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10 examples of biophilic design we liked this week

2024-11-23T08:00:00-05:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Biophilia.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!

↑ Rheingold Bushwick in Brooklyn, NY by Durukan Design

↑ 1 Great Jones Alley in New York, NY by BKSK Architects; Landscape Design: HMWhite; Photo: Christopher Payne | ESTO

↑ Hotel Indigo Hangzhou Uptown in Hangzhou, China by Studio Carter; Photo: Seth Powers Photography

↑ MRIIA HOUSE in Ukraine by MAKHNO Studio

↑ Blue Lake-Lakeside Teahouse Renovation in Beijing, China by YI+MU Design Office; Photo: YI+MU Design Office

↑ Blodgett-Calvin Residential Compound in San Marino, CA by Fung + Blatt Architects; Original Architect: Calvin Straub; Photo: Mark Mahaney

↑ Siji Minfu Roast Duck Restaurant in Beijing, China by IN.X Design...

CityLAB's new tree mapping feature calls Berliners towards a greener future

2023-08-23T12:21:00-04:00

The maintenance of urban tree canopies is one of utmost importance to planners in the fight against heat and subsequent efforts to make cities into effective carbon stores that are dually resilient against climate change while improving public health and well-being overall.

A new digital map developed by the technology incubator CityLAB Berlin now helps to improve the care of these vital green infrastructures using data and an inspired citizenry whom they also credit with helping to streamline its development since 2020.

The data includes a register of over half a million trees with information on their water levels and age culled from previous government projects. The map it creates draws inspiration from the NYC Tree Map, and others developed in cities like Athens and Washington, D.C.

Locals who use the app frequently have begun to adopt individual trees as their own, surpassing participation levels that "ignited a debate between different local district authorities as to what e...

Maya Lin unveils 'Ghost Forest Seedlings' generative art project

2023-08-18T13:06:00-04:00

The artist, architect, and environmentalist Maya Lin is set to release her inaugural generative art project. Titled Ghost Forest Seedlings, and produced by Pace Verso with Web3 art innovators E.A.T_WORKS, the work will be released on September 18 to align with Climate Week NYC.

Ghost Forest Seedlings builds on Lin’s 2021 Ghost Forest installation, which saw 50 Atlantic white cedar trees placed in Madison Square Park to highlight Earth's fragility amidst the climate crisis. The latest artworks, each priced at $1,000, depict a seed or group of seeds that grow into an intricate root pattern over a predetermined amount of time. Each of the 500 unique works from the project will include three components: a signed print of the final root system, a generative NFT that shows the seedling’s evolution in real-time, and a video timelapse tracing the seedling’s complete growth pattern.

Portrait of Maya Lin. Image credit: Pace Gallery

“With Ghost Forest Seedlings, Lin explores the organic growth ...

Biophilic installation begins at Brooklyn's Domino Sugar Factory, including 17 big trees

2023-04-10T14:55:00-04:00

In advance of the expected project completion later this summer, the Brooklyn-based developer Two Trees Management has shared images of its recent installation of the biophilic program inside PAU’s long-awaited Domino Sugar Refinery redevelopment in Williamsburg.

The installation comprises 17 30-foot trees, each weighing more than 10,000 pounds, that make up the core of the project’s indoor vertical garden component, which highlights the 460,000 square feet of new office space being created inside the iconic 19th-century waterfront structure.

Image © Wes Tarca

Each tree had to first be carefully hoisted above the roofline of the refinery and then “surgically” placed inside via a 12-foot-wide opening between the brick facade and envelope of the 27,000-square-foot all-glass office addition located further within.

Image © Wes Tarca

The overall $250 million project began in 2014 and includes the James Corner Field Operations-designed Domino Park segment i...

The 'healing nature' of Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects' new land bridge in Houston

2023-02-20T18:59:00-05:00

Named the Land Bridge and Prairie project, the new park was unveiled this weekend, when for the first time since the 1950s, visitors were able to cross over Memorial Drive and enjoy 1,500 acres of uninterrupted parkland at Memorial Park. Swelling like soft green mounds over a six-lane highway, the park is the latest example of how cities can mend the tears caused by disruptive roads without necessarily tearing them down.

Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects' Principal, Thomas Woltz, described his initial visit of the project’s site as a “post-nuclear landscape” when some 66 million trees suffered from a brutal drought in 2011. Since then, his firm has worked with city planners, archivists, and the Memorial Park Conservancy to consolidate the 20 disparate segments that had previously left the 1,500-acre park feeling “subdivided” to Houstonians.

Fast Company reports that "while the civic landscape was designed for people, the gently sloped nature of the mounds allows for small animals to cross over the highway as well (an underground stream allows for aquatic animals to pass under the highway, too.)"

With the addition of the land bridge, Houston joins Los Angeles County and San Francisco as communities aiming to adopt solutions for local wildlife to be able to move about freely. The total costs for the Land Bridge and Prairie project was funded by a $70 million donation from the local Kinder Foundat...

Planting trees could lead to fewer heat-related deaths in urban areas, according to a new study

2023-02-03T17:32:00-05:00

A new scientific study has shown the positive correlations between public health and tree planting in urban areas.

In a report published recently by The Lancet medical science journal, a team of European researchers shared data on mortality rates in 93 cities in the summer of 2015 that showed how premature deaths caused by urban heat islands can be mitigated through increased greening strategies.

The study found 6,700 premature deaths in that period related to the phenomenon. One-third of those deaths, according to the authors, could have been prevented by adding 30% more trees in the urban environments of each city. The data supports established notions that particularly low-income communities can benefit from resiliency measures, adding to a growing chorus of scholarship at a time when climate change is becoming a moribund issue for cities worldwide at an accelerated pace.

Ci...

Turenscape's 'floating forest' reshapes a former wasteland into a multifunctional urban landscape

2023-01-11T12:20:00-05:00

Beijing-based landscape architecture firm Turenscape has completed the transformation of a former 126-acre dumping ground into a “dreamlike floating forest” in the eastern Chinese city of Nanchang.

The new Fish Tail Park operates a triple function as a habitat for wildlife, a recreational area for the city, and a stormwater regulator, creating what the design team calls a “replicable model of designed urban nature for regions with monsoon or variable climates that can address the multiple challenges of floods, habitat restoration, and recreational demands.”

Image credit: Turenscape

To create the landscape, the team recycled coal ash previously dumped on the site, mixing it with dirt from fish pond dykes to create numerous islets. At the same time, a new lake was created to accommodate over 35 million cubic feet of stormwater inflow. In anticipation of fluctuating water levels, a selection of native trees and wetland plants capable of surviving the varying conditions have been plante...

ACDF unveils Apple Tree House design in rural Quebec: 'A fluid work of art'

2022-12-30T14:44:00-05:00

Canadian studio ACDF Architecture has shared photos of their recent residential project in the country’s heavily-forested Lanaudière region.

Deep in the heart of rural Quebec, the home was designed for an urbanite family looking for an ultra-modern bucolic respite situated on a 250,000-square-foot plot with room to connect with each other and commune with nature.

Image: © Adrien Williams

The project was informed by the client’s deeply-felt connection to a childhood apple tree and relied on a relatively simple combination of glass and wood boxes that house different functions and are centered around a small open interior courtyard that showcases his arboreal inspiration.

Image: © Adrien Williams

“The home is designed for connectivity, and glances in every direction provide views across openings to other spaces,” the studio's principal and co-founder Maxime-Alexis Frappier said. “That being said, the boxes were designed to respect the need for privacy, and their...

New York City’s interactive Tree Map offers live insights into over 860,000 trees across the city

2022-12-13T10:19:00-05:00

Did you know that the London planetree is the most common species of tree in New York City? The fun fact is one of many which can be gleaned from a new interactive map launched by the City of New York, allowing users to explore the city’s tree population. The NYC Tree Map replaces NYC Park’s previous Street Tree Map, and contains data on over 860,000 park and street trees within what the creators call “the most comprehensive and up-to-date living tree map in the world.”

Image credit: NYC Parks

Trees on the interactive map are represented by circles, with the size and color of each circle representing the tree’s diameter and species, respectively. Users can gather data for an entire species of tree, trees in a particular borough or neighborhood, or each individual tree across the map, learning about the tree’s contribution to stormwater management, energy conservation, or air pollutant removal.

Image credit: NYC Parks

For example, the map notes that the 4,265 trees recorded in the Lowe...

Oliver Wainwright has seen this movie before with Heatherwick’s Tree of Trees installation

2022-06-01T17:40:00-04:00

Heatherwick himself has become the puckish poster boy for the current bout of arboreal mania. He has even incorporated his trademark plant-pots-on-sticks into a range of office furniture. If in doubt, the studio mantra seems to go – just smother the design with a garnish of greenery.

The Guardian critic echoed colleague Rowan Moore's derisive critique of Heatherwick’s continued “abuse of metaphors” published in late April and added his own criticism that the 350-tree structure, just like the MVRDV-designed Marble Arch Mound, offers “yet another example of the recent fetish among certain architects and designers for conjuring a cartoonish version of nature, suspending shrubbery and balancing trees in ways that make the plants look decidedly unhappy to be there.”

Previously on Archinect: An 'abuse of metaphors': Rowan Moore on Thomas Heatherwick’s tree-inspired jubilee design (and other UK public monument debates)

Is carbon offsetting a misleading tool of the building industry?

2022-05-16T15:16:00-04:00

Six months after the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, columnist Kunle Barker wrote in the UK Architects' Journal to take a stand against the industry’s oneiric focus on “lofty ideals of zero-carbon and on soundbites” and towards a more considered system of new project evaluation, advocating for the “need to develop a viability methodology that is independent, objective and focused on carbon impact versus social need.”

“Let’s rid ourselves of these conceited phrases and instead focus on the real issues,” he wrote, arguing that need will always push architects into costly demolition efforts and away from restoring structures that may, in many cases, be better suited for adaptive reuse. “Offsetting is not sustainable. In fact, it's not even close to being sustainable, and most worrying of all, it is allowing lazy, ego-driven designs to be accepted by us all. We must find an objective and fair way to assess if (and how) a building should be constructed. This is the only way the built en...

Biophilia: 10 new examples of nature and the built environment coexisting harmoniously

2022-04-22T07:00:00-04:00

Happy Earth Day! In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Biophilia.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!

↑ Field Office in Portland, OR by Hacker Architects; Landscape Designer: Lango Hansen; Sustainability Consultant: YRG; Photo: Josh Partee

↑ Nanbo Bay Reception Center in Yinchuan, China; Interior Design: SUNSON Design; Photo: Kanghui Zeng

↑ Restaurante 34 in Guimarães, Portugal by REM'A; Photo: Ivo Tavares Studio

↑ Lazy House in Zlín, Czech Republic by Petr Janda / brainwork; Photo: BoysPlayNice

↑ Restaurant Terrace [ Azuma ] in Odessa, Ukraine by JK Lab Architects

↑ Wine Cave in Texas Hill Country by Clayton Korte; Photo: Casey Dunn

↑ Art Villa in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica by Refuel works; Interiors: Fo...

New York City lawmakers put pressure on Mayor Adams to double investment in parks

2022-03-16T14:53:00-04:00

Local lawmakers are putting pressure on Mayor Eric Adams to fulfill his campaign promise to make New York City greener by committing more cash to the parks department, something Adams did not follow through with in his preliminary budget. On Monday in Flushing Meadows, members of the City Council and environmental stakeholders called for a $1 billion investment in annual maintenance for New York City parks as part of a five-point plan for improving parks and access to green spaces.

This commitment means that the city would allocate 1% of its budget towards the parks department, which NYC Mayor Eric Adams promised during his campaign. However, in his first preliminary budget proposal, Adams only set aside about $500 million towards parks.

Today we unveiled about 5 point plan for parks across our city. We need to immediately invest more in our existing parks, and create new public, green, restorative spaces for all New Yorkers. pic.twitter.com/zmCnWgjYmd
— Shekar Krishnan (@voteshekar) March 14, 2022

Adams’ vague status on New York’s parks department has seen the unification of the city’s borough presidents, who are calling for the planting of one million new trees by 2030. This is one of the components of the five-point plan, with others including providing waterfront access to all, upgrading playgrounds, parks, and schoolyards across all of New York City, and the creation of a Parks Construction Authority with the aim of building new parks. Councilm...

MIT researchers are 'upcycling' waste tree forks to offset the environmental impacts of new construction

2022-03-11T12:36:00-05:00

A team of academics working in the Digital Structures research group at MIT's Building Technology Program has combined local aesthetic desires with the recent international push to expend increasing amounts of mass timber elements into new construction.

Associate professor Caitlin Mueller is in charge of a group that spent the last four years strategizing the uses of upcycled tree waste as a base material for load-bearing structures in an effort to reduce the outsized emissions caused by the high-carbon systems.

Working together with the professor, the team set up a five-step design-to-fabrication process that combines the use of ascendant digital technologies to recreate the Y-shaped nodes typical in many architectural drawings. Mueller says the eventual goal is to replace many of the recently-felled trees in her area with custom-made functional structures that “recreate the atmosphere and spatial experience previously provided.”

With help from the nearby city of Somerville’s Urb...

New York City borough presidents unite calling for a million trees

2022-02-25T15:38:00-05:00

When Mayor Eric Adams named a commissioner last week to oversee New York’s parks department, he spoke of how important the city’s green spaces were for recreation and contemplation, especially during the pandemic. But he also acknowledged having no particular agenda or master plan for the more than 30,000 acres of parkland under his control.

In response, all five of New York’s borough presidents have come together calling for Mayor Adams to plant a million new trees by 2030, reviving former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Million Trees NYC initiative. In addition, they also asked Adams to honor his campaign pledge to allocate 1 percent of the city’s budget towards the parks department.

According to environmental nonprofit Nature Conservancy, only about 22 percent of the city is covered by tree canopy, with approximately 7 million trees for its 8.8 million residents. And, while about 650,000 trees line the streets, however, like parks, they aren’t evenly distributed. Low-income New Yorkers and communities of color have significantly less access to available green space than white and wealthy areas. The conservancy predicts that New York could accommodate 250,000 more street trees.

Maya Lin’s Ghost Forest brings the climate crisis to Madison Square Park

2021-05-27T19:09:00-04:00

Artist Maya Lin’s long-awaited skeletal forest has finally opened in New York’s famed Madison Square Park.

With the help of 49 dead Atlantic Cedar trees sourced from the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the 61-year-old Lin has transformed the park into an immersive installation — her first in over a decade — meant to transplant the East Side destination’s nearly 60,000 daily visitors into the frontlines of the fight to prevent deforestation.

Maya Lin (American, b. 1959) Ghost Forest, 2021 Courtesy the artist and Madison Square Park Conservancy Photo credit: Andy Romer

Lin, who lives in Colorado, says she was particularly interested in a kind of environmental phenomenon known as “ghost forests” that are a direct product of insect infestations, extreme temperature increases, and sea level changes caused by climate change.

Maya Lin within Ghost Forest, 2021 Courtesy the artist and Madison Square Park Conservancy Photo credit: Andy Romer

The park itself has played host to numerous public exhibit...

New additive manufacturing company aims to leverage 3D printing technology by transforming the way architects and designers can use wood waste

2021-05-18T16:20:00-04:00

3D print applications have revolutionized industries from architecture, construction, furniture design, and fashion. Last year, 3D print fabrication aided in provided medical professionals, patients, and facilities with PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic. As fabrication continues to develop and expand, a company based in Burlington, MA, has found a way to turn upcycled wood byproducts into a promising new avenue for additive manufacturing.

"With the power of high-speed, high-resolution 3D printing, Forust is giving a new life to a discarded resource - creating strong, beautiful and carbon-friendly wood products from wood waste. For each tree saved, we reduce the CO2 footprint by a metric ton over the tree’s life." Image and text courtesy of Forust

Forust, an exclusively owned subsidiary of 3D printing and rapid prototyping Massachusetts-based company Desktop Metal creates "high-volume additive manufacturing of end-use wood parts possible." Launched in 2021, Forust's system "upcycles wo...

Maya Lin's postponed 'Ghost Forest' to open at Madison Square Park on May 10

2021-02-09T14:57:00-05:00

An immersive installation that visualises the bleak effects of climate change by the US artist and environmental activist Maya Lin, which was slated to open in June last year, will open at Madison Square Park in New York this spring.

Originally scheduled to open in 2020 but ultimately postponed due to the escalating pandemic, Maya Lin's site-responsive installation Ghost Forest will now be on view from May 10 through November 14, 2021.

"Ghost Forest will take the form of a towering grove of spectral cedar trees, all sourced from the region and presented in sharp contrast to the Park’s lush tree line," explains a description of the piece published by the Madison Square Park Conservancy. "The installation builds on Lin’s practice of addressing species loss, habitat loss, and climate change within her work and serves as a call to action to the thousands of visitors who pass through the Park daily."

Studio Gang envisions a tree-inspired mixed-use project to add to Denver's skyline

2021-02-01T17:18:00-05:00

Inspired by the area's natural landscapes and environment, Studio Gang reveals the latest visuals for their most recent mix-used project Populus. Located in Denver, along the city's historic Civic Center Park, the project pulls reference from the aspen tree by using its highly recognizable "eye-shaped" marked bark to design its facade, distinct building color, and vertical scalloped exterior.

Aspen Trees. Image © Sue Reynolds (2012) via Flickr Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Visuals courtesy of Studio Gang

The 13 stories tall building will house forty micro-apartments as well as 250 hotel rooms. Studio Gang collaborated with Denver-based developer Urban Villages. With the aspen tree as its visual muse, it's hard not to see the resemblance. According to the studio, the project's name "Populus" was also pulled from the scientific classification of the aspen tree populus tremuloides.

View more project images below.

Visuals courtesy of Studio Gang

Concept diagram. Visual courtesy of Studio...

The National Bonsai and Penjing Museum blurs the boundaries between landscape and architecture

2020-11-18T12:31:00-05:00

The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts has approved a new Concept Design for the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the U.S. National Arboretum. Designed by Reed Hilderbrand and Trahan Architects, the new design builds on the concept of an immersive and cohesive garden experience, heightening the connectedness to the museum's extensive collection of some of the finest trees and viewing stones from across the globe.

The museum's program will be organized around a central court to orient the visitor to a network of paths that lead to the four exhibitions, expanded classroom, and administrative services. Instead of buildings, each exhibition was conceived as separate gardens that sit within the larger surrounding landscape of the museum.

"The legacy of global cultural exchange through horticulture takes on an important meaning today in Washington," said Founding Principal of Reed Hilderbrand Douglas Reed, FASLA, RAAR in a statement. "We have sought to elevate a world-class collection, mak...

Biophilia: 10 fresh examples of nature and architecture blending harmoniously

2020-06-05T11:34:00-04:00

In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.

Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect profiles!

Today's top images (in no particular order) are from the board Biophilia.

↑ The Evans Tree House at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, AR by Modus Studio and the University of Arkansas; Team Member: Scott Penman (more about this project, a 2019 AIA Small Project Award winner, here)

↑ Hood Cliff Retreat in Hood Canal, WA by Wittman Estes; Photo: Andrew Pogue (Wittman Estes was also featured in Archinect's Studio Snapshots series)

↑ Cliff House in White Salmon, WA by Giulietti / Schouten AIA Architects

↑ Walnut Woods Residence in Indian Hill, OH by John Senhauser Architects; Photo: Eric Williams, Scott Hisey

↑ Art Villas in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica by Formafatal; Photo: BoysPlayNice

↑ Jack...

Large cedar trees surround Christopher Wright Architecture's coastal home in Washington

2020-05-20T13:13:00-04:00

Seattle-based Christopher Wright Architecture designed this home for owners who wanted to live in an intimate space with a strong connection to trees, bay views, and the land. Combining Swiss-style architecture with modern influences, the aesthetic nature of the dwelling highlights craftsmanship, structure, and connectivity to the surrounding landscape.

Photos by Anna Spencer.

"We wanted to create a home that seems to belong where it is–as if it could have always been there–but does not necessarily blend or disappear. Here, I like the strength of the simple forms set against the natural landscape," said Christopher Wright, founder of Christopher Wright Architecture in a statement.

Photos by Anna Spencer.

Surrounded by cedar trees, the buildable area of the site was minimal and the team ensured the trees were kept intact. As such, the home was built close to the trees, requiring a modified approach to the traditional foundation so that the roots of the cedars would not be disturbed.

Ph...

Rooftop trees planted at MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

2020-04-13T13:44:00-04:00

Tree planting has commenced at MVRDV's Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the anticipated art depot that will feature exhibition falls, a sculpture roof garden and restaurant, and expansive public grounds.

Photo by Fred Ernst. Courtesy of MVRDV.

As part of the tree installation, 75 large birches will be lifted 35 meters to the roof of the depot. The rooftop forest was designed in collaboration with MTD landschapsarchitecten from Den Bosch. The tree species are Betula pubescens, a soft birch that grows to ten meters and is said to be resistant to varying weather conditions.

Photo by Arjen Ketting. Courtesy of MVRDV.

Expected to remain standing for several decades, the trees will be maintained via a special watering system to ensure the soil will never dry out.

Maya Lin envisions a 'Ghost Forest' at Madison Square Park in NYC

2020-03-12T16:12:00-04:00

A forest of dessicated trees will rise amid the verdant canopy of Madison Square Park in a forthcoming project by the American artist and environmental activist Maya Lin. In the immersive work, Ghost Forest, which will be on view from 8 June to 6 December, 30 to 40 spectral cedar trees will be replanted in the oval lawn of the park, creating a visually striking micro-landscape that decries the impact of climate change on woodlands around the world.

Commissioned by Madison Square Park Conservancy in New York, Maya Lin's site-responsive installation Ghost Forest aims to address the impact of climate change on woodlands around the planet.

"Ghost Forest will take the form of a towering grove of spectral cedar trees, all sourced from the region and presented in sharp contrast to the Park’s lush tree line," explains a statement published by the Conservancy. "The installation builds on Lin’s practice of addressing climate change within her work and serves as a call to action to the 60,000 visitors who pass through the Park daily."

Maya Lin. Photo: Jesse Frohman, courtesy of the artist.

"Ghost Forest derives its name from the eponymous natural phenomenon: vast tracts of forestland that have died off due to climate change, sea-level rise and saltwater infiltration. To create the installation, Lin worked together with the Conservancy to source dead trees from the Pine Barrens in New Jersey, a vulnerable site that has suffered severe dep...

Can "phytomining" help meet humanity's need for metals with less environmental destruction?

2020-03-02T15:30:00-05:00

On a plot of land rented from a rural village on the Malaysian side of the island of Borneo, the group has proved it at small scale. Every six to 12 months, a farmer shaves off one foot of growth from these nickel-hyper-accumulating plants and either burns or squeezes the metal out. After a short purification, farmers could hold in their hands roughly 500 pounds of nickel citrate, potentially worth thousands of dollars on international markets.

A thought-provoking report from Ian Morse of The New York Times highlights a burgeoning approach for harvesting necessary (and toxic) metals like nickel from soil through "hyper-accumulating" plants.

Morse checks in researchers from the University of Melbourne who are farming nickel-rich soils in Borneo using metal-absorbing plants that eat up the substance. Nickel is a key ingredient in a variety of electronic products and in building materials like stainless steel. The approach can extract metals from the soil directly with minimal processing and can potentially be used to clean up abandoned mining sites, as well.

Scientists push back against "Trillion Trees" initiatives

2020-02-14T12:29:00-05:00

Perhaps the biggest risk is that the appeal of natural-sounding solutions can delude us into thinking we’re taking more meaningful action than we really are. It “invites people to view tree planting as a substitute” for the sweeping changes required to prevent greenhouse-gas emissions from reaching the atmosphere in the first place, says Jane Flegal, a member of the adjunct faculty at Arizona State University’s School for the Future of Innovation in Society.

James Temple, writing in the MIT Technology Review outlines the argument against viewing tree-planting as a climate crisis silver bullet. While planting trees might seem like a quick and easy way of helping to abate the climate crisis, Temple explains, increasingly, researchers are finding that estimates touting the potential tree-planting efforts might have for absorbing and sequestering carbon are likely overstated. "We can’t rely on trees as a stand-in for the separate monumental task of cutting emissions from our energy, transportation, and agricultural systems," Temple argues.

As the uptick in forest fires worldwide—from California to the Amazon to Australia— show, trees can quickly go up in smoke. Arizona State University adjunct faculty Jane Flegal tells the MIT Technology Review that “just shifting the stock of CO2 from the atmosphere to the land biosphere is not a permanent sequestration of emissions. Carbon sinks can become carbon sources very quickly.”

...

Aerial reforestation by drone: Flash Forest Kickstarter wants to plant a billion trees by 2028

2019-12-26T14:13:00-05:00

[...] a team of Canadian science and engineering graduates is pitching a dream to plant a billion trees by 2028 using drones. The project is dubbed Flash Forest and combines the use of drones with specially-designed pods and an accelerated seed germination process. According to Flash Forest, its technology can plant trees 10 times faster than a single worker and at a cost that is 80 percent cheaper than traditional tree planting methods.

On their Kickstarter page, the team behind the Toronto-based Flash Forest project explains what happens before and after heavy-lift drones pneumatically fire their custom-designed seed pods into the ground: "Before we plant our pods, we pre-germinate the seeds inside using our own 'secret sauce.' This ensures that the seeds have already sprouted before they’re even in the ground and that they have a strong rooting system when they grow. Not only that, but after we plant them we follow up with our spraying drone to remove competition and provide nitrogen and other nutrients for the best chance of success. We continuously monitor our seedlings with the mapping drone to make sure they’re healthy."

A battle over Eucalyptus—and over what constitutes an invasive species—erupts in California

2019-12-16T13:47:00-05:00

Fragile and flammable, Eucalypti have been implicated in worsening wildfires across the world. But there's little consensus over their culpability, value, or future in California's landscape. Defenders and opponents each say that science and history are on their side.

A long-simmering battle over the current and future status of California's Eucalyptus trees is close to bubbling over again, as the increasingly present risk of catastrophic fire events pits Eucalyptus lovers against native plant enthusiasts who would like to see the tinder-producing groves replaced with native plant species.

Susie Cagle has created an insightful illustrated article for The Guardian that highlights the competing arguments for and against Eucalyptus preservation.

Researchers at ETH Zurich design detailed strategy for reforesting 2 billion acres

2019-10-08T09:00:00-04:00

Around 0.9 billion hectares (2.2 billion acres) of land worldwide would be suitable for reforestation, which could ultimately capture two thirds of human-made carbon emissions.

Professor Thomas Crowther, co-author of the study and founder of the Crowther Lab at ETH Zurich that conducted the research writes, “We all knew that restoring forests could play a part in tackling climate change, but we didn’t really know how big the impact would be. Our study shows clearly that forest restoration is the best climate change solution available today. But we must act quickly, as new forests will take decades to mature and achieve their full potential as a source of natural carbon storage.”

EU to pay Gabon to preserve its tropical rain forests

2019-09-23T19:34:00-04:00

Gabon will become the first African nation to receive funding to preserve its rainforests to mitigate the effects of climate change. [...] Norway will pay $150 million to Gabon to battle deforestation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The deal is part of the Central African Forest Initiative [...] The partnership sets a carbon floor price of $10 per certified ton and will be paid on the basis of verified results from 2016 through to 2025.

According to QZ, since 2000, Gabon has created more than a dozen new national parks to help preserve the country's forests. Roughly 12-percent of the Congo Basin Forest, the second-largest tropical rainforest behind the Amazon, is located within Gabon's borders.