[Discuss] Fw: BBC article: "Take cover by saving urban trees"

Fri Dec 3 18:54:07 GMT 2010

       Joanna 

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Joanna Gordon Clark <skyclarker at yahoo.co.uk>
To: SOS Cambridge discussion list <discuss at soscambridge.org.uk>
Sent: Fri, 3 December, 2010 17:13:46
Subject: Re: [Discuss] BBC article: "Take cover by saving urban trees"

Please forgive typos am in a rush

I think that so long as trees are consdiered to be moveable, easily replaced 
objects, they will be treated as that, so not consdiered for their being there 
or their link to history, or just the benefit of hteir age, but easily cut down 
and replaced - how can you replace a 1000 yr old yew? - And then, rather like 
Carbon trading (whihc oculd be seen as facilitating not cutting back on co2 
emissions), it becomes easier to cut down the old trees on the vague assertion 
of replacement.

Our ancestors first lived in trees, or rather perhaps in forests, then cut down 
a lot for their agriculture, then planted them in graveyards and parks and now, 
as the pressure grows on space generally and developers are given far too free a 
rein because of housing pressure,
all big trees it seems are under threat.  personally my experience tends me to 
the view that the more human beings are invovled in the 'management' of wild 
things, and trees are of course wild, despite all the horticulture and so on, 
the more danger there is to the wild things so managed. Lok at whales, looks at 
any animal population that has had to be 'managed'. 
especially when buyreaucracies are involved because there is nothing more alien 
the one to the other than bureaucracy and wilderness.  So my inclination is 
almost always to wilderness and untouchable areas.  I am also eternally grateful 
to those big landowenrs  who have secured the long term life of trees mostly and 
that which lives in trees, by their simple holding on to land and not allowing 
things to be cut down.  It may not be democratic and so on, but it works. 

Trees - pace Tolkien - can't move.  Their seed can but they can't.  So when I 
bought an acre of orchard in smithey fen Cottenham, with no pitches 
or development going on, I did not anticipate that a careless and power crazy 
local council would allow traveller pitches all round, and would fail miserably 
to enforce as they were supposed to, so that I lost all my trees (300, mature, 
plum and pear).  Trees can't move.  

As regards Alexandra Gardens, those trees link us back to our ancestors and bear 
witness, literally to a time when they were planted and to the people of that 
time, well they do for me.
the sheer size adn age of them tells us something without words.  thqat is 
clear.  Queen anne palnted many of the London plane trees, which shows you how 
long these trees can live adn how they can carry you back in time..

I think planting trees is essential but it needs to be done with a guarantee 
that those trees will not be disturbed or cut down for a very long time indeed - 
that is unless they are intended as a crop.  I think all new towns and villages 
shoudl have tree planting, and that local people should be encouraged to plant a 
 tree on the communal land whenever they do something memorable - i.e move in, 
move out, have a baby, lose a family person, that kind of thing. I love mr. 
Felix Dennis for planting up an entire forest somewhere in the middle of 
England, just becaue he can but also because he loves trees.  Again tho he can 
do this perhaps because he can own the land, and keep his forst safe.  

we need to be aware that in Bristol, according to one of the Bristol tree group, 
the council custs down large trees at will and listens not at all to any protest 
- so while we should not relax because of that, we could be grateful perhaps 
that we are not faced with the same problems as Bristol.

Have to go now, but just to say that we are still waiting for the meeting with 
the council to go over our scientific and technical paper, and while things are 
ok i believe that the more publicity and letters and emails go into the council 
- the whole council that is, the local councillors in all the wards- the more 
the pressure and support will be on the council.  I think we have to be 
supporting them to do the right thing, rather than criticising them all the time 
for doing the wrong thing.  Matter of judgement of coure.  Must go.  Joanna 
Gordon Clark
       Joanna 

________________________________
From: Ellie Stoneley <elliestoneley at googlemail.com>
To: SOS Cambridge discussion list <discuss at soscambridge.org.uk>
Cc: announce at soscambridge.org.uk
Sent: Thu, 2 December, 2010 11:49:32
Subject: Re: [Discuss] BBC article: "Take cover by saving urban trees"

this article also of interest
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2010/dec/01/million-trees-england?CMP=twt_fd

On 1 December 2010 17:56, Lisa Buchholz <pale.aquamarine at googlemail.com> wrote:

So topical! 
>
>So how come we can't get all these tree-choppers to understand it's not what we 
>want??  Even the environment secretary seems to get it: There was an article 
>(which you can't look at free online, unfortunately) by the Sunday Times's 
>Environmental Editor about a new program for "a million trees to be planted in 
>Britain's most deprived urban areas".  Funding is £ 9 m, administered by Defra, 
>with Woodland Trust (which is already doing this I think) planting a lot of 
>them. 
>
>
>"With just 12% native woodland cover, compared to the European average of 44%, 
>every one of us is impoverished by a lack of trees in our landscape. As 
>individuals, groups and communities we can each take action to improve where we 
>live and contribute to a bigger vision" - Woodland Trust.
>
>Lisa Buchholz 
>
>
>
>On 1 December 2010 17:19, John Lawton <john at lawton.me.uk> wrote:
>
>This is a good read, including the comments:
>>
>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7271725.stm
>>
>>John Lawton
>>SOS Chair
>>
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>discuss mailing list
>>discuss at soscambridge.org.uk
>>http://soscambridge.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/discuss_soscambridge.org.uk
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>discuss mailing list
>discuss at soscambridge.org.uk
>http://soscambridge.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/discuss_soscambridge.org.uk
>
>

-- 
ellie stoneley
+44 (0) 7989 978763
@e11ie5 on Twitter

I am fundraising for the Kitchen Table Charities Trust - please do consider 
donating at http://www.justgiving.com/elliestoneley thank you - my target is to 
raise £5,000

http://mymadagascarblog.wordpress.com 
The story of my Madagascar adventure - how a trip to the theatre 2 days after I 
came out of hospital in January 2010, led to being thwarted by a volcano in 
April and a trip to face giant, huge and enormous spiders, a police mutiny, 
being attacked by a leech, broken down trucks and crying with sadness at the 
plight of so many - and in doing so helping people living in extreme poverty in 
one of the poorest countries of the world.

- 
This message is confidential and is intended only for the individual named. If 
you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy 
this email. Please notify the sender immediately by email if you have received 
this email by mistake and delete this email from your system. 

This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended 
solely for the use of the individual to whom they are addressed. Finally, the 
recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of 
viruses. The sender accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus 
transmitted by this email. 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://soscambridge.org.uk/pipermail/discuss_soscambridge.org.uk/attachments/20101203/2f49ae2e/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
discuss mailing list
discuss at soscambridge.org.uk
http://soscambridge.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/discuss_soscambridge.org.uk