News from the world of trees #8

Here is another selection of tree news articles from around the world. Click on each of the pictures if you would like to read the full stories.

Saving Congo’s forest and its Pygmies

In the DRC, the indigenous Mbuti people rejected a nature reserve that banned them from their ancestral lands. Now, working with conservationists, they are exploring ways to protect the Itombwe forest together, according to the Guardian…

Adonis is named Europe’s oldest tree

The Daily Mail reports that, according to scientists, a pine found growing in Greece was planted more than 1,000 years ago…

How did Lucy die?

Scientists reckon human ancestor Lucy the Australopithecus afarensis may have died when she fell out of a tree, says Treehugger…

Also see The BBC’s take on the same story

Millions of trees on way to BC

300,000 hectares of forest ravaged by wildfires and pine beetles in British Columbia may be replanted, according to a new climate plan reported by CBC News…

New Forest being destroyed by ponies, says Chris Packham

Overgrazing is causing loss of woodland and wildlife as populations of the native breed have risen partly due to taxpayer subsidies, says the naturalist in the Guardian…

The Enchanted Forest light show returns

Taking place every autumn in the ancient woodlands of Perthshire, the Enchanted Forest son et lumière show is a spectacle like no other, says the Scotsman…

Korean palm oil firm accused of illegal forest burning in Indonesia

Some of the world’s biggest buyers have stopped trading with Korindo after the emergence of footage claiming to show illegal burning in Papua province, says the Guardian…

Pembrokeshire charity to plant 1,000 apple trees near abbey

Thanks to Big Lottery funding, Hanes Llandoch, in St Dogmaels, will plant the apple tree Pig Aderyn, which is believed to have been first brought to the abbey by monks from Normandy in the 12th century, says the BBC…

The man who ​thinks trees ‘talk’ to each other

Beech trees are bullies​ and​ willows are loners, says forester Peter Wohlleben, author of a new book claiming that trees have personalities and communicate ​via a ​below-ground ​”woodwide web”. He is interviewed by the Guardian…

Ecologist’s warning of threats to trees’ soil fungi networks

Ecologist Suzanne Simard warns that threats like clear-cutting and climate change could disrupt critical soil fungi networks, Environment 360 reports…

Storms devastate monarch butterflies’ forest habitat in Mexico

Rain, cold and high winds have destroyed 133 acres of trees west of Mexico City, according to the Guardian…

£750K to help community group save iconic pine forest

Arkaig Community Forest and Woodland Trust Scotland have been awarded funding by People’s Postcode Lottery to secure the future of a spectacular Highland pine forest which is halfway to its £4.5 million target, according to Third Force News…

Bournemouth trees were poisoned with glyphosate, investigators reveal

Three pine trees in West Cliff Green, Bournemouth were poisoned with herbicide, tests have confirmed after drill holes were spotted in the trees in June, says the Bournemouth Daily Echo…

Competition celebrates heritage trees and woods of Greater Manchester

Conservation group City of Trees has launched its first photography competition, supported by the RSPB and Lancashire Wildlife Trust, according to the Messenger…

Trees benefit livestock and finances, says upland farmer

A Perthshire farmer has explained why he backs a national campaign for more trees on sheep farms, Horticulture Week reports…

Trees transformed into living, breathing buildings

A German design group specialises in organic structures grown over the course of decades, says the Seeker website…

Cattedrale Vegetale lives on after founder’s death

An Italian artist, who has since died, explored the possibilities of living architecture with the astonishing Cattedrale Vegetale, a living, breathing cathedral made out of growing trees, says Inhabitat…

Potential loss of Hemlock trees would be devastating

Eastern or Canada Hemlock is a unique and important tree species for its beauty, wildlife habitat and environmental benefits in Michigan, according to MSU Extension…

Myanmar forest-cutting continues despite government efforts

Illegal logging has left vast swaths of bare patches, with only a handful of old-growth stands, says MailOnline…

Bid to fully devolve forest management to Holyrood

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on the future administration of Scotland’s forests, says the BBC. Some forestry management is still overseen on a UK level…

Parkland risks being stripped of trees and scarred by Metro project

A prominent stretch of Melbourne’s prized parklands could be forever stripped of trees and permanently scarred if Metro Rail tunnels are built just a few metres beneath the heritage-listed gardens, reports The Age…

Kenya is planting a forest the size of Costa Rica

Kenya has announced a plan to restore 5.1 million hectares of deforested land as part of a global campaign called the Bonn Challenge, says Quartz Africa…

Book review: The Long, Long Life of Trees by Fiona Stafford

The author’s root and branch treatment of trees is destined to be a definitive one, says James Anthony in the Evening Standard…

Film review: The Sea of Trees can’t see the woods for the metaphors

Gus Van Sant’s new film stars Matthew McConaughey as a man who goes to the Aokigahara forest in Japan to commit suicide. This negative review on Pop Matters is one of many…

One of Brooklyn’s oldest trees could live in your living room

Most New York City trees go to the chipper, but this one will have a dignified afterlife, says Atlas Obscura…

And finally…

Man-made ‘wind trees’ could power homes using turbines

Picture a steady breeze blowing through the leaves of a tree. Now imagine if they could capture the wind and transform it into renewable energy, says Quartz…