Earth Day. April 22. Earth Day, what does it mean to you?
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed
Mahatma Gandhi
Did you know that the City Nature Challenge is 4 days April 29 – May 2 to be inspired for nature – for biodiversity around the world?
A great Nature Watch
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April 29 – May 2
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Planet Earth, the World, is in our HandsWorld Conservation EffortsiNaturalist Observation with smart phone connecting with nature, supporting vital conservation research worldwide.
Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!
“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
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon.Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022Eco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
What will you find, today, April 14, Look Up at the Sky Day? Take a break, and discover a whole new experience! While you are outside have a great time experiencing our Land of Living Skies in Saskatchewan, take some pictures of the geese flying overhead. Download the free iNaturalist app, and share the migratory birds you see with everyone!
Remember, also to look up at the sky between April 29 to May 2 and wonder at the songbirds, and butterflies you may see overhead. What do you think of the population count of these high fliers? This is what the City Nature Challenge will help specialist scientists around the world discover. April 29 is 16 days away, are you ready? Do you know where you are going to explore?
Are butterflies and their morphological changes on cue for the passing of the seasons? Are birds migrating at the same time as last year? Is the range of various species of songbirds shrinking or expanding? Is the number of bird species and butterfly species shrinking or expanding.
Your input to iNaturalist is important! Taking action locally can make a difference for a specialist scientist using iNaturalist to track trends and changes in our biodiversity. Become a citizen scientist helper for specialist scientists the world over.
Species at risk: Mormon Metalmark (Apodemia mormo) butterfly depends on buckwheat host plant. Goldenrod Gall Fly Eurosta solidaginis Conservation Status: imperiled (S2S4) in Saskatchewan, CA (NatureServe)Red-Winged Blackbird. West Swale Wetlands Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK Yellow-headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) habitat is in cattail marshes such as Chappell Marsh in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. The female is not a brightly coloured as this male.
Birds learn how to fly, never knowing where the flight will take them.
Mark Nepo
Celebrate 50 years! Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park were planted to trees in 1972, 50 years ago. Come out and say Happy Birthday!
“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
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022City of Saskatoon environmental leadership at the afforestation area cleanups, arranging Loraas bin, and lending advice for environmental and community safetyEco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
April 13 is a marvellous day! A day to appreciate plants, and what a better time to appreciate plants than when spring comes, and the Prairie Crocus pops up, and the Spring Avens also blesses our meadows and grasslands in Saskatoon and area.
It is now 15 days from the City Nature Challenge, a fantastic 4 day International Bio Blitz to take action for global biodiversity between April 29 to May 2. Today, download the iNaturalist app, and wander outside locally and take some glorious pictures of plants as you are celebrating the outdoors. By sharing them on the free iNaturalist app, the world will know the beauty you have found in our area of the universe.
No other life is as pure as the plants. It is no wonder we cannot understand them.
Robert Black
City Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challengeYellow Sunflower Moth
Stiria rugifrons on top of Curlycup Gumweed Grindelia squarrosaRed-blue Checkered Beetle Trichodes nuttalli on a Missouri Goldenrod
Solidago missouriensis at the afforestation areaImage taken by Shweetha Gopinath, eco-photographerCaragana Flower Blooom FRichard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA
The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.
“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
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon environmental leadership at the afforestation area cleanups, arranging Loraas bin, and lending advice for environmental and community safetySaskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022Eco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
National Big Wind Day is observed each year on April 12. The speediest natural wind speed was recorded by Mount Washington Observatory on April 12, 1934. The winds were blowing at 3735 km per hour (231 miles per hour)!
While talking about wind, do you know about susurration? Susurration is the absolutely beautiful sound of leaves in the wind. Many people have listened to the sound of our Trembling Aspens across the prairies. Poplars which are also native trees have their own distinct song.
Thomas Hardy wrote in his book “Under the Greenwood Tree” about the various sounds made by each individual type of tree.
To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall.
During the City Nature Challenge between April 29 to May 2, come out to the afforestation areas, and hear the Trembling Aspen. Be one of the people to support and listen to the Green Ash and American Elm now on the The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN)Red List of Threatened Species. Find out how the Spruce and Pine sing in the wind. Discover the sound of the tall Poplars, the tallest deciduous trees of the afforestation areas. It is truly a magical experience. Just download the free iNaturalist app, find it, snap it, share it.
The trees would love to meet you. Come to a group meet up at the afforestation areas during the City Nature Challenge.
Fraxinus_pennsylvanica Green Ash Opposite leaves which are pinnately compound with 7 to 9 serrate leaflets that are elliptical to lanceolate to elliptical in shape, entire leaf is 6 to 9 inches long, green on the top of the leaflets and silky smooth to silky-pubescent and paler below. Margins of the leaflets are either smooth or coarsely saw-toothed. Each leaflet has a short stalk or may be sessile and the leaf has a much longer stem. The little leaflets at the base are the teensiest of the leafletsElm LeavesTrembling Aspen Leaf with dew drops, Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CALinden Tree Linnaeus familyCaragana arborescens, the Siberian peashrub, Siberian pea-tree, or caragana
“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
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon.Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022Eco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
The Journal of Orthoptera Research published an article recently: Discovering insect species based on photographs only: The case of a nameless species of the genus Scaria (Orthoptera: Tetrigidae) submitted by University of Croatia students and their professor including Niko Kasalo, Maks Deranja, Karmela Adžić, Roberto Sindaco, Josip Skejo. They were looking at iNaturalist photos, and discovered a very beautiful observation of a pygmy grasshopper (family Tetrigidae) posted near Yambrasbamba a district of Bongará Province in Peru. Where the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) does allow naming from photographs should there be sufficient reason to persude this course, in this case, the pygmy grasshopper remains as “Nameless Scaria” because it is a symbol of all those species worldwide that have not been named and discovered, and perhaps have gone extinct without even being known. By publishing this article on this new species not only delved into the problem and the usual modus operandi, but also enabled inspiration into further research. In the same area, a search was made for the genus Scaria, and three new species were found, albeit not another matching “Nameless Scaria.”
The find went viral in the scientific community. Robert Sindaco, a naturalist has interests in biogeography, and sytematics of the Palearctic reptiles and lizards of Eastern Africa has published scientific papers as a specialist scientist. It was Sindaco or @sindic who uploaded this Peruvian observation to iNaturalist.
From iNaturalist came a great discussion, and interest in the genus Scaria, and attention for the students and their professor out of the University of Croatia.
The City Nature Challenge happens April 29 to May 2 in Saskatoon. What will you discover? Download the free iNaturalist app, find a wild organism of nature, find it, snap it, share it. It is easy to take part.
There are a couple of entomology or insect discussions coming up virtually
“Nameless Scaria” Observer Roberto Sindaco iNaturalist Curator. Family Tetrigidae Pygmy Grasshopper. Citizen Science discovery and naming in Journal of Orthoptera Research
My dear young fellow,’ the Old-Green-Grasshopper said gently, ‘there are a whole lot of things in this world of ours you haven’t started wondering about yet.
“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
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon.Saskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022Eco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CA
Today is a fun day – it is “Name Yourself Day!” Doesn’t that sound like a great spot of fun as you introduce your name to friends and families!
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.
William Shakespeare
Finding out the name of things is very rewarding. “What is it?” YouTube Video delves into how to find out the name of all the various organisms of nature around you by using iNaturalist.
Enjoy the outdoors whilst supporting vital conservation research by making observations April 29 to May 2 on the iNaturalist app during the City Nature Challenge
BE THE REASON NATURE BELIEVES IN HUMANITY
Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.
Henry David Thoreau
LichenCity Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challengeCity Nature Challenge CNCYXE Saskatoon area versus YQRCNC Regina and area in a mini SK challengeYellow Sunflower Moth
Stiria rugifrons on top of Curlycup Gumweed Grindelia squarrosa Regina YQRCNC vs Saskatoon CNCYXE SK mini Challenge for the City Nature Challenge
“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
SaskEnergy sponsor and supporterSaskPower_PoweringOurFuture_City of Saskatoon environmental leadership at the afforestation area cleanups, arranging Loraas bin, and lending advice for environmental and community safetyEco-Friendly Sask. CA Sponsor Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Clean Up 2016 Saskatoon, SK CASaskatoon and Area City Nature Challenge April 29-May 2, 2022
Richard St. Barbe Baker Global Conservationist and Humanitarian
International Online Premiere Saturday, November 6, 2021
1:00 CST (UTC-6), 12 noon PT, 3:00 pm ET
A 326-acre afforestation area, planted as a man-made forest on the prairies, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada was named after Richard St Barbe Baker, aka Man of the Trees. Celebrate this Jubilee celebration 50 years after he received his honorary doctorate at the University of Saskatchewan.
The Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas have commissioned a documentary about this remarkable man with historical footage, arguably the first global conservationist, and his legacy here in our city. It is based on interviews with several people who knew St Barbe Baker.
The program, will also have greetings from conservationists from Australia, Switzerland, Scotland, Britain and the USA who were inspired by St Barbe and who became conservation leaders in their own right.
The program begins with greetings from civic officials and concludes with a live panel. The total program will be about 1 hour.
Legacy of Saskatoon’s Secret Forest is almost here!
Announcing Legacy of Saskatoon’s Secret Forest a 50th anniversary celebration for 2021!
We’re so excited to share the good news with you:Legacy of Saskatoon’s Secret Forest will be debuting to Saskatoon virtually on Saturday November 6, 2021. Our fabulous lineup of speakers include Paul Hanley, Alan Watson-Featherstone, Vance Martin, Scott Poynton, Robert White and a few surprise guests you won’t want to miss! Join us as we mastermind the legacy of global Conservationist Richard St. Barbe Baker and the future of environmental protection and tree planting in 2021 and beyond.
Put your name on the eventbrite waitlist now to get in our exclusive early-bird group and be the first to get tickets!
We can’t wait to see you at this exciting event!
“We live less than five minutes without air and the trees give us air we breath. We live less than five days without water, and trees are absolutely essential in the water cycle”, says Richard St. Barbe Baker, “We live less than five weeks without food, and without the trees we could not grow food.”
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
As John May says, Robert Lamb [February 7, 1949 – September 12, 2005] was a “conservationist with a warning for the world about deforestation.[8*]” Lamb as editor of Earth Report also contributed to the periodical “Tree News” and “The Generalist”. Robert Lamb worked indefatigably as a tree campaigner, and conservationist and was employed as a government scientific officer in the fields of tropical agronomy, entomology, and integrated management in Gambia, Ghana, Niger, Yemen, and Nigeria.
Robert Lamb wrote a biographical tribute on the 80th birthday of Richard St. Barbe Baker. Whereas, St. Barbe Baker is known for the books he published, as well as his role in establishing the International Tree Foundation [formerly Man of the Trees]. However, Robert Lamb remembered that St. Barbe also helped to initiate the Soil Association and the Forestry Association of Great Britain. Robert Lamb chose his vocation as a forester from hearing the passionate speeches of St. Barbe Baker. The ripple effect that St. Barbe Baker had on the planet resulted in a global awareness of the importance of trees and forests to the survival of our planet.
“His life [Richard St. Barbe Baker’s] proved that it is not enough just to know trees or understand the science of coexisting with them. If we wish to deserve to protect them, we must also love them.” Robert Lamb.
Robert Lamb went on to write the book, “World without trees” Dutch Elm disease and other human errors. Introduction by Anthony Huxley. Publisher: Wildwood House Ltd; First Edition edition (May 17, 1979) ISBN-10: 0704502577 ISBN-13: 978-0704502574, ” Drawing the Line: Earth Report 10″,“Careers in environmental conservation” revised by Robert Lamb. (ISBN)0749415673 (OCoLC)34851079 and“Promising the Earth”Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (October 11, 1996) ISBN-10: 0415144434 ISBN-13: 978-0415144438. LAmb followed these publications with a documentary,“Mpino, the Tree that Makes Music” (1992) Other notable documentaries followed;“Fate of the Forest” [1996], “Paper Tiger”and“Blood Timber”. Robert Lamb compiled an extensive filmography of over 220 documentaries. Lamb worked with the World Forest Action [WFA], and Friends of the Earth [FoE]
Forest Film Documentaries
In the book “World without trees” Dutch Elm disease and other human errors, Lamb calls attention to the international crisis of worldwide deforestation, and Dutch Elm Disease. The Elm, “as well as being a dominant tree in many rural areas, the elm was also an important urban tree, and once constituted a significant proportion of the tree population in many towns and cities…The Dutch elm disease crisis had a profound impact on how the British public viewed not only their trees, but the wider natural environment. The idea that such a well-loved tree could just disappear from our rural and urban landscapes was difficult for many people to grasp.”
What brought about the mishap of the arboreal disaster, the fungal disease known as Dutch Elm disease? “the major causes being the virulence of the mutant strain of the causal fungus from Canada, its wide specificity [an entire genus], its largely clonal mode of regeneration, and lastly the failure of much-acclaimed phytosanitary measures at the ports. Re-installation of this beautiful and useful genus, pheromones having disappointed, may, one can hope, depend on a viral success comparable to that of Baculovirus oryctes on the coconut beetle[1]” So was the Dutch Elm disease epidemic caused by the “careless trafficking of timber traders?[1]”
Forest Film Documentaries
“Promising the Earth” relates the epic struggles of the Friends of the Earth environmental group, and the unfolding story of green campaigns. Working for the Friends of the Earth has been described as “It’s not another job in another organisation; it’s a cause, and it takes people over, body, mind and soul.[3]**”
“These are times that try men’s souls. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly. Let it be told to the future that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and repulse it.” ~Tom Paine
Robert Lamb was a voice for the environment, and spoke up on behalf of forests globally. With creative vision, publishing numerous books, and documentaries, Robert Lamb made a difference networking the devastating effects of deforestation and increasing environmental consciousness internationally.
8*. May, John. Robert Lamb The Guardian. Oct. 14, 2005. [
John May, a freelance journalist, and editor of “The Generalist” brings forward news and developments as they affect the environment, science, culture and politics.
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
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!
“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
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 