Haiti Tree Re-Introduction Project
The September 2008 edition of Ecological Restoration Magazine has an article
and
photos of a project to restore the once forested landscape and improve the
nutrition
and health of human communities in the remote and mountainous
Artibonite Valley.
Spanish cedar
Click here
for a pictorial on this project.
Steeply sloping land in the Chaine des Mateux,
representing the most degraded and least productive land type in Haiti.
EcoResults will make the case that rural land stewards
–ranchers and farmers–can
be one of the most effective
means we have of creating several of the values
most in
demand by our society–open space, clean and plentiful
water, species
diversity and abundance, etc.
And it will make this case in the strongest way possible,
with eye-opening
before and after photos of successful ecological restorations achieved
by rural
people using the skills and techniques we mostly associate with rural
life–
stewardship of the land and of plants and animals that live on it.
Read
some amazing success stories about the restoration of decimated mining sites
and
desert areas.
EarthCorps is a non-profit organization founded in 1993.
It is dedicated to
building global community through local
environmental restoration service. As an
AmeriCorps affiliate,
EarthCorps provides one-year intensive programs for young
adults (18-25) to learn best practices in conservation
techniques and develop
skills in leading volunteers (ages 8-80).
International projects are currently being worked in Japan,
Russia, Guatemala,
Philippines, Mexico, Ecuador, and Brazil.
Paul Stamets, founder of
Fungi Perfecti, has been a dedicated mycologist for
more than thirty years.
His book Mycelium Running is a manual for the mycological rescue of the planet.
Microscopic cells called "mycelium" --the fruit of which are mushrooms --
recycle carbon, nitrogen, and other essential elements as they break down plant
and animal debris in the creation of rich new soil.
What Stamets has discovered
is that we can capitalize on mycelium's digestive power and target it to
decompose toxic wastes and pollutants (mycoremediation), catch and reduce silt
from streambeds and pathogens from agricultural watersheds (mycofiltration),
control insect populations (mycopesticides), and generally enhance the health of
our
forests and
gardens
(mycoforestry
and
mycogardening).
