Planting Bamboo Helps Slow Deforestation

Scientists may have found a way to slow deforestation. Fast growing bamboo can help quickly replenish a forest stripped of timber.

Forests are shrinking globally as people in developing nations seek wood for fuel and more land for farming. The Worldwatch Institute in Washington says Earth has lost one percent of its woodlands in the past five years, an area about the size of Germany.

Ecologists say the environmental damage is alarming. Overlogging and failure to replant cause widespread soil erosion and loss of wildlife habitat.

Deforestation also affects global climate. Trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. Burning trees and rotting wood left by loggers are thought to add to global warming by emitting more of the gas into the atmosphere, where it traps the sun's heat.

Experts say the loss of forests will continue unless alternatives to wood are found.

"Most of the forested areas have gone down by 70 to 90 percent, so we need a sustainable form of farming timber," said water specialist, Chin Ong, at the International Center for Research in Agroforestry in Nairobi, Kenya.

He says one promising substitute for wood is bamboo, a grass with a tree-like appearance. Some varieties grow more than 25 meters tall and 20 centimeters thick.

Ong points out that bamboo can be grown all over the world and has advantages over timber. One is its speedy growth.

"You can harvest after three or four years and then every year after that because it is a grass," he explained. "So when you cut a bamboo down, it will produce another shoot and it is ready for harvest in one or two years. Whereas if you grow a eucalyptus tree, you need five to 10 years before you can harvest again. Another reason is that bamboo has a very high water use efficiency, which is double that of any tree species."

Ong says the plants can be an additional cash crop in areas where sugar cane and coffee are already established. He estimates that in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, as many as 150 million people can benefit economically.

Plant biologist David Midmore of the Central Queensland University in Australia says bamboo also has environmental benefits.

"In Taiwan, bamboo is grown on the hillsides along the edge of the mountains and it is sustainably harvested for its shoots and for its timber, and it is an environmentally friendly species because it is also preventing any erosion," he noted.

Midmore says bamboo shoots are also an important source of nutrition and can withstand harsh climates.

"It is one of the few species that will produce during typhoons, whereas most vegetable species will get blown away or washed away or rot," he added. "Bamboo shoots continue to thrive in hot and wet conditions."

In addition to providing lumber and food, bamboo plants can clean the environment. Chin Ong is studying how bamboo groves could remove toxins from dirty waters.

"We have been analyzing what are the heavy metals that can be removed by bamboo species," he explained. "The bamboo species behave very similarly to papyrus, with natural vegetation to wetlands in this region. So they take up all these heavy metals and they can clean the water."

Ong says there is an unfulfilled potential for bamboo to protect forests and improve agriculture.

Source:
VOA News Service
Author: Frank Ling
First published: August 29, 2006

Treeflights Website Offers Plan to Plant Trees to Help Reduce Global Warming

A new international website is offering environmentally conscious airplane passengers a chance to plant a tree to offset the carbon dioxide damage from flying.

Fuel burned during an airplane's flight produces carbon dioxide (CO2), which scientists say contributes to global warming. Trees absorb carbon dioxide using the sun's energy.

The website, www.treeflights.com, whose slogan is "You fly - we plant," will plant one tree in a forest in Wales for each flight taken for a fee of about $19.

Treeflights founder, Ru Hartwell, says it is a simple idea that gives something back to the planet.

"Flying is a little bit hard on the planet, but planting a tree is an ecologically positive thing to kind of make amends for some of the damage that you are causing," said Hartwell.

Hartwell says because trees take a long time to mature, planting a tree does not make your flight carbon-neutral or immediately cancel out the CO2 emitted from your flight.

"We are very, very keen to stress when you plant a tree, it is not something you do for yourself. It is a long-term thing," he continued. "It is definitely not a quick fix. As humans, we are so used to thinking about this week or about next week or maybe next year. Really, to get on top of this problem, we have got to be thinking about 50 or 100 years into the future and that is what tree planting is all about. It is something you do for future generations."

Passengers can select from a variety of tree species such as birch, oak, poplar, and willow. Although Treeflights is based in Wales where Hartwell lives, he says people from around the world request to have trees planted.

"The thing to understand is that we all share the same atmosphere so it does not really matter where you are flying or where the tree is planted," noted Hartwell. "The destructive effect of the flight is the same, irrespective of where you are flying and the beneficial effect of the tree planting is the same irrespective of where the tree is planted."

Treeflights gives passengers the option of adopting a tree. Hartwell says people can visit one of the three planting sites in Wales where their tree, identified with a serial number, is planted.

Treeflights customer, Francesca Attala, says while planting a tree does not entirely negate the effects of air travel, it is better than doing nothing.

"With my work, I travel a lot. I actually use planes and trains and automobiles quite a lot and I think it is a small way of giving something back," said Attala. "I know that it is not going to make a difference tomorrow, but it will make a difference for the future generations. It is a very slow, very patient way of giving something back to the planet, but I still think it is worth it."

The United States Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports U.S. airlines carried 746 million passengers on 11 million flights in 2005 and the number of passengers is only expected to increase.

Hartwell eventually hopes to forge partnerships with the airline industry to encourage more passengers to make theirs a treeflight.

Source:
VOA News Service
Authors: Barbara Schoetzau & Amanda Cassandra
First published: September 25, 2006

Blackberry Compound May Inhibit Tumor Growth

A patent-pending compound isolated from fresh blackberries may inhibit the expression of genes that are associated with cancer-promoting agents. The purified compound, cyanidin-3- glucoside (C3G), inhibited tumors from growing and spreading when used in animal test models.

C3G may one day become a key natural ingredient in new products formulated for their anti- cancer properties. Cell biologist Min Ding, with NIOSH in Morgantown, W. Va., and plant physiologist Shiow Wang, with the ARS Fruit Laboratory in Beltsville, Md., conducted the research with colleagues at West Virginia University-Morgantown. The study appears in a recent issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

C3G is among a series of plant chemicals that are a subclass of flavonoids: water-soluble plant pigments known for their antioxidative and antimicrobial effects.

For the study, the researchers tested mice that had skin tumors. In one group, they found a significant reduction in the number and size of skin tumors among the mice that had been supplemented with C3G, when compared to those that had not been supplemented.

In another experimental model with immune-system-suppressed mice, the researchers studied lung cancer cells because of their relatively high tendency to spread to other organs. They found that the purified blackberry compound not only significantly reduced the amount of cancer cell growth in the mice, but also inhibited the spread of the cancer cells to other organs.

C3G exhibited anti-cancer activity in this animal model, according to the researchers. The preventive effect of the extract may be due to the compound’s ability to control free radicals known as reactive oxygen species, which activate molecular signals involved in initiating, promoting and progressing cancer.

The findings indicate a promising direction for understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for the beneficial effects of plant chemicals on human health.

Source:
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Author: Rosalie Marion Bliss
First published: September 20, 2006

Tips for Growing Carrots

Carrots are grown on farms and in family gardens throughout the world. Carrots are easy to raise and easy to harvest. They taste good. And they contain a lot of carotene, which the body changes into vitamin A.

When people think of carrots, they usually picture in their mind a vegetable that is long, thin and orange in color. But carrots come in many different sizes and shapes. And not all carrots are orange.

For example, Paris Market carrots are about five centimeters around. Imperator carrots are thin and about twenty-five centimeters long. And Belgian White carrots are, as their name suggests, white.

For the best results, carrots should be grown in sandy soil that does not hold water for a long time. The soil also should have no rocks.

To prepare your carrot garden, dig up the soil, loosen it and turn it over. Then, mix in some plant material or animal fertilizer.

Weather, soil conditions and age will affect the way carrots taste. Experts say warm days, cool nights and a medium soil temperature are the best conditions for growing carrots that taste great.

Carrots need time to develop their full sugar content. This gives them their taste. If they are harvested too early, they will not have enough sugar. But carrots lose their sweetness if you wait too long to remove them from the ground.

The best way to judge if a carrot is ready to be harvested is by its color. Usually, the brighter the color, the better the taste.

Most people do not know that carrots can be grown during the winter months. If the winter is not cold enough to freeze the ground, you can grow and harvest carrots the same way as during the summer months.

If the ground does freeze in your part of the world, simply cover your carrot garden with a thick layer of leaves or straw. This will prevent the ground from freezing. You can remove the ground cover and harvest the carrots as they are needed.

Carrots are prepared and eaten many different ways. They are cut in thin pieces and added to other vegetables. They are cooked by themselves or added to stews. Or, once they are washed, they are eaten just as they come out of the ground.

Source:
VOA News Service
First published: July 17, 2006