World Tree News

Good news for trees and humans

Custodian, thoughtful. © The African Biodiversity Network

Custodians of sacred sites in Africa unite

Traditional custodians of sacred sites met to create a guideline to respect and ensure the future of the children of humans and all species on Earth.

Martin Litton in his Cessna (2006). © Ricardo Dearatanha/Los Angeles Times

Environmental warrior still fighting at 95

At the age of 95 Martin Litton (with his vintage Cessna 195) is still the guarding eye and voice for the Giant Sequoia National Monument Park in California.

Forest Hero Shigeatsu Hatakeyama. © Ryo Murakami/UNU

Forests ‘activate’ coastal seas

The positive influence forests have on ocean ecology and biodiversity was put to good use by a Japanese oyster farmer who received a UN Forest Heroes Award.

sacred grove at Heggala Aiyappa, Western Ghats, India. © Claudia Rutte

Mapping sacred sites for their protection

To scientists from the universities of Oxford and of Basel started a database project to record Sacred Natural Sites for research and future conservation.

Wangari Maathai has died

Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, which so far has planted 51 million trees and trained over 30,000 women, died on 25 September 2011.

Francis of Assisi, oil painting by Lodovico Cigoli, 1597/9. © Creative Commons License

UK Catholics: The Call to Creation

The historic ‘Call of Creation’ by St Francis of Assisi inspires Catholics today to acknowledge humanity's role as stewards of nature, not its masters.