Nature in medical prescriptions

The Canadian Medical Association is set to make history at COP15 with the formal endorsement of a new nationwide nature prescription program called PaRx.

The Canadian Medical Association has declared its support for the program officially at the Canada Pavilion in the Palais des congrès de Montréal at COP15. PaRx is designed to improve the health and wellbeing of Canadians by prescribing nature – such as hiking, bird watching, cycling, snowshoing, skiing – as a form of preventive medicine.

The program is based on the concept of “ecotherapy”, which is the practice of engaging with nature to improve mental health. In recent years, ecotherapy has become increasingly popular as a way to reduce stress and improve physical health, and as a result, more healthcare professionals are prescribing nature to their patients.

PaRx is a means of healthcare professionals connecting Canadians with nature-based activities in their local area via prescriptions. The program is designed to be accessible to all Canadians, regardless of age, ability or income level. It aims to make the outdoors more accessible and inviting to Canadians who may not have had the opportunity or resources to explore nature before.

The program is based on the concept of “ecotherapy”, which is the practice of engaging with nature to improve mental health. In recent years, ecotherapy has become increasingly popular as a way to reduce stress and improve physical health, and as a result, more healthcare professionals are prescribing nature to their patients. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, PaRx could be considered a “nature prescription”: it encourages Canadians to engage with nature and experience its therapeutic benefits.

The program is designed to be easy to use and accessible to all Canadians, and it provides information about activities to help users discover the many ways that nature can benefit their physical and mental health. The CMA’s endorsement of PaRx is a major step forward in the growing movement to make nature-based activities a part of healthcare. It is a testament to the increasing recognition of the importance of nature in improving our health and wellbeing, and in helping us live more sustainable lifestyles. Hopefully, this endorsement will lead to more Canadians taking advantage of the therapeutic benefits of nature, and to more healthcare professionals prescribing nature as part of their treatment plans.

What a great reason to explore the afforestation areas today!

PaRx in Saskatchewan. Health and wellness in the forest

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
NEW P4G District Official Community Plan
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
Pinterest richardstbarbeb
Blogger: FriendsAfforestation
Tumblr friendsafforestation.tumblr.comFacebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook: StBarbeBaker Afforestation Area
Facebook for the non profit Charity Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. FriendsAreas
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA
Reddit: FriendsAfforestation
Twitter: St Barbe Baker Charity Twitter:FriendsAreas
Mix: friendsareas
YouTube
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 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!
Donations can be made through Paypal, Canada Helps, Contact Donate A Car Canada, SARCAN Drop & Go 106100594 for the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc.
United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities
“Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

Take the first step

Today is the first day of Tourism Week.

Before the development of tourism, travel was conceived to be like study, and its fruits were considered to be the adornment of the mind and the formation of judgement.

Paul Fussell

Permanent wetlands in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area with cattails and emergent vegetation in the summer

Autumn picture of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas supported by the non profit group Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. Please join now, like, support, share.

Autumn picture of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas supported by the non profit group Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. Please join now, like, support, share.

Richard St. Barbe Baker AFforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK

Arbor Day Safe Forests Go Fund Me Page to support our trees in the afforestation areas!

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

  Canada Helps

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 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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

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

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

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

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

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

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

  Canada Helps

Take the first step, the rest will follow. Book the ticket, apply for the job, send the email, jump into the water. The rest gets easier from there. – Abi

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land G. K. Chesterton

Life, as the most ancient of all metaphors insists, is a journey; and the travel book, in its deceptive simulation of the journey’s fits and starts, rehearses life’s own fragmentation. More even than the novel, it embraces the contingency of things.” Jonathan Raban

Meewasin Valley Authority managed and City of Saskatoon owned

Eco-Quest COVID-19 Activity

Today, an invitation is extended to you to take part in the Genereux Park Eco-Quest GP-EQ and the Baker Area Eco-Quest BA-EQ. These two events are being done out at the afforestation areas to inventory all the living, growing, crawling, walking, leaping, plants, animals, and bugs. Well, you know that these are weird and uncertain times with the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 going around. Soooooo the Genereux Park Eco-Quest and the Baker Area Eco-Quest are not planned for a day nor a time. The Genereux Park Eco-Quest and the Baker Area Eco-Quest are not group events, and yet they are – they are virtual group events.

Make A Wish Day

Grasshopper_Sparrow CC2.0 dominic sheronY

Northern Shoveler

Make A Wish Day

The Eco-Quests work by downloading the i-Naturalist app onto your smart phone. Come out to the afforestation area individually or as a household. Use the app to take a photograph of something you see in nature. The i-Naturalist app works as your ‘field guide’ and will provide a suggestion on identification.

Also, looking and watching for various items in nature is like a “Where’s Waldo” puzzle activity. They are fun for the whole family. People can meet online and work together via their computer, and yet be out in public with social distancing. Students can increase their science awareness of nature. Rare and uncommon habitats, plants and animals can be discovered. These Eco-quests are a great way to connect with the environment and appreciate the biodiversity which exists. Eco-quests are challenging, and encouraging to everyone to appreciate the greenspace which may be taken for granted. Eco-quests are a means to become intrigued with the beauty and wonder of the natural world around us.

With an increased footprint, are there any locales or conservation strategies needed? Are there any species which need protection? Are there any reptiles (lizards and snakes), amphibians (frogs), lichen, fungi (mushrooms) spiders, fish, mollusks (snails), mosses, mammals birds, or plants in the afforestation areas?

After you are finished comment on the following statements;

1. I know more plant species than bird species. Yes. No. Not applicable.
2. I listed only live species which I saw or heard. Yes. No. Not applicable.
3. I looked for new species which I never saw before. Yes. No. Not applicable.
4. I listed only those species for which I was sure of the name. Yes. No. Not applicable.
5. I focused on only the woodlands species, and not the wetlands or grasslands. Yes. No. Not applicable.
6. I found out the name of a new plant which I had not noticed before. Yes. No. Not applicable.

This virtual Eco-Quest is a great way for you to connect with your sports group, physical, mental and spiritual health organisation. Let your group know about this activity, and everyone can go out at the time most convenient to them. Then online you can discuss with them how they made out during their time in the afforestation area. You can compare notes, and see who found the most birds, and who found the most plants.

Getting involved in the Genereux Park Eco-Quest and the Baker Area Eco-Quest are an amazing way to spend some time outdoors. Doing an activity outdoors alleviates anxiety, mental health issues, depression, and worries about the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a win-win situation! It’s a great way to “see” what is in nature, increase your knowledge of the world around you, and inspire you to learn more!

Stimulate learning, relaxation, fun and enhance your learning ability. Only go out on your individual Eco-Quest with those from your household. Please keep social distance from anyone outside your own household.

Not only does your participation in the Eco-Quest make a huge difference in the results, but it is great fun, and enhances a beautiful walk through the forest, the grasslands or along the wetlands. It is rewarding connecting with scientists and other individuals. It is wonderful to interact with the local community, and it results in a relaxing and rewarding day interacting, observing nature, and delving into the number of birds, and wildlife habitats. You don’t even realize you are exercising until you are done, and look at how many steps you took. It is a means to great self-care, and a wonderful way to take care of your physical, mental and spiritual well-being.

Rather than connecting with the stress and anxiety of COVID-19 for this moment in time, take a holiday in nature, and immerse yourself in beauty.

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:

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

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

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

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

Facebook: South West OLRA

Instagram: St.BarbeBaker

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

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

Canada Helps

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”—Anne Lamott

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.— Benjamin Franklin

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Carl Jung

#EveryDayCounts
#MotivationalMonday
#MondayMotivation
#BeAwesome
#BeHappy
#createSomethingBeautiful
#HappyMonday
#MentalHealth
#SelfCare
#SmileLaughDaily
#community
#YouAreNotAlone
#MentalHealthAwarenessMonth
#FutureGenerations
#BeKind

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

Healthy Parks Healthy People Central. Forest Bathing

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

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 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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

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

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

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

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

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!

Paypal

Payment Options

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

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

 

“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.

 

Let TAWAMHWE-pull together-be our motto and I pray that we may give our active support to all efforts of desert reclamation by tree planting and I pray that I may be just to the Earth below my feet, to my neighbour by my side and to the light which comes from above and within, and this wonderful world of ours may be a little more beautiful and happy for

 

Petrichor, where have you been?

“I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.”
― e.e. cummings

 

Petrichor in the forest, after the rain, what do you smell?

Dipping and diving into Petrichor Mallard Ducklings

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

Petrichor

i have to write

i have to relate the delight

the rain

have you been there in the rain,

when it is a misty rain, a heavy fog, barely getting wet,

have you been there right after the rain,

the grass slowly melting and dissolving into wet shoes,

the nose awake.  Erigir, erigir, erigir.

Have you become aware

do you know Petrichor

as well as I love Petrichor?

Are you there, fully aware of the totality

of the Pedogenesis which is occuring?

it is so very delightful and enriching,

and one may even say invigorating as well.

have you traveled around and taken the time

perhaps to  compare the dark of the dark gray Chernozemic soil

laying beneath the grasslands with the

rich gray Luvosolic and Brunisolic soils which form

the rich forest floor?  these are perhaps my favourite.

but there is no denying that Regosolic, Gleysolic, and Vertisolic soils

are so unique and ever divergent

Or perhaps, you prefer those Solonetzic soils, where the

remnants of the prairies rich in potash from seas of bygone eras

decorate the landscape in salty white tough crusts.

On the days where i bend down and get my knees wet

in addition to my shoes, i revel in the Organic soils, and

share my time with sedges and mosses that is a time when

time stands still and you realize you are not alone,

its a time of magic when from nowhere

the mushrooms spring up in the depths

between the tree roots.

Humus embiggens, rain enriches.

Oh Petrichor, oh Petrichor, how i miss you in the winter months

And now, Phenology, be blessed, you have returned again!

Oh! over spring, summer, and autumn, and how you vary

and which is best, nay I cannot say

but thank goodness you have returned, you were truly missed

hello again Petrichor, don’t stay away so long.

Oh best beloved reader, do say, what are you connected to?

Do you also know Petrichor?

 

They recognize that while knowledge about nature is vital; passion is the long-distance fuel for the struggle to save what is left of our natural heritage and ~ through an emerging green urbanism ~ to reconstitute lost land and water. Passion does not arrive on videotape or on a CD; passion is personal. Passion is lifted from the earth itself by the muddy hands of the young; it travels along grass-stained sleeves to the heart. If we are going to save environmentalism and the environment, we must also save an endangered indicator species: the child in nature. ^{Louv. 2005. p. 158}

 

“The great biologist E.O. Wilson has said…”the question I am asked most frequently about the diversity of life [is]: if enough species are extinguished, will the ecosystems collapse, and will the extinction of most other species follow soon afterward?  The only answer anyone can give is, possibly.  By the time we find out, however, it might be too late.  One planet, one experiment.”  Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti

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

Bibliography.

James, Sarah and Torbjörn Lahti.  The Natural Step for Communities. How Cities and Towns can change to sustainable practices.  ISBN 0-86571-491-6.  New Society Publishers.  Gabriola Island, B.C. 2004.

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 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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

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

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

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

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

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!

Paypal

Payment Options

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

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

 

“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

 

…”To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ~Terry Tempest Williams

 

Shinrin-yoku Forest Bathing

 

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

Healthy Parks Healthy People Central. Forest Bathing

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

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

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

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

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

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

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

Please help protect / enhance /commemorate 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!

Paypal

Payment Options

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

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

You Tube Video Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube Video Richard St Barbe Baker presented by Paul Hanley

You Tube Video Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale wetlands

You Tube Video Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area – Saskatoon’s best kept secret.

You Tube Video George Genereux Urban Regional Park Hoar Frost

You Tube Video George Genereux Urban Regional Park Saskatoon

You Tube Video George Genereux Urban Regional Park

 

The trees and vegetation, which cover the land surface of the Earth and delight the eye, are performing vital tasks incumbent upon the vegetable world in nature. Its presence is essential to earth as an organism. It is the first condition of all life; it it the ‘skin’ of the earth, for without it there can be no water, and therefore, no life.~Richard St. Barbe Baker

 

It is not a farce.…”To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.” ~Terry Tempest Williams

 

Let TAWAMHWE-pull together-be our motto and I pray that we may give our active support to all efforts of desert reclamation by tree planting and I pray that I may be just to the Earth below my feet, to my neighbour by my side and to the light which comes from above and within, and this wonderful world of ours may be a little more beautiful and happy for my having lived in it.~Richard St. Barbe Baker