Zanzibar’s baobab trees used to be a valued part of society – drone images help prove it: Baobab trees may be a proxy for measuring long-term use of land by humans. They live long, have economic benefits, and are used as shrines and markers on landscapes. Archaeologists have long suspected an association between baobabs and …
Fungi to the rescue: South African scientists use innovative approach to protect apple trees: Woolly apple aphids are destructive pests, threatening South Africa's apple-growing industry. Westend61/Getty Images Gardeners the world over dread the appearance of aphids on their plants. There are around 4,000 species of these sap-sucking insects and about 250 are pests that can …
Farming with a mixture of crops, animals and trees is better for the environment and for people – evidence from Ghana and Malawi: Moving away from intensive farming practices comes with many benefits. Nikada Farming just one kind of crop in a field at a time, and using a lot of chemicals, poses a risk …
Baobab trees all come from Madagascar – new study reveals that their seeds and seedlings floated to mainland Africa and all the way to Australia: There are eight species of baobab in the world, and they have a surprising distribution. Six are found in Madagascar, an island in the Indian Ocean; one is found on …
Planting trees in grasslands won’t save the planet – rather protect and restore forests: Tree planting is one of the nature-based solutions being used to offset greenhouse gas emissions. Trees absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Many of these tree planting projects target Africa’s rangelands (open grasslands or shrublands used by livestock and wild animals). They include …
Alcohol, artificial trees and ‘granny dumping’: why Christmas is such a busy time in A&E: Christmas day is actually the least busy day in A&E during the holidays. Medical-R/ Shutterstock Christmas is a time for families and friends to come together, relax and enjoy themselves. It’s a time of giving and receiving and of feasting …
Why iconic trees are so important to us – and how replacing those that fall is often complicated: The Sycamore Gap tree on Hadrian's Wall, UK. Mark Godden/Shutterstock An ancient kola tree has been cut down in southern Ghana. Local tradition held that the tree had grown on the spot where spiritual leader Komfo Anokye …
A mystery disease hit South Africa’s pine trees 40 years ago: new DNA technology has found the killer: An unidentified fungal killer swept through a South African pine plantation in the 1980s. Rodger Shagam In the 1970s and 1980s, pine trees growing in various forestry plantations in South Africa’s Western Cape province began to die …
Trees discovered at record-breaking altitudes highlight why we should restore Scotland’s mountain woodland: The Scottish Highlands are celebrated for wide-open views of spectacular glens (valleys) and rugged peaks. After centuries of landscape change, particularly deforestation caused by humans, it is easy to forget how well trees can thrive there. But new discoveries of small trees …
Trees, rivers and mountains are gaining legal status – but it’s not been a quick fix for environmental problems: The Whanganui River, New Zealand. Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock As the scale and severity of environmental issues become more obvious, lawmakers are experimenting with new ways to protect nature. One approach that has gone from blue-sky debate to …
Do trees really stay in touch via a ‘wood-wide web’? Here’s what the evidence says: Anders Floor/Pixabay Trees in a forest might look solitary but they are connected underground by a complex network of thread-like strands of fungi, some of which may only be visible to us as mushrooms on the surface. Through these connections …
Planting more trees could reduce premature deaths in European cities by a third – new research: Amsterdam, Netherlands. Planting trees in urban areas can reduce the impacts of urban heat islands. Dutch_Photos/Shutterstock Urban development leads to fewer shaded areas and more heat-absorbing paved surfaces. Cities tend to be warmer than their rural surroundings as a …
The history of chocolate: when money really did grow on trees: Advent calendars with hidden chocolatey treats, huge tins of Quality Street and steaming cups of hot chocolate festooned with whipped cream and marshmallows are all much-loved wintry staples at Christmastime. But how many of us stop to think about where chocolate actually comes from …
Floods in Nigeria: building dams and planting trees among steps that should be taken to curb the damage: Floods have hit 27 of Nigeria's 36 states this year. Sodiq Adelakun/AFP via Getty Images Nigerians are no strangers to flooding. In some parts of the country, flooding is an annual event. But the intensity varies from …
Drought: why some UK trees are losing their leaves in August: Britain is suffering its worst drought since the 1970s, with dry weather expected until October. Many parks and lawns are now more straw than grass, but some trees and other plants have responded in a more surprising way: by losing their leaves. It is …
A cool Kings Beach image: Where the beach needs reconstruction, where the palm trees have it hard – Fitzroy St and St Kilda Esplanade, St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia 091207 Image by David Jackmanson The title of this photo comes from the Paul Kelly song "From St Kilda to Kings Cross" – you can watch the …
In Jamaica, native trees are being driven further up mountains towards extinction: eric laudonien / shutterstock The Blue Mountains of Jamaica are frequently covered in a dense blanket of cloud, but when it lifts the first thing you notice is the cloak of forest extending up their steep slopes to the top of the highest …
Policies must reflect why Zimbabwe’s small tobacco farmers use trees for firewood: The farmers' predicament can't be viewed in isolation and must be understood within the context of global processes beyond their control. Christopher Scott via Getty Images Zimbabwe is the largest tobacco producer in Africa and in 2018, the crop accounted for about 10% …