A new monkey species, known to locals as the 'lesula' (Cercopithecus lomamiensis), has been
discovered in a largely unexploited rainforest within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
posted by Wordshore
on Sep 12, 2012 -
44 comments
From these various anthropological approaches,
a basic dichotomy has emerged between two types of societies from very different ecosystems: societies born in rain forests and those that thrive in deserts.... Begin with religious beliefs. A striking proportion of rain forest dwellers are polytheistic, worshipping an array of spirits and gods.... But desert dwellers... are usually monotheistic. Of course, despite allegiances to a single deity, other supernatural beings may be involved, like angels and djinns and Satan. But the hierarchy is notable, with minor deities subservient to the Omnipotent One. This division makes ecological sense.... Desert societies, with their far-flung members tending goats and camels, are classic spawning grounds for warrior classes and the accessories of militarism.... Rain forest cultures also are less likely to harbor beliefs about the inferiority of women; you won’t be likely to find rain forest men giving thanks in prayer that they were not created female, as is the case in at least one notable desert-derived religion.... (
Previously,
previously,
previously)
posted by orthogonality
on Jul 12, 2009 -
73 comments
I first encountered the concept of
forest gardening in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's
Herland (1915)
[relevant part pages 79-80]; the fictional race of women in her book have completely remade the forests to contain only beneficial and food-bearing plants, which live harmoniously together and replenish the soil naturally. This is
actually being done, less than a hundred years later.
More;
similar,
similar.
posted by fiercecupcake
on Jul 7, 2008 -
25 comments
Good news for the world's forests. "...the researchers, using new analytical techniques, calculated that in the last 15 years forests had actually expanded in 22 of the 50 countries with the most forest, and that many others were poised to make the transition from deforestation to reforestation in the coming decades." Unfortunately, countries like Brazil and Indonesia aren't doing so well.....
posted by storybored
on Nov 14, 2006 -
31 comments
The Endless Forest is a strange piece of software (that can be a screensaver), where you control a deer in a, well, endless forest. And so do a bunch of other online players. And you can interact all you like with them - with the minor caveat that deer can't talk.
posted by DataPacRat
on Apr 27, 2006 -
46 comments
First it was announced that an
Oregon State University graduate student was publishing a story in the journal
Science. titled, "
Post-Wildfire Logging Hinders Regeneration and Increases Fire Risk," which undercut Bush administration-backed arguments for post-wildfire logging. A week later it was
made public that nine professors in the
College of Forestry (which gets 10% of its funding from a logging tax) lobbied the journal not to publish the article. Among them was
John Sessions, lead author of a report that pressed the U.S. Forest Service to expand salvage logging. After attention was brought to the professors' attempts to keep the article from being published, many
worried about the university's reputation regarding academic freedom, if not the state of academic freedom throughout the academic world. However if it wasn't difficult enough to just worry about your own professors standing in the way of getting your data published, you also have to worry about
the government pulling your funding if your data doesn't match the data they want to see.
"The
Bureau of Land Management acknowledged Monday that it asked OSU if the three-year study led by graduate student Daniel Donato and published last month in the journal Science violated provisions of a $300,000 federal fire research grant that prohibits using any of the funds to lobby Congress and requires that a BLM scientist be consulted before the research is published."
"It's totally without precedent as far as I can recollect," said Jerry Franklin, a professor at the University of Washington who has studied Northwest forests for decades. "It says, 'If we don't like what you're saying, we'll cut off your money.' "
posted by pwb503
on Feb 7, 2006 -
51 comments
Treesitter Falls to Her Death in Mt. Hood National Forest. 95% of our old-growth forests are gone. A
coalition of grassroots organizations are dedicated to peacefully protecting our forests and watersheds, and have been quite sucessfull in Oregon and northern California. Sen. Ron Wyden D-Ore., an opponent of the timber sale, had announced a few days before that the U.S. Forest Service had reached an agreement to cancel the logging contract after an independent review determined the deal required significant modifications to prevent environmental harm, and tree sitters were days away from leaving the site after a three-year vigil. I appreciate the work and risks taken by these activists. More info at
tree-sit.org.
posted by Mack Twain
on Apr 21, 2002 -
38 comments
Baseball player plans to start a forest. Stan Javier, of the Seattle Mariners, is retiring after this year. He and two contributors plan to spend $31 million dollars toward a forest of mahogany and teak trees to take up between 15,000 and 20,000 acres by the year 2003. They plan to harvest the trees for lumber, but the article suggests that the trees would be as crops much like a farmer harvests wheat and then replants. The potential for this idea gives me a feeling as warm and fuzzy as a
marmoset.
posted by moz
on Oct 24, 2001 -
24 comments
Giant German Swastika to Be Removed From Forest. Slow Link Day. Every autumn, in a forest plantation 110 km north of Berlin, a giant 60-by-60 meter, golden swastika appears amongst the green pine trees. The symbol, which is only viewable from the air, is made up of deciduous larch trees and was planted in 1937 by a local merchant. It's illegal to display the swastika in Germany.
posted by lagado
on Dec 3, 2000 -
3 comments
