Is Ireland really all that green? Ecologically speaking, the answer is no, says Eoghan Daltun, a sculptor who restored a patch of native rainforest in the Beara Peninsula, on the country’s rugged southwestern coast. “Ireland really coasts on its reputation as the Emerald Isle,” Mr. Daltun said in a recent …
Read More »A Fading Tree, Once Majestic, Had to Come Down. But It Wasn’t the End.
When you live a long time with trees, they become a part of you. So it pained me to take down the old sugar maple, my arboreal cathedral, one rafter at a time, her demise not from flames but an underground blaze of fungus. Small honey-colored mushrooms fruiting at her …
Read More »The Wilderness Hidden in the Heart of Toronto
Dangling my feet over the bank of a fast-running creek, I watched the sunlight filter through a leafy canopy above me. Here, in the middle of a city of three million people, I felt utterly alone, and though I was loath to admit it, a little disoriented. But that was …
Read More »Things Are Looking Up for Africa’s Upside-Down Baobab Trees
Baobabs are arboreal icons that have punctuated Africa’s landscapes for around 12 million years. With crowns that can grow as large as three tennis courts, they are important for more than their role in ecosystems. The trees are featured in cultural traditions across Africa, and they also support the livelihoods …
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