Adventures in Arboriculture

Tamrit

kenton — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 06:37:00 GMT

That night we slept within a small stone shelter, a stones throw from the cypress tree, and the next morning we would venture through Tamrit, the 'Valley of the Cypresses' where there is a dense concentration of trees. It is cold here at night, Im fully clothed in a three season bag, with a thick blanket too. The wind picks up at dusk blowing across the plateau and down its sides to fill the vacuum created by the hot rising air over the lowlands. Come dawn, a coffee is most welcomed as the sun warms the rocks.

After breakfast Wawa guides me through the corridors of eroded stone to see Tamrit - he shows me where there are still pools of water in some of the hollows that have been undercut into the cliff by the floodwater. It is interesting to note that right across the Sahara more people are killed from drowning than from thirst or heat. The last rains here were probably in October (no one knows for sure) and despite it not raining in the town of Djanet (2000 meters below us) for 4 years - most years the town is subject to damage from the floods as the water surges down the mountainside. We encountered 17 Cypress trees in this valley, in varying states of health. On some the faded numbers can still just be traced from a survey that was carried out 1972. That year a top Algerian Forester spent 3 months on the plateau, trying to find all the trees by talking to the herders that graze their stock here. Wawa tells me that in the latest survey of 2002 they also found 23 new trees but that a further 20 had died. Most of these deaths have occurred due to grazing and the cutting of branches and roots for firewood. Refugees from Niger crossing into Libya and of course nomadic herdsmen trying to keep themselves warm - Winter temperatures can drop to a known-7 and snow is not unknown.

A cypress in the Sahara

kenton — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 07:22:00 GMT

Eventually I too could see the Cypress, a small dusty green dome poking above the monotonous blackened stone. From this distance it looked like small bush, the majority of its bulk nestled snugly in an old riverbed that had been eroded over the millennia to 10m below the level of the rest of the Plateau.

And then I saw another and another, there were three in this river bed. All incredibly large and old, grand yet sad. Roots exposed, hacked branches, these were the last of what must have once been forest cover, slowly eroded away in the search for building materials and fuelwood. Goats and Rabbits will have grazed the few seeds that manage to germinate in this harsh climate.

Trees are indeed remarkably resilient organisms and yet maybe because of this they are all to often ignored or neglected. It is a shame that despite some useful research projects and several tree surveys there is still no conservation project in place.

Walking on the moon

kenton — Tue, 3 Mar 2009 07:21:00 GMT

I am awoken by the natural light of the dawn to the sound of Ahled packing the donkeys with kit. Clanging saucepans, braying, hooves scuffing the ground. This is the first time I've seen my surroundings and I am awestruck by the sheer sided cliffs that surround us. Yosef has lit a fire and is making toast and Wawa is repeatedly pouring tea from teapot to glass and back again whilst singing to himself in Tamashek (I presume).

I am still in disbelief, but at ease. I roll up my bed pack sit by the fire and gladly take the small cup of sweet tea I am offered, 'Tuareg whisky you can drink in the morning, no problem' nods Yosef

After breakfast, more tea and prayers it is time to make our way up the narrow pass, to zig zag our way to the top of the plateau. Our donkeys our herded, stumbling up the loose scree that makes up the track heavily laden with kit. Im not really sure we need all this stuff, but I am glad that I am not carrying my pack.

I am wary of rock falls or large boulders breaking free from the teetering cliffs, yet neither hear nor see even the smallest stones succumb to gravity during the entire trek.

We walk from 8am till 3pm before a break, after the toughest (and last) section, a narrow dog leg path, where the donkey carrying my kit fell on his side, breaking one of my cameras. I was too out of breath to care much - it was only a cheap, heavy, 35mm russian model, but i did like the fact that you never knew quite how your pictures would turn out when using it (actually thats a lie, it annoyed me intensely).

After an orange and a quick nap we set off again to cross the bleakest, blackest stretch of land I had ever witnessed. Not that I've been thereof course, but it was like being on the surface of the moon. The rocks were scorched black by the sun, yet still glared under its constant radiance.

There were few features and nothing by which to gauge distance by. You could arrive at that distant rock on the horizon in 10 minutes, or be walking all morning and it would still seem just as far away.

I was beginning to drag my heels and feel week. The sun was getting low in the sky to my right. Wawa had stopped some distance ahead to wait for me to catch up. Eventually I reached him, he stood up and pointed to the horizon - 'The tree, you see it?'. I could not, I strained my eyes. 'You have bad eyesight' he laughed, and carried on walking.

At the foot of the Plateau

kenton — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:23:00 GMT

There are trees in the middle of the Sahara, high up on the rugged Tassili N'ajjer Plateau. Not only that but they are reputed to be huge and, there are only 233 left in the wild. They are an IUCN critically endangered species, first seen by western eyes in 1863 but not verified until 1924 by Capt Duprez, a french commander at Fort Chalet at the foot of the Plateau. The fact these trees are so inaccessible has aided their survival. But these trees grow in such inhospitable conditions the fact that there are any left at all is testament to their hardiness. Getting to Algeria had been a challenge in itself, but finally at 4 am on Sunday morning I arrived at Djanet airport after almost 24 hrs of travel with precious little sleep. I often wonder 'what the hell am i doing here?'- should I not be home working and looking after my family etc, and here in the crowded arrivals room was yet another of those occasions. I started to doubt if I would be met by my guide here or would he assume I was to meet him somewhere else. Would my letters of invitation and reason for visit be okay.

I was so pleased and relieved to be greeted by Mohammed in the arrivals lounge and we were soon speeding off in his 4x4 through the darkness to the foot of the Plateau to meet my guide - Wawa, who had helped Mohammed carry out the last tree census in 2003, Yossef our cook and Ahled the herdsman- to be honest I cant really remember much at this point, I wanted to sleep. I bedded down in the dust on some old blankets with my sleeping bag and slept well despite the cold - There is a constant wind that blows down off the vertical, crumbling 1000m face that makes up the first step of the Plateau.

Gallery: In search of the loneliest trees in the world

kenton — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:17:00 GMT

Saharan Cypress

Asbestos Mine

kenton — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:07:00 GMT

Today we visited the Amiantos Asbestos mine high up in the Toorodos Mountains, where the rainfall increases from about 470mm per year at sea level to 900 - 1m here, where snow is common in the winter.

The mine was closed in the seventies due to the health implications of Asbestos. The mineral was known of since at least roman times where it was used for shoes and (amognst other things)cremation cloaks allowing the ashes to be gathered after the incineration.

The site is huge and can be seen from space. It covers an area of over 300ha. At the time of the closing the waste material (for every 1 tonne of asbestos you need 10 tonnes of rock) was dumped in huge heaps, that threatend to cascade down the slopes towards the village of Amiantos.

The Forestry Department are reinstating the area. Terraforming the slopes into terraces, adding tonnes of topsoil, brash matting to stop erosion during downpours, replanting and maintaining for the first 3 years. The cost is astronomical but well worth it at 23,000 pounds per ha (hectare). 10 ha is replanted every year so in 2015 after 30 years the whole site will be replanted, but this will be far from the end of the story.

Gallery: Cyprus

kenton — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:06:00 GMT

Running dry.

kenton — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:19:00 GMT

Ive been here 3 days now, learning about tree planting in arid lands from Cypriot foresters. At the Forestry School here they teach Forestry to students from places such as Jordan, Egypt, Eithopia and Libya to name a just few. The school is internationally renowned the forestry courses it provides.

Cyprus is indeed an arid country. Our first visit was too the Kouris Dam. A recent construction , it was filling up nicely 3 years ago, so much so that the water authority cancelled its de-salination building programme. 3 years later the dam is almost empty after failing rains and an ever increasing consumption. Water is rationed here and on 3 out of 4 days there is no water - the taps are turned off.

Even this action may not be enough, and creates its own problems. Sales of water tanks have soared as individuals hoard there own supply to see them through the ration days. In addition when the taps are turned off the supply pipes flatten, rupturing from the sudden pressure surge when they turned back on again creating leaks that are difficult to both locate and fix.

Were it not for Cyprus's Troodos Mountain Range, cloaked with forests of pine that attract and hold the clouds the country would be in a much dire state. About 900mm of rain falls on the Mountain every year and often several feet of snow too. All this helps to replenish the ground water and inturn the underwater aquifers.

But,with a dwindling supply how soon before the aquifer supplies dry up? Cyprus is praying for rain this winter.

At the Alkalo's House

kenton — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 23:33:00 GMT

After our return from the river trip at MakaSutu, we heard the news that the head of the Juwara Family in Kartong had died. There are seven main families in Kartong and the Juwara are one of them. He would be buried the following day, which is when we intended to have our meeting with the Alkalo and the forest committee. Most of the 3000 inhabitants of Kartong would be at the funeral and so the meeting was postponed until the following day (monday).

We decided to have a rest day as Matt's leg had become inflamed from a bite, exacerbated by the heat and no doubt also by the huge amount of walking (for one reason or another always in the midday sun) we had been doing.

Monday came and we attended the meeting. We had written a Memorandum of Understanding, which basically is a document that states we wish to work together. We were seated, and waited for a couple of latecomers before a prayer and introductions. The document was then translated into Woolof for the Alkalo who listened intently before discussion followed.

It is very difficult to judge the 'mood' of a speaker at any given time, was he annoyed? joyous? about to storm off?. I had been to a meeting here before about a year ago, and was glad of that, because that time it was chaos, people looking like they were about to come to blows and shouting and wildly gesticulating, and then laughter and pats on the back. I was able to prime Chris and Matt, don't worry, be patient.

The forest committee had some concerns and we had great difficulty explaining the concept of 'risk assessment', and although there was no onus on the villagers here, it was in the MOU, and (quite rightly) they wanted clarification.

When all present had had a say the MOU was signed and the Alkalo brought out the cola nuts for everyone to share. They were exceedingly bitter and made the gums numb. Chris pointed out that this is because they are moderately narcotic. We looked over some of the existing forest plans and then posed for photos to commemorate the occasion.

There was another prayer before we left to view Matt's new home, of which he had a choice of two. After short deliberations he chose the one that came with a cleaner and cook, a wise man indeed.

I'm writing this now from back at home, and soon Matt should have his own page up and running 'inshallah'. In the meantime, I may try to upload some snippets of Film Footage from the trip over the next month.

Up River

kenton — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:35:00 GMT

Yesterday we took a Pirogue up river through the dense mangroves to reach an area of high gallery forest. Despite being nearly 40 degrees on our trip up the river it was much cooler in here. Our guides, Alfa and Samba were excellent, being able to tell us a good deal about all the tree and shrub species we encountered. Bush tea, bark for medicine and seed pods for flour. They are very interested in going to visit Kartong with Matt to teach the guides there about the species in the community forest.

We saw mature Sito - Baobab (from which we have some fruits to make a delicous drink from), Bantango - Silk cotton (pictured) and the Saba Senegalisis, whose fruit is much sought after. It provided much sought after refreshment for our onward journey.

Even here in this protected forest illegal felling has taken place, as it has in so many of the other areas we have visted. Even in the Gambia's National Park - Abuko Forest, where we spoke to Mr Jalang the Director, who despite having not been paid since last July still comes to work to try to motivate the rest of his staff, all of whom are also working without salary, relying on tips from vistors.

We were scheduled to visit Kartong today to undertake our meeting with the village elders and the Alkalo. However, we recieved word this morning that one of the heads of the seven families within the village had died during the night, today he will be buried and so our meeting has been postponed until tommorrow.

We have also set up a meeting with the Regional Director of the Forestry Dept, to discuss the illegal felling and to see what, if anything they can do. In the Kartong Community Forest it is the Rhun Palms that have been most sought after. They are easy to fell and termite resitant so usefull for many building applications. We spent a day in the community forest with Amadou on friday assessing the situation. The state of this 'protected' forest is much better than the surrounding land, but is far from ideal, there is much to be done.

Kartong 12/6/08

kenton — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:30:00 GMT

The first rains arrived today, and it is a humid 28 degrees. We spent the day just outside Kartong yesterday talking to one of the Alaklo's (village elders) about the community forest and about what has happened in the last year.

The firebrakes that Amadou Jarjou (forest ranger) cut 2 years ago are still working well and there were no forest fires this season. Isolated incidents of illegal tree felling have occurred, and the worry is, that witout intervention this could escalate.

Today we are going to the market to buy Cola nuts (from which coca cola is made). These are to present to the village elders as tradition dictates, because as outsiders we cannot request a meeting (so Matt can be formally accepted into the village) as this would be considered extremely rude. We must personnaly offer the gift first, and only then will the elders consider calling us to an audience, where the formalities are undertaken.

Hopefully I will be able to add some photos tommorrow. Access to internet is difficult and acessing internet at the same time as elctricity being available is even more challenging. The Gambia imports all its power and generates none of its own. Large tankers continually ship in vast quantities of diesel to burn in generators, and with the current oil situation this leaves Gambia with the highest utility costs in the world.

Kartong Community Forest

kenton — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 17:01:00 GMT

After what seems like an age of planning, writing, phone calls and e-mails, today I finally set off for The Gambia. I've travelled there before, in 2005, overland from the UK in a beat up truck across Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania and Senegal. Im going back because whilst there I visited the Kartong Community Forest, a project which the International Tree Foundation and I had raised some funds for. But money isn't everything. The community required technical expertise too. Much as though I would have loved to stay in the Gambia and work on this, my employer and family would have been less amused. So I set about making sure that if I could not do it, someone else could. Together with the ITF and the University Of Cumbria we will be reporting back with our progress and will introduce you to the Kartong Community Forest... Watch this space!

Gallery: Kartong Community Forest

kenton — Mon, 9 Jun 2008 16:46:00 GMT