Category: April 29

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SW 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Instagram: St.BarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers)

1./ Learn.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger

“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

“I believed that God has lent us the Earth. It belongs as much to those who come after us as to us, and it ill behooves us by anything we do or neglect, to deprive them of benefits which are in our power to bequeath.” Richard St. Barbe Baker

Dare to Dream!

World Wish Day April 29, 2020

Make A Wish Day

Different people have various wishes as they contemplate what wishes they may make on World Wish Day.

We wish you Happy Earth Month, and wish you well and all the best in keeping safe from Coronavirus COVID-19!

What do you wish for in the school curriculum?

What do you wish for when it comes to city planning?

What do you wish for biodiversity?

What do you wish for future generations?

What do you wish for climate action?

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. – Anne Frank

“May Light always surround you;
Hope kindle and rebound you.
May your Hurts turn to Healing;
Your Heart embrace Feeling.
May Wounds become Wisdom;
Every Kindness a Prism.
May Laughter infect you;
Your Passion resurrect you.
May Goodness inspire
your Deepest Desires.
Through all that you Reach For,
May your arms Never Tire.”
― D. Simone

Today is Wednesday April 29 and Earth Month. This year’s Earth Day 2020 theme is Climate Action.

“The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see.” Albert Einstein

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!

Canada Helps

1./ Learn.

Saskatoon Environmental Society Curriculum

We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect. – Aldo Leopold

There is a great need for the introduction of new values in our society, where bigger is not necessarily better, where slower can be faster, and where less can be more. – Gaylord Nelson

“Dare to dream! If you did not have the capability to make your wildest wishes come true, your mind would not have the capacity to conjure such ideas in the first place. There is no limitation on what you can potentially achieve, except for the limitation you choose to impose on your own imagination. What you believe to be possible will always come to pass – to the extent that you deem it possible. It really is as simple as that.”
― Anthon St. Maarten

Green Climate Action

Greenery Day April 29, 2020

Elm Leaves

Richard St. Barbe Baker AFforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK

Trembling Aspen Leaf with dew drops, Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

How does CO2 Trap Heat? How to Measure a Changing Climate. How does heat affect our planet?

Check out these Greenhouse Effect resources at the the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder. The US global change research project, has produced the Fourth National Climate Assessment to answer some of the questions about climate change.

Youth Action Gone Virtual Webinar! Wednesday, April 15, 12 p.m. CDT or 11:00 a.m. CST Saskatchewan time.

The afforestation areas began as tree nurseries planted by the City of Saskatoon Parks Department to replenish trees in the city parks. The afforestation areas commenced under the auspices of the Green Survival Program.

For more ideas about green climate action:

Sask Outdoors Resources

Saskatchewan Standards Resources

S askatchewan Education Resources

Friends Curriculum Resources

Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan Teacher Resources

“When the trees go, the rain goes, the climate deteriorates, the water table sinks, the land erodes and desert conditions soon appear”.~Richard St. Barbe Baker

Today, on Wednesday April 29, celebrating Earth Month! This year’s Earth Day 2020 theme is Climate Action, which will be explored during Earth Month.

“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

For more information:

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

1./ Learn.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

We have the capacity to create a remarkably different economy: one that can restore ecosystems and protect the environment while bringing forth innovation, prosperity, meaningful work, and true security. – Paul Hawken

Going back to a simpler life is not a step backward. – Yvon Chouinard

Discover Gaia

Evolution is a tightly coupled dance, with life and the material environment as partners. From the dance emerges the entity Gaia.
James Lovelock

Fresh Snow Reveals a Nest

Heart health forest walking

Trembling Aspen grove Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, CA

A forest ecology is a delicate one. If the forest perishes, its fauna may go with it. The athshean word for world is also the word for forest.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Paul D. Tinari organized Canada’s Earth Day September 11, 1980 during Earth Day Week beginning Sept 6, 1980

Those of us who consider ourselves to be somehow involved in the birthing of a new age, should discover Gaia as well. The idea of Gaia may facilitate the task of converting destructive human activities to constructive and cooperative behavior. It is an idea which deeply startles us, and in the process, may help us as a species to make the necessary jump to planetary awareness.
James Lovelock

Since 1970, Earth Day supports environmental protection, and was supported by the 2016 acknowledging the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference historic draft climate protection treaty. Earth Day was first celebrated on the first day of spring (northern hemisphere) March 21, 1970, however, United States Senator Gaylord Nelson initiated Earth Day on April 22 in America. March for Science is also commemorated April 22, and the People’s Climate Mobilization follows on April 29.

Trees have a way of bringing people together to celebrate a shared heritage. With over 80% of Canadians living in cities and towns, our urban forests are vital to our quality of life, and this recognition will go a long way toward ensuring that they continue to be planted and cared for in urban locations… For every person who stops and thinks about how they can help grow and maintain trees, Canada becomes a cleaner, better country.Cision Canada

The United Nations celebrates International Mother Earth Day on April 22 “to remind each of us that the Earth and its Ecosystems provide us with life and sustenance….The Earth and its ecosystems are our home. In order to achieve a just balance among the economic, social, and environmental needs of present and future generations, it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the Earth.”

“Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.”-Einstein

in 1922, Richard St. Barbe Baker began the International Tree Foundation with Forest Guides, or Forest Scouts, called the Watu wa Miti, or Men of the Trees who… “promised before N’gai, the High God, that they would protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.”

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.
Albert Einstein

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Should you wish to help protect / enhance the afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail) Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. — Paypal

Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger

“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

“I believe in the Oneness of Mankind and all living things and the interdependence of each and all.” Richard St. Barbe Baker

Earth Day Week

Gaia’s main problems are not industrialization, ozone depletion, overpopulation, or resource depletion. Gaia’s main problem is the lack of mutual understanding and mutual agreement in the noosphere about how to proceed with those problems. We cannot rein in industry if we cannot reach mutual understanding and mutual agreement based on a worldcentric moral perspective concerning the global commons. And we reach the worldcentric moral perspective through a difficult and laborious process of interior growth and transcendence.
Ken Wilber

Paul D. Tinari organized Canada’s Earth Day September 11, 1980 during Earth Day Week beginning Sept 6, 1980

A bit of fog and hoar frost in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Shepherdia argentea, commonly called silver buffaloberry bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry. CC-BY-SA-3.0 credit Julia Adamson

A forest ecology is a delicate one. If the forest perishes, its fauna may go with it. The athshean word for world is also the word for forest.

Ursula K. Le Guin

The first Canadian Earth Day was held on Thursday, September 11, 1980, and was organized by Paul D. Tinari, then a graduate student in Engineering Physics/Solar Engineering at Queen’s University. Flora MacDonald, then MP for Kingston and the Islands and former Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs, officially opened Earth Day Week on September 6, 1980 with a ceremonial tree planting and encouraged MPs and MPPs across the country to declare a cross-Canada annual Earth Day. The principal activities taking place on the first Earth Day included educational lectures given by experts in various environmental fields, garbage and litter pick-up by students along city roads and highways as well as tree plantings to replace the trees killed by Dutch Elm Disease.source

Those of us who consider ourselves to be somehow involved in the birthing of a new age, should discover Gaia as well. The idea of Gaia may facilitate the task of converting destructive human activities to constructive and cooperative behavior. It is an idea which deeply startles us, and in the process, may help us as a species to make the necessary jump to planetary awareness.
James Lovelock

Trees have a way of bringing people together to celebrate a shared heritage. With over 80% of Canadians living in cities and towns, our urban forests are vital to our quality of life, and this recognition will go a long way toward ensuring that they continue to be planted and cared for in urban locations… For every person who stops and thinks about how they can help grow and maintain trees, Canada becomes a cleaner, better country.Cision Canada

I believe that we will see a lot of destruction, but I believe that if we can see the right patterns and draw the right lessons from that destruction, we might be able to rebuild before it’s too late. And then I have that ultimate optimism that even if we can’t, life will rebuild itself. In a way, the global economy might collapse, but Gaia won’t, and people’s ingenuity won’t. We will rebuild society, we will rebuild local economies, we will rebuild human aspirations.
Vandana Shiva

Only rarely do we see beyond the needs of humanity, and he linked this blindness to our Christian and humanist infrastructure. It arose 2,000 years ago and was then benign, and we were no significant threat to Gaia. Now that we are over six billion hungry and greedy individuals, all aspiring to a first-world lifestyle, our urban way of life encroaches upon the domain of the living Earth.
James Lovelock

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

Frogwatch. Saskatchewan. Learn about the Frogs of Saskatchewan!

“St. Barbe’s unique capacity to pass on his enthusiasm to others. . . Many foresters all over the world found their vocations as a result of hearing ‘The Man of the Trees’ speak. I certainly did, but his impact has been much wider than that. Through his global lecture tours, St. Barbe has made millions of people aware of the importance of trees and forests to our planet.” Allan Grainger

“The science of forestry arose from the recognition of a universal need. It embodies the spirit of service to mankind in attempting to provide a means of supplying forever a necessity of life and, in addition, ministering to man’s aesthetic tastes and recreational interests. Besides, the spiritual side of human nature needs the refreshing inspiration which comes from trees and woodlands. If a nation saves its trees, the trees will save the nation. And nations as well as tribes may be brought together in this great movement, based on the ideal of beautifying the world by the cultivation of one of God’s loveliest creatures – the tree.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

“I believe in the Oneness of Mankind and all living things and the interdependence of each and all.” Richard St. Barbe Baker

High or Low Water Table?

Save The Frogs Day April 29

Northern Leopard Frog compared to frogs around the world. Northern Leopard Frog lower right corner

Rana_sylvatica Wood Frog

Rana_pipiens Northern Leopard Frog

Lithobates_sylvaticus_(wood_frog)

“If we can discover the meaning in the trilling of a frog, perhaps we may understand why it is for us not merely noise but a song of poetry and emotion.” – Adrian Forsyth

In the plains and parkland region of Saskatchewan are several species of frogs which can be found around the wetlands, marshes, rivers, streams, and “prairie potholes.” The number of species observable increase during the cyclical years when Saskatchewan has a higher water table. Saskatchewan, experiences a temperate climate, which cycles between drought and high moisture years. Winnipeg locates at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. During the years when the Red River produces great floods through North Dakota, and Manitoba, those are also years when the water table is high in Saskatchewan and communities of Saskatchewan also experience flooding. Historically, there have been high water levels during the years 2011, 2009, 1997, 1996, 1979, 1974, and 1950.

Saskatchewan species of frogs include; Canadian Toad Anaxyrus hemiophrys, Great Plains Toad Bufo cognatus, Plains Spadefoot Toad Spea bombifrons, Boreal Chorus Frog Pseudacris maculata, Leopard Frog Rana pipiens, Wood Frog Rana sylvatica. Diane Secoy limits the The Plains spadefoot and Great Plains toad to the southwestern corner of Saskatchewan, the area formerly known as “Palliser’s Triangle.”

Biologists study the ecology, life history, osteology, and mating calls of the these amphibians. The evolutionary history is determined by examining the distributions, ecology, cranial osteology, and mating calls. In the field, colouration is noted, along with webbing between fingers, shape of the snout, size, distinctions of thighs, shape of vocal sac, shape of maxillary processes, for instance to determine geographic variations. The tadpoles are also examined for ventral fins, mating calls, colouration, tail, snout, teeth.
Frogs do have an olfactory sense, and can sense chemical changes in the air. The presence of amphibians in an ecosystem, is a good indicator of the health of the biome. Tadpoles can use the chemical scents as a method to be aware of predators or food. The particular marsh, or wetlands area where a tadpole was born possesses its own unique perfume or scent, to which the frog is also drawn towards in the final life cycle. At the top of the frog’s mouth is the jacobson’s organ, which is how a frog detects scent. A frog will open and close their mouths to activate their jacobson’s organ in an effort to locate food.

On studying amphibians, not only is it important to reflect upon where are frogs, and toads in winter-time, but also where are frogs and toads in the summer-time during droughty years?

When discovering a Saskatchewan amphibian could you tell a toad from a frog?

Do you know what is the life cycle of a frog (or of a toad) as if related by the creature itself?

So what can you do on “Save The Frogs Day April 29?” The most important thing, would be to Learn about the Frogs of Saskatchewan!

For more information on species at risk or to participate in Stewards of Saskatchewan program offered by Nature Saskatchewan “Humanity in Harmony with Nature” please call 1-800-667-HOOT (1-800-667-4668)

“There were frogs all right, thousands of them. Their voices beat the night, they boomed and barked and croaked and rattled. They sang to the stars, to the waning moon, to the waving grasses. They bellowed long songs and challenges.” – John Steinbeck

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Canadian Biodiversity Species. Amphibians and Reptiles: Frogs and Toads (Anura)

frog smell.

Secoy, Diane Amphibians Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Canadian Plains Research Centre. University of Regina.2006

Species at Risk Public Registry. Northern Leopard Frog Western Boreal / Prairie populations Government of Canada.

Northern Leopard Frog compared to frogs around the world. Northern Leopard Frog lower right corner

Rana_sylvatica Wood Frog

Rana_pipiens Northern Leopard Frog

Lithobates_sylvaticus_(wood_frog)

For more information:

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, SK, CA north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city.
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Facebook: StBarbeBaker
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!

Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

Twitter: St Barbe Baker

Healthy Parks Healthy People Central. Forest Bathing

Healing with trees?

World Healing Day

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in the fog

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, south west sector, in the City of Saskatoon, SK, CA

Native species, Trembling Aspen or Populus tremuloides, quaking aspen, trembling aspen, American aspen, Quakies, mountain or golden aspen, trembling poplar, white poplar,, Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

This World Healing Day, April 29, try Shinrin-yoku Forest Bathing, it is an amazing health activity. Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, lay your hands on your favourite tree. Pass the word on, and invite the world to experience; Shinrin-yoku Forest Bathing

“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.~Richard St. Barbe Baker

Forest-bathing describes the practice of taking a short, leisurely visit to a forest for health benefits. The practice originated in Japan where it is called shinrin-yoku. A forest bathing trip involves visiting a forest for relaxation and recreation while breathing in volatile substances, called phytoncides (wood essential oils), which are antimicrobial volatile organic compounds derived from trees, such as α-Pinene and limonene.

Incorporating forest bathing trips into a good lifestyle was first proposed in 1982 by the Forest Agency of Japan. It has now become a recognized relaxation and/or stress management activity in Japan. According to Cassandra Szlaraski, ” the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, translates to “taking in the forest atmosphere.”

“Soon I was completely isolated in the luxuriant, tangled growth of ferns which were well above my head. In my infant mind I seemed to have entered a fairyland of my dreams. “I wandered on as in a dream, all sense of time and space lost … “I became intoxicated with the beauty all around me, immersed in the joyousness and exultation of feeling part of it all. “I had entered the temple of the wood. I sank to the ground in a state of ecstasy; everything was intensely vivid – the call of a distant cuckoo seemed just for me … “The overpowering beauty of it all entered my very being. “At that moment my heart brimmed over with a sense of unspeakable thankfulness which has followed me through the years since that woodland re-birth …~Richard St. BarbeBaker. “I was in love with life: I was indeed born again, although I could not have explained what had happened to me then.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker My Life My Trees

“In Japan and Korea, forest therapy modalities are integrated into their medical system and are covered by insurance,” said Ben Page, a certified forest therapy guide who founded Shinrin Yoku Los Angeles. ” Meeri Kim, also notes that “phytoncides, which are antimicrobial organic compounds given off by plants. They argue that by breathing in the volatile substances released by the forest, people achieve relaxation… Phytoncides —are colloquially known in forest bathing circles as “the aroma of the forest.” Quing Li, senior Assistant Professor at Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, figures that the increase in people’s natural killer (NK) cells increase due to the Phytoncides which are the essential oils from trees. α-pinene and limonene are examples of tree “perfumes” which are antimicrobial volatile organic compounds.

“For years, I’ve charged my batteries on trees. You have to select a special tree friend. When I came out of hospital after a serious operation, I chose a Cedar of Lebanon. Cedar itself comes from the Arabic word meaning strength.” “I used to do two minutes on and two minutes off, then two minutes again. After about four minutes, your hands begin to tingle. I wouldn’t recommend to a beginner to take more than a minute to start with.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker speaks of laying the palm of hands on a tree trunk.

And just as Richard St. Barbe Baker attests, so, to does Dr. Li, lay your hands on the trees, touch the trees, and open yourself to the healing. The experience is enhanced, if one absorbs the sights, sounds, colours through all the five senses as one walks slowly and meditatively through the forest. An excellent day spent forest bathing would be to wander for about four hours while walking about 5 kilometers through the woods. Forest bathing can also be done for half this time, strolling 2.5 kilometers over 2.5 hours.

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. —Robert Louis Stevenson

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Forest Bathing Wikipedia

Kim, Meeri. ‘‘Forest bathing’ is latest fitness trend to hit U.S. — ‘Where yoga was 30 years ago’ Washington Post.

Li, Quing. Effect of Forest Bathing trips on Human Immune Systems. Environ Health. 2010 Jan. 15 (1) 9-17. Published online 2009 Mar 25 doi 10.1007/s12199-008-0058-3

Shinrin Yoku

Szlarski, Cassandra What is Forest Bathing? Global News.

What is World Healing Day About World Healing Day A Global Health and Healing Event.

World healing day Facebook

World Healing Day

Your Brain on Nature: Forest Bathing and Reduced Stress. Mother Earth News.

“A forest is a perfect example of the law of return in action. Trees give back to the earth more than they take, while building up humus, and enriching the soil by the minerals that have been carried up to the leaves in the rising sap. By nature man is

a forest dweller. He was cradled in the tropics. His food was the fruit of the trees. He possessed the secret of adaptation to his environment, so that health, gentleness, beauty and strength were enjoyed to the full. In his forest setting man was conscious of his relationship to God and of his unity with all living things.`Richard St. Barbe Baker

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.