math, mathematics, nature, stem, tree, USA

Hunting for Jeffrey pine

Young Victorian plant hunter John Jeffrey — the main character in my latest book GREEN GOLD — is remembered today by the name of a pine tree he discovered in 1852 in northern California.

John Jeffrey sent seeds from 119 plant species home to Edinburgh, and more than 400 specimens were received by the Herbarium at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, including seeds and/or specimens of 35 conifer species.

His name is remembered by the Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi). It is a majestic tree with long green needles bundled in threes, and boasts giant attractive cones. It remains quite an unusual tree in the UK although it is found in many of our botanic gardens. I’ve been searching for some specimens outside these gardens and recently received a strong lead that a large specimen was growing at Pinner Memorial Park in North London.

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I tracked down the tall (40m) three-needled pine growing next to the coral-pink community centre in the north-east corner of the park.

[image error]This is a cone I picked up from under the tree at Pinner Memorial Park. Sadly it was prickly rather than gentle, so my search continues.

‘Gentle Jeffrey or prickly ponderosa’

This mnemonic is perhaps the easiest way to remember how to differentiate two closely-related pine species: Jeffrey and ponderosa pines. Run your hand over the cone and feel the spines at the tips of their scales. When wet, the Jeffrey pine’s spines curve inward and the cone feels smooth.

Unfortunately, I believe this tree was the closely-related ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) so my search continues. I’d be pleased to receive any leads from readers – contact me.

Find out more about my book GREEN GOLD

Tagged: books, John Jeffrey, London, pine, trees

A plant-hunter’s extraordinary journey

John Jeffrey, the main character in my latest book Green Gold, walked, paddled and rode at least 10,000 miles across North America while hunting for plants from 1850-4. During the two years I spent researching and writing the book I plotted his travels in detail and can now publish the route in full for the first time.

John Jeffrey’s explorations

Green Gold is my latest book: a biographical fiction novel featuring the extraordinary but little-known true story of John Jeffrey, a young Victorian botanist and plant hunter. Read more.

After sailing 2,600 nautical miles from London, via Stromness in the Orkney Isles, to York Factory on the eastern seaboard of North America, the young explorer travelled crossed the continent covering at least 2,500 miles to reach the west coast so that he could begin his work. But that was only the beginning. For his work as a botanist for the Oregon Botanical Association — made up of wealthy Subscribers and managed by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh — he explored Washington and Oregon Territories, California, and eventually Arizona and New Mexico before mysteriously disappearing.

The following distances measured from online Google maps often assume ‘as the crow flies’ and total some 6,300 miles. Accounting for real life travel, plus the fact the collector would have wondered up and down the country searching for specimens, John Jeffrey would have travelled at least 10,000 miles.

1850: 2,600 nautical miles from London to York Factory in Hudson’s Bay via the Orkney Islands
1850: 680 miles (1,097 km) by small boat and foot
1851: 1,309 miles (2,112 km) over the Rocky Mountains on snowshoes and foot
1851: 546 miles (880 km) in canoes and foot to Vancouver Island
1851: 1,143 miles (1,843 km) during an autumn botanical expedition on foot
1852: 1,159 miles (1,870 km) collecting in Washington and Oregon
1853: 569 miles (918 km) collecting in Oregon and California
1854: 915 miles (1,476 km) collecting and travelling in California and New Mexico

While I conducted research for the book I have plotted his route meticulously using evidence from his letters and plant labels, and recorded his route on a Google Map which I’m delighted to publish here for the first time. I colour-coded the route for each different year, and have used symbols to mark key sites such as a Fort he stopped at, or a mountain climbed. Click on different features and zoom in and out to fully explore the map.

Over the four years John Jeffrey travelled in excess of 6,300 miles (10,195 km). His last known location was thought to be Fort Yuma in Arizona.

Green Gold is my latest book — a biographical fiction novel based on a true story.

“The Revenant (Michael Punke) meets The Invention of Nature (Andrea Wild).”

The book will be produced by Unbound Publishing, an award-winning crowdfunding publisher that brings books to life. You can pledge your support and in return receive an advance copy with your name (or the name of someone special) included in the book. I have a page online at unbound.com/books/green-gold where you can find out more and pledge your support.

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Tagged: book development, books, botany, explorer, fundraising, John Jeffrey, plants, Victorian

Jeffrey’s shooting star

In September 1852 young Scottish plant hunter John Jeffrey came across an attractive flowering plant in northern California. After samples were received by his sponsors at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh it was named in his honour.

In this short film I am reading from John Jeffrey’s journals which were lost for 160 years and through my book GREEN GOLD will be revealed for the first time.

Jeffrey’s shooting star (Dodecatheon jeffreyi) is also known as Sierra shooting star or tall mountain shooting star. Its glowing pink flowers, which appear between April and June, look like shooting stars with their swept-back petals. They are held aloft on long slender stems above a rosette of wrinkled oblong leaves. This plant becomes dormant immediately after flowering. It prefers shade or partial sun, and medium moisture. Its spring flowers and early season dormancy makes it a perfect companion among perennials which emerge later in the garden, particularly among a rock garden or meadow.

The flowers of Jeffrey’s shooting star were considered to bring good fortune by some native American people, who used them as love charms. It is one of a few plants that is fertilised thanks to ‘buzz pollination‘ where the plant releases pollen when stimulated by the wingbeats of a bee.

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The discovery of this beautiful flower is only one feature in the amazing true story from the adventures of John Jeffrey, the main character in my new book Green Gold. Subscriber offers are currently available. Visit unbound.com/books/green-gold

Pledge GREEN FINGERS 

[image error]Green Gold on Unbound.com

Paperback Super Patron (1st edition paperback, ebook edition and your name in the list of Super Patrons in the front of the book) plus a personal letter of thanks from the author together with a pack of Dodecatheon jeffreyi seeds. Find out more

 

Tagged: books, flowers, Green Gold, nature

Green Gold – a new book in the making

I’m excited to announce the funding launch of my latest book. Green Gold is a biographical fiction novel featuring the extraordinary but little-known true story of John Jeffrey, a young Victorian tree hunter.

“The Revenant (Michael Punke) meets Invention of Nature (Andrea Wild).”

I have a contract to produce the book with Unbound Publishing, an award-winning crowdfunding publisher that brings books to life. I’m particularly pleased to be supporting this publishing model which is a modern twist on how books used to be published. It means people can pledge their support, and follow the book in the making.

[image error] Green Gold – find out how to pledge your support

A number of ‘rewards’ are available in return for a pledge of support. Every supporter will receive a copy of the book (ebook or paperback) with their own name (or the name of someone special) included within its pages. Pledge a little more and you could choose from a talk by the author at a place of your choosing, an invitation to the book launch, a private view of an unique exhibition, or a guided walk with the author.

I have a page online at unbound.com/books/green-gold where you can find out more and pledge your support.

I’ve also made a short film to introduce the book.

Green Gold – synopsis

In 1850 young Scottish tree-hunter John Jeffrey is despatched by an elite group of Victorian subscribers to seek highly-prized exotic tree species in North America. An early letter home tells of a 1,200 mile transcontinental journey on foot. Later, tantalising botanical samples arrive from British Columbia, Oregon and California, yet early promise soon withers. Three years after setting out John Jeffrey disappears without a trace. Was he lost to love, violence or the Gold Rush? The secrets of the extraordinary adventure lie in his precious journals which remained lost, until their discovery and reproduction, 160 years later in 2018.

Green Gold is a biographical fiction novel based on a true story told by Gabriel Hemery, a contemporary tree-hunter, forest scientist and author of the award-winning book The New Sylva.

Find out how to support the book

Tagged: book development, books, fundraising

Ask the Wood

I am delighted to be invited to take part in a fascinating event on 16th May in London where the audience will bring deep-rooted personal questions and thorny problems to be deliberated and fathomed via the wisdom of the woods. Tickets are now available.

Feral Practice presents:

Tuesday 16th May 6.30-9:00pm

South London Botanical Institute

[image error] Feral Practice (Artist: Marcus Coates)

British artist Marcus Coates, together with an esteemed panel of naturalists –  forest scientist Gabriel Hemery, mycologist Irene Palmer, urban ecologist Mathew Frith and plant folklorist Roy Vickery – invite the audience to bring deep-rooted personal questions and thorny problems to be deliberated and fathomed via the wisdom of the woods.

Subverting a ‘Gardeners Question Time’ format, Ask the Wood will look at strategies and relationships that have evolved between species in woodlands that could provide new frameworks for approaching questions concerned with human society (e.g. How can I avoid conflicts with my difficult neighbour?) The panel will use their specialist knowledge of the intricate relationships that have evolved in nature to open up unexpected pathways of creative thinking for everyday life.

The event pushes at the edge of what we think we know and interweaves traditionally opposed disciplines in knowledge to re-entwine human and nonhuman meaning-making.

THE QUESTIONS:

We invite audience members, and others, to generate a question of concern to them, which can be considered by the panel. Please email your question to fiona@feralpractice.com, tweet to @feralpractice, or bring it with you on the night.

THE PANEL:

Marcus Coates is a British artist best known for his performances and projects that access understanding beyond the rational and explore our relationship to non-human nature.

Gabriel Hemery is a forest scientist and author of several books on forests and trees, including The New Sylva in 2014.

Irene Palmer is a fungi and orchid specialist and Chair of the Orpington Field Club.

Mathew Frith is an urban ecologist and Director of Conservation for the London Wildlife trust

Roy Vickery is a botanist and author of several books on British plant folklore, and President of the SLBI.

Feral Practice is the multi-species art collective conducted by British artist Fiona MacDonald.

Booking and Further Details:

Please note that we will be audio recording the event and taking photographs.

Doors open from 6.30pm for drinks and introduction to the SLBI herbarium, library and garden.

Panel event starts 7.15pm

Booking essential. Tickets £8 / £6 SLBI members

Venue: South London Botanical Institute, 323 Norwood Rd, London SE24 9AQ (Tulse Hill station)

Ticket sales: http://www.slbi.org.uk/events or contact SLBI direct on : 020 8674 5787 / info@slbi.org.uk (tickets are available from 20 April)

Venue details: http://www.slbi.org.uk/visiting/

The event Ask the Wood is part of the art and research project Wood to World, by Fiona MacDonald : Feral Practice, which explores communication with and relationship to beyond-human nature through art, philosophy, science, folklore and more. Wood to World is generously supported by Arts Council England and Kent County Council.

For more information/images contact Fiona MacDonald: fiona@feralpractice.com

Website: http://www.feralpractice.com/askthewood

Project blog: www.woodtoworld.wordpress.com

Social media: Twitter @feralpractice  Instagram @feralpractice   #askthewood

Tagged: art, environment, society, talk

Native trees of Britain

There are 60 or more trees in Britain that are native, meaning tree species, subspecies or hybrids that have established themselves without the hand of man. Yet only 35 are widespread meaning that the palette is actually quite limited, particularly when the full range of benefits from woodlands are considered, together with threats from environmental change.

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Sixty may appear a large number of tree species but only about 35 are widespread and of these only three are conifers: juniper, scots pine and yew. The following list of native British trees is taken from my book The New Sylva (Bloomsbury Publishing 2014).

Common name


Latin name



Field maple
Acer campestre


Common alder
Alnus glutinosa


Strawberry-tree
Arbutus unedo


Silver birch
Betula pendula


Downy birch
Betula pubescens


Box
Buxus sempervirens


Hornbeam
Carpinus betulus


Dogwood
Cornus sanguinea


Hazel
Corylus avellana


Midland hawthorn
Crataegus laevigata


Hawthorn
Crataegus monogyna


Spindle
Euonymus europaeus


Beech
Fagus sylvatica


Alder buckthorn
Frangula alnus


Common ash
Fraxinus excelsior


Sea buckthorn
Elaeagnus rhamnoides


Holly
Ilex aquifolium


Juniper
Juniperus communis


Crab apple
Malus sylvestris


Scots pine
Pinus sylvestris


Black poplar
Populus nigra subsp. Betulifolia


Aspen
Populus tremula


Wild cherry
Prunus avium


Bird cherry
Prunus padus


Blackthorn
Prunus spinosa


Plymouth pear
Pryrus cordata


Sessile oak
Quercus petraea


Pedunculate oak
Quercus robur


Purging buckthorn
Rhamnus cathartica


White willow
Salix alba


Goat willow
Salix caprea


Grey willow
Salix cinerea


Crack willow
Salix fragilis


Bay willow
Salix petandra


Purple osier
Salix purpurea


Almond willow
Salix triandra


Common osier
Salix viminalis


Elder
Sambucus nigra


English whitebeam
Sorbus anglica


Common whitebeam
Sorbus aria


Arran whitebeam
Sorbus arranensis


Rowan
Sorbus aucuparia


Bristol whitebeam
Sorbus bristoliensis


Devon whitebeam
Sorbus devoniensis


Service-tree
Sorbus domestica


Round-leaved whitebeam
Sorbus eminens


Irish whitebeam
Sorbus hibernica


Lancastrian whitebeam
Sorbus lancastriensis


Grey-leaved whitebeam
Sorbus porrigentiformis


Arran service-tree
Sorbus pseudofennica


Rock whitebeam
Sorbus rupicola


Somerset whitebeam
Sorbus subcuneata


Wild service-tree
Sorbus torminalis


Bloody whitebeam
Sorbus vexans


Wilmott’s whitebeam
Sorbus wilmottiana


Yew
Taxus baccata


Small-leaved lime
Tilia cordata


Large-leaved lime
Tilia platyphyllos


Wych elm
Ulmus glabra


Field elm
Ulmus minor

The timeline used to define ‘native’ is about 8,000 years ago (6,100BC), when Doggerland—the land-bridge linking Britain to mainland Europe—disappeared when a catastrophic tsunami is thought to have swept a wave up to 10m tall as far as 25 miles inland (see Smith et al. 2014 below).

The list of what is considered a native species, or indeed a separate species or not, is under constant review by botanists. For example, while 17 trees from the Sorbus genus are listed in the table above, these are only the most widespread, as there are thought to be about 17 more present in tiny populations (e.g. a single Welsh valley). Tim Rich is one of the most active botanists working to disentangle the genus (See Rich et al. 2014 below).

Our cousins in North America find the British definition of ‘native’ intriguing, the time boundary generally adopted by them being when European settlers first arrived in the sixteenth century, just 400 years ago.

Just across the English Channel in France and there are dozens more tree species considered native including silver fir (Abies alba), European larch (Larix decidua), cornelian cherry (Cornus masiiii), and Norway maple (Acer platanoides), to name a few.

Some trees introduced a long time ago to Britain are now considered ‘naturalised’. There is a specific term for species present since 1500; an ‘archaeophyte’. Such species include beech (native only to south-eastern Britain), horse chestnut, sweet chestnut, sycamore and walnut.

References

T. C. G. Rich, D. Green, L. Houston, M. Lepší, S. Ludwig, and J. Pellicer (2014). British Sorbus (Rosaceae): six new species, two hybrids and a new subgenus.

New Journal Of Botany Vol. 4 , Iss. 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/2042349714Y.0000000036

D.E. Smith, S. Shi, R.A. Cullingford, A.G. Dawson, S. Dawson, C.R. Firth, I.D.L. Foster, P.T. Fretwell, B.A. Haggart, L.K. Holloway, D. Long, (2004). The Holocene Storegga Slide tsunami in the United Kingdom, Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 23, Issues 23–24, December 2004, Pages 2291-2321, ISSN 0277-3791, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.04.001.

Tagged: Britain, native, trees

Do you stand up for trees?

Ten guiding principles of the Tree Charter are published today, aiming to bring trees and woods to the centre of UK society.

The 10 principles for the future of trees, woods and people, have been drawn from more than 50,000 stories submitted by members of the public. The principles reveal the role of trees in our lives, and are agreed by a coalition of more than 70 cross-sector UK organisations. These organisations are now united in calling for people across the UK to stand up for trees by signing the Tree Charter and helping to shape history.

[image error]Charter for Trees, Woods and People

The principles will form the foundation of the new ‘Charter for Trees, Woods and People’ to be launched in November 2017, which aims to secure a brighter future for the nation’s woods and trees, and to protect the rights of all people in the UK to access the many benefits they offer.

Whereas the historic charter was signed by King Henry III to grant rights to his subjects, the new Tree Charter will draw its strength from people power, with signatures from hundreds of thousands of people from across the UK.

The Tree Charter Principles articulate the relationship between people and trees in the UK in the 21st Century:

Nature Thriving – habitats for diverse species
Planting – Planting trees for the future
Arts & Heritage – Celebrating the cultural impacts of trees
Utility & Livelihoods – A thriving forestry sector that delivers for the UK
Protection – Better protection for important trees and woods
Planning – Enhancing new developments with trees
Health & Wellbeing – Understanding and using the natural health benefits of trees
People & Access to trees – Access to trees for everyone
Coping with Threats – Addressing threats to woods and trees through good management
Environment – Strengthening landscapes with woods and trees

The final Charter, to be launched on 6th November, will provide guidance and inspiration for policy, practice, innovation and enjoyment, redefining the everyday benefits that we all gain from woods and trees in our lives, for everyone, from Government to businesses, communities and individuals.

Modern UK society suffers from green blindness — we take for granted the nature, beauty, protection, air regulation, and material-producing wonder of trees and forests  — as we are lucky to be surrounded by them in our streets, parks and countryside.

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity… and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.”

William Blake

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The Tree Charter represents a rare collective opportunity. It is a moment for us all to reflect on the importance of trees and forests, and to stand up for their future, and indeed for the future of life on Earth.

I have signed the Tree Charter and I urge everyone in the UK to do the same. You can find out more and add your name at: treecharter.uk/sign

Tagged: public charter

Rewilding Dartmoor

Dartmoor in south-west England is a beautiful ‘wilderness’ and deeply familiar to me. As a youth I accompanied my father Eric Hemery (author) during his research inching across every one of the moor’s 365 square miles. When a little older I enjoyed participating in Ten Tors expeditions, walking 45 miles in under two days, graduating in one sense to become an active member of the Mountain Rescue Group. Latterly I studied Dartmoor, and in particular its meagre upland woodlands, as an environmentalist.

For my short story in Arboreal (Little Toller Books, 2016) I decided to write from the perspective of an old man looking back on the transformation of Dartmoor due to the withdrawal of farming subsidies and application of visionary environmental policies.

“There was stark beauty to the high moor, which due largely to the absence of people, felt wild. It was only later, as I developed what you could describe as a deeper environmental awareness, that I gained true insight into the nature of Dartmoor’s landscape.”

Don’t Look Back from Arboreal (Little Toller Books, 2016)

The focus for the story Don’t Look Back was my long-lasting relationship with Piles Copse; one of three high altitude oak woodlands which survive against all odds on the moor. Read more about Piles Copse.

At the heart of the story I explored the concept of society becoming smarter in how we manage our landscapes, to work with rather than against nature and, most importantly, to have more land covered with trees (read my recent post about how Britain is grievously under-forested). I imagined returning to Piles Copse when a combination of deliberate landscape change and accidental neglect had transformed the landscape through ‘rewilding’.

Rewilding is an appealing concept, where environmentalists imagine the shackles of entrenched human-centric views being removed — as Rewilding Britain define it — “to bring nature back to life and restore living systems“. The daring and provocative book Feral by George Monbiot has effectively raised the profile of the approach. My personal stance on rewilding is that I’m not in favour of deliberate abandonment of our landscapes to nature where, at least in the UK, pressures on land are too high and the environmental imperatives too great. One of these would be the importance of producing more timber, or more precisely woody biomass, to support a future society in functioning sustainably.

Unfortunately there wasn’t space in the book to include two pen and ink sketches I offered the publishers. One shows Piles Copse in 2015 when I visited the Erme Valley and made notes for the story, the other an imaginary scene showing the same in 2050. I thought it would be nice to share these with readers before they’re lost in my archives.

[image error] Looking across to Piles Copse and Sharp Tor in 2015, and the Dartmoor forest in 2050. Sketches by Gabriel Hemery. The 2050 sketch shows the valley covered with trees, with the higher peaks remaining tree-free. Some timber has been brought to ride-side from first thinning operations. Species growing are diverse including Macedonian pine (Pinus peuce) and tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipefera) along native species such as oak.

Here’s a second extract from the story:

“Eventually green fingers spread up Dartmoor’s valleys; first came birch and alder (Italian), and later red oak, black locust and Japanese red cedar (which spread naturally from a nearby plantation). Milder and wetter winters favoured tree growth at higher elevations, and fecundity too. Sadly, the bearded lichens and mosses that once festooned the trees are gone from here now, due to high summer temperatures, although they do still live on trees at higher elevations. We know from satellite imagery that by 2042 Piles Copse had become an ancient woodland among a mob of teenage trees that spread all the way from Ivybridge and the border country, right up to the edges of the blanket bog and craggy hilltops two miles further upstream.”

Don’t Look Back from Arboreal (Little Toller Books, 2016)

[image error] Arboreal: a collection of new woodland writing. Little Toller Books. 2016.

Perhaps fiction will become reality if I am lucky to live to 2050 and return to visit this beautiful place one last time aged 82 years.

Tagged: art, books, Dartmoor, ecology, environment, forestry, policy, rewilding

Plant a tree for every year of your life

“All human beings should plant one tree for every year that they live on earth and experience the joy and pride of embracing their massive trunks and sitting under their shady canopies.”

The New Sylva, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014

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Young people planting a pine tree. Photo Gabriel Hemery.

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The New Sylva book

I wrote these words in The New Sylva but have never explained the detail behind my thinking for this ‘call to the spade’. If we did adopt such a personal life mission, what might we achieve?

Most people with a modicum of environmental consciousness will recognise the importance of trees to life on Earth, and the devastation we are causing to the world’s biodiversity hotspots and the planet’s lungs; namely the destruction of tropical forests. Few may stop to think how over-consumerism in the Developed world is driving this destruction, and how, by our failure to plant trees for their utility and protection in our own countries, we are exporting our harmful impacts elsewhere.

The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe, with 13 per cent woodland cover compared to around 37 per cent for European Union countries and global forest cover of around 30 per cent. You might think this would make it a good model for assessing the potential for my suggested life mission. I wrote about forest cover of the UK in 2011 and I’ve now updated my graph to feature the latest statistics from the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 (FAO, 2015). Move your mouse over the graph below as it is interactive.

Our lack of trees in the UK is now well recognised. For example the Woodland Trust aims to plant 64 million trees in the next ten years (by 2025). English government has set a target to plant 11 million trees, although one industry group says it will be seven years behind the target, just one year after establishing it.

So, why do I suggest we should plant a tree for every year of our lives? After all, this would equate to meeting the Woodland Trust target every single year. Is it just a convenient sound bite or has it more substance? If we met such a target what would that actually mean in terms of trees planted and forest area created, in the context of our current tree cover?

If we assume 80 years life expectancy (see Official Statistics) and no change in population size (currently 64 million), then between 2017 and 2097:

Each individual would plant on average 80 trees during their lifetime.
25,600 ha (63,237 acres) of new forest would be planted in the UK every year.
Over 80 years this would create a forest of 2,048,000 ha (5,058,560 acres).
Ultimately containing 204,800,000 mature trees.
UK forest area would increase by 8%, from 13% to 21%
As a result the UK would remain well below the average area forested among European countries (29.6%).

So, even adopting such an ambitious collective societal approach would still leave the UK towards the bottom of the European forest league! It just goes to show how insignificant our current planting targets are.

But take heart, it’s never to late to catch up in your personal tally. It only takes a couple of minutes to plant a tree, so even at 80-years-old you can plant (perhaps with a little help) your full contribution in an hour or two.

 

Maths and Assumptions

population × years = (number of trees × area per tree m2 )/10,000 = forest area (ha)

64,000,000 × 80 = (5,120,000,000 × 4)/10,000 = 2,048,000 ha

UK human population = 64 million
Life expectancy = average 80 years (assuming no change)
Trees planted at 2×2m spacing = 4m2 per tree (or 2,500 trees per hectare)
Area of trees planted = 256,000,000 m2
Convert this area to hectares (/ 10,000) = 25,600 ha
A thinning rate of 25 to 1 (i.e. removal of trees to allow others to grow to full size)
Mature tree (e.g. oak) area = 100m2 (or 100 trees per hectare)
UK land area 24,361,000 ha

 

Interested in use of maths in forestry? Read these other articles:

Estimating crown size
Estimating tree height

 

 

 

Tagged: environmentalism, society, tree planting