Those are inspiring stories, but I can’t help thinking that there are more efficient ways to turn barren land into a forest than by planting one seed at a time. Something like this:
Get or make a bunch of crumbled charcoal and manure, and till those into the desolate soil. This will provide some nutrients, reduce leaching, and make the soil more hospitable to the various microbes that are essential in the formation and maintenance of healthy soils.
Plant grasses and clover, to get the soil on its way to recovery. The grass forms extensive root systems, and the clover is a particularly hardy legume, with the ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia.
After the soil has been rehabilitated, get a bunch of various seedlings going in a greenhouse somewhere, and plant them.
Once you get the plants well-established, they’ll take over the project, and you can relax.
I figure this will be faster, and less labor-intensive, than seed-at-a-time techniques. The various reforestation and de-desertification projects around the world seem to agree.
There’s probably a metaphor in here somewhere, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t conflict with what you actually recommend that people do.
Your “seeds” should be memes. Trees scatter a ridiculous profligacy of seeds. Not every acorn grows up to be a mighty oak, but if the oak didn’t scatter that many it wouldn’t propagate.
Those are inspiring stories, but I can’t help thinking that there are more efficient ways to turn barren land into a forest than by planting one seed at a time. Something like this:
Get or make a bunch of crumbled charcoal and manure, and till those into the desolate soil. This will provide some nutrients, reduce leaching, and make the soil more hospitable to the various microbes that are essential in the formation and maintenance of healthy soils.
Plant grasses and clover, to get the soil on its way to recovery. The grass forms extensive root systems, and the clover is a particularly hardy legume, with the ability to convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia.
After the soil has been rehabilitated, get a bunch of various seedlings going in a greenhouse somewhere, and plant them.
Once you get the plants well-established, they’ll take over the project, and you can relax.
I figure this will be faster, and less labor-intensive, than seed-at-a-time techniques. The various reforestation and de-desertification projects around the world seem to agree.
There’s probably a metaphor in here somewhere, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t conflict with what you actually recommend that people do.
Your “seeds” should be memes. Trees scatter a ridiculous profligacy of seeds. Not every acorn grows up to be a mighty oak, but if the oak didn’t scatter that many it wouldn’t propagate.