#rainForest

[tropichalys]

Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (Miami Botanical Garden), Miami, Coral Gables, Florida

[midwestaesthetics]

Cano Cristales, Serrania de la Macarena, Colombia...

[hope-for-the-planet]

Amazon deforestation fell over 50% in 2023 and as of August 2024 it was 46% lower than this time last year.

The Brazilian government has pledged to end Amazon deforestation entirely by 2030 and their current efforts have deforestation approaching the lowest it has been in the last six years.

[biting-rose]

RAINWINGS ❀!!

very obvious bias for them on my part - we are doing design notes for now, expect countless headcannons on their culture and life etc

-generally based on large parrots and pythons! in a fantasy sense, they are covered in scales that look/act as feather plumage, able to bristle and be moved for display or emote as body language together with their frills! their face looks like a snakes, able to scent heat and taste the air with tounge flicks

-they also have larger longer 'feathering' near the base of their tail that looks like macaw tails which helps them make tight turns when flying. their bird like wings all together make them agile in short bursts, but they do terribly when it comes to distance flying

-they have an elongated front thumb, large hook claws on their wings, and their hind talons look like a bird's for their arboreal lifestyle!

[slutpoppers]

[manilaswivel]

We need everyone's help right now to protect the rainforest and Indigenous People

The Amazon Rainforest is under a massive threat. I know you've heard this a million times, but this is different. There is a piece of legislation that will decimate the rights of Indigenous people of Brazil, who have been protecting the rainforest. It's unfathomably bad. It has majority support. And they're voting tomorrow. As reported here, the Bill allows "the Brazilian government to find energy resources, set up military bases, develop strategic roads, and implement commercial agriculture on protected Indigenous tribal lands, without any prior discussion with the affected peoples."

The thing you can do—and I know this sounds overly simple—is sign this petition—and tell your friends to do the same: SIGN HERE.

As reported here, the Bill allows "the Brazilian government to find energy resources, set up military bases, develop strategic roads, and implement commercial agriculture on protected Indigenous tribal lands, without any prior discussion with the affected peoples."

Again, this bill has majority support. You may be wondering, why will a petition signed by people who don't live in Brazil make any difference? Because it will give those opposing it political air cover. It will show the world is with them.

But we need a LOT of signatures.

Please do this simple act and spread the word.

[cottageaesthetic]

[pamietniko]

afternoon hike

Snoqualmie, Washington

[ai-dream]

[aimeekb]

Olympic National Park, Washington

[dandelionsresilience]

Dandelion News - February 15-21

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles!

1. Solar farms managed for nature boost bird abundance and diversity, new study finds

“There were more than twice as many farmland birds in the well-managed solar farms compared with the intensively farmed land, and nearly 16 times as many woodland birds. […] Overall, diversity was 2.5 times higher, while woodland birds were nine times more diverse.”

2. Washington judge blocks Trump’s gender-affirming care ban, says it's unconstitutional in multiple ways

“This marks the second time in a week that a judge has stood in the way of Trump’s attacks on trans kids. [… The ruling grants] a temporary restraining order that halts enforcement of provisions in Trump’s directive that would cut off federal funding to medical institutions that provide gender-affirming care to minors.”

3. Fog harvesting could provide water for arid cities

“17,000 sq m of mesh could produce enough water to meet the weekly water demand of [… the] urban slums. 110 sq m could meet the annual demand for the irrigation of the city's green spaces. Fog water could be used for soil-free (hydroponic) agriculture, with yields of 33 to 44lb (15 to 20kg) of green vegetables in a month.”

4. Audubon Applauds Bipartisan Federal Effort to Protect Delaware River Basin with Critical Reauthorization Bill

“The bill would […] ensure long-term conservation and restoration efforts, expand the official definition of the basin to include Maryland, and prioritize projects that serve small, rural, and disadvantaged communities. […] The watershed provides important year-round habitats and critical migratory stopovers for approximately 400 bird species[….]”

5. mRNA vaccines show promise in pancreatic cancer in early trial

“Half of the people in the study — eight of the participants — responded to the vaccine, producing T cells that targeted their tumors. […] Just two of the patients who had a response to the vaccine had their cancer return during the three-year follow- up, compared to seven of the eight who did not respond to the vaccine treatments.”

6. Minn. Lt. Gov. Flanagan Makes It Official; She's running for U.S. Senate

“[Flanagan has] “championed kitchen-table issues like raising the minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, and free school meals.” If elected, Flanagan, a tribal citizen of the White Earth Nation, would become the first Native American female U.S. senator in history.”

7. Federal Funding Restored for Low-Income Alabama Utility Assistance After Outcry

“A program meant to help low-income Alabamians pay their utility bills has resumed two weeks after it was canceled due to an executive order from President Donald Trump. […] “We can confirm the funds are reaching those affected by the previous pause[….]””

8. Modeling study suggests Amazon rainforest is more resilient than assumed

“[Previous] studies were either conducted with global climate models that used a simplified representation of convection [or were on a regional scale….] According to the computations, mean annual precipitation in the Amazon does not change significantly even after complete deforestation.“

9. States are moving forward with Buy Clean policies despite Trump reversal

““Buy Clean is a great example of how states and other nonfederal actors can continue to press forward on climate action, regardless of what the federal government does,” said Casey Katims, executive director of the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of two dozen governors.”

10. The rewilded golf courses teeming with life

“A wildflower meadow, ponds, scrub habitat, coastline and even an area of peat bog can be found on this little 60-acre (24-hectare) plot, which boasts roe deer, otters, lizards, eels and a huge array of insects and birds.”

February 8-14 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[reasonsforhope]

"Thousands of trees have been planted by volunteers as part of a new temperate rainforest in south Devon.

More than 2,500 native trees have been planted so far this winter at Devon Wildlife Trust's Bowden Pillars site near Totnes.

The charity said as well as storing carbon, temperate rainforests supported "a super-abundance" of wildlife.

The trust is transforming 30 hectares (75 acres) of sheep-grazed fields into a landscape with 70% tree cover and open glades and wildflower-rich meadows.

The charity said more than a 100 local people planted species including oak, rowan, alder, hazel, birch, willow and holly.

Nick Biggs, an 83-year-old volunteer, said he got involved with the project after being inspired by his apprenticeship with the Forestry Commission in 1958.

"That introduced me to the environment," he said.

"I was really keen to carry on with it and it's good for your fitness just to get out and do something."

The trust said in decades to come the new trees would form a temperate rainforest with high rainfall and humidity.

Helen Aldis from Moor Trees, which supplied some of the saplings, said many had been gathered locally.

She said: "The oak that's going in today is from acorns that we've gathered on Dartmoor that have come back to our tree nursery.

"Our volunteers process those, pop them into the root trainers and then they come out a year or two later to become the woodlands of the future."

'Incredibly rare habitat'

The trust said the damp woodlands used to cover large parts of Britain, but today amount to just 1% of its land area.

Project leader Claire Inglis said: "It's an incredibly rare habitat and we've lost a great deal of it over the years.

"Across the UK there is around 13% woodland cover but in Devon it's actually 11%, so it's lower than the national average."

The trust said the forests supported a variety of birds such as pied flycatchers, woodcock and redstarts, while the damp conditions meant mosses, liverworts, lichens, ferns and fungi thrived on the trees and forest floor.

Ms Inglis added: "The mix of young trees in amongst grass pastures and hedges, along with our commitment not to use pesticides and artificial fertilisers, will be better for local moths, butterflies and bees, along with farmland birds such as yellowhammers and barn owls."

The trust said 7,000 trees would be planted in the first winter with more planned in the future."

-via BBC, January 30, 2025

[maureen2musings]

Bandung, Jawa Barat, Indonesia

Hidayat Abisena

[keepingitneutral]

Sinfonía Verde, Península de Osa, Costa Rica,

Courtesy: Studio Saxe

[euphorictruths]