14 April 2018, Manila. Since the partnership was formalised between Studio Hábil Crafts and FEED earlier this February 2018, founder Marvz Conti happily announced their first contribution of 20 indigenous Philippine forest trees to the Sierra Madre mountain range, aiming to help preserve ecological biodiversity in a formerly heavily logged area – the first bastion of protection for Luzon against tropical storms.

The 20 Studio Hábil Crafts trees will be planted along with hundreds of others sponsored by FEED Living Legacy partner companies and FEED’s Students and Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE) this coming 30 June 2018.

What Difference Does One Tree Make?

Tree planting 2.0

We need a new agenda to restore landscapes, and looking at the difficulties in Haiti, Nigeria and China can provide ideas for adaptation.

In Africa’s Sahel region, even an individual tree’s value has been demonstrated. Adding single trees to agricultural land across this drought-scarred land creates shade, regenerates soils, fertilizes the ground and fundamentally leads to greater food security. The process of agroforestry has helped the area come back from the brink of severe desertification, starting in the mid-1980s.

Green corridors in fragmented landscapes

In forests, trees can make a difference by connecting fragmented landscapes.

Most of the Atlantic forest in Brazil has been converted into agricultural land, with only 2 percent of the original forest remaining, dispersed in small patches surrounded by open fields. This kind of habitat loss affects tree species, their pollinators and animal dispersers—animals that consume seeds and excrete them across environments.

Researchers from the journal Nature have called for a new paradigm for forest restoration, and discourage exclusively prioritizing the expansion of existing medium-to-large size forest fragments. Instead, they suggest focusing on planting forest bridges, connecting otherwise disparate clumps of woods to form one large ecosystem.

Source: World Resources Institute, http://www.wri.org/blog/2014/08/difference-one-tree-can-make

Loving Native Philippine Trees: An Extract

Angelina Galang, Ph.D., president of Green Convergence for Safe Food, and Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy, wrote that the Philippines is “universally viewed as a country that has an unmatchable variety of flora and fauna… Per hectare our country probably harbors more species than any other place on Earth. The Philippines boasts of 3,600 identified native trees. Of these, 67 percent are endemic, found only in our archipelago.”

Imelda Sarmiento of Historica Filipina Foundation Inc., originator of the “crazy” (her term) idea of putting together the documents, said the reason for the lack of public awareness of endemic trees is their being over-harvested and carted away to other countries. “We are also seeing now the devastating effects of having replaced our native trees with alien species perceived to be fast growing.

9 Philippine native trees better than cherry blossoms (Source: https://www.atbp.ph/2016/06/18/9-philippine-native-trees-better-cherry-blossoms/)

The challenge now, writes Imelda, is to “reintroduce our own species to our people and make them secrets no longer. How? By planting them where we live and making everyone exercise ownership and stewardship over them. After all, our people, especially the younger generations, have the right to see and be proud of these majestic examples.”

“To pursue this advocacy, education is the key. We have been invaded by alien trees for most of our lifetime without us knowing any better. It surprises me no end that when asked for names of our native trees, most will stop at narra.”

Source: https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/05/10/1813745/loving-native-philippine-trees

Trees of the Philippines

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Trees_of_the_Philippines

Most Amazing Things About Trees

Trees create immense negative pressures of 10’s of atmospheres by evaporating water from nanoscale pores, sucking water up 100m in a state where it should be boiling but can’t because the perfect xylem tubes contain no air bubbles, just so that most of it can evaporate in the process of absorbing a couple molecules of carbon dioxide. Now I didn’t mention the cohesion of water (that it sticks to itself well) but this is implicit in the description of negative pressure, strong surface tension etc.

Hear more about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BickMFHAZR0

Contact FEED

FEED runs a number of Students and Volunteers for the Environment (SAVE); Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) – such as mangrove planting for coastal protection or ridge reforestation plantings; One Child, One Tree; Bio-Intensive Gardens (BIG) for nutrition in public elementary schools and other spaces; Climate Change Survival 101 and other LIVING LEGACY programs – customised environmental engagement activities for individuals and organisations interested in contributing to climate change adaptation efforts and greening critical areas such as watersheds, ridges, and reefs that all require rehabilitation.

Tree-Planting with FEED: Video

Check out the video journey by Clueless Commuter who planted with us last 24th of June 2017 to get a good idea of how FEED plantings go: https://youtu.be/KROn4rjVqBg