Arbor Week, a time to recognize the importance and values of trees. Public awareness of our native indigenous trees is of great import during this week, as is taking the time to take action on climate change and plant a few trees.
An amazing way to identify trees is via LeafSnap or through iNaturalist. These are two great “pocket guides” on your smart phone to use in the field. As you walkabout Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or George Genereux Urban Regional Park, take a picture with your smart phone using one of these two apps, and the app will bring forward suggestions just for you. As a matter of fact, there is a great Eco-Quest being undertaken right now, a great arbor week activity which can be undertaken while social distancing.
Please comment on the Green Vision for the afforestation areas.
“The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what’s in between, and they took great pleasure in doing just that.”
― Norton Juster
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.
The Trembling Aspen is also referred to as the Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) May 25, 2019
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
Please help protect / enhance /commemorate your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers)
What are a few of the benefits of afforestation areas?
Hoar frost at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
American Red Squirrel Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Puppies. Puppy Day March 23.
Rabbit
Trees provide semi-wilderness wildlife habitats. The very nature of the afforestation area helps wildlife and ecosystems to thrive and flourish. The mix of native and exotic trees provide animal homes and sanctuaries as well as food sources.
The afforestation areas play a huge role in mitigating the greenhouse effect. Forests are carbon sinks, as they absorb Carbon Dioxide from the air, and replenish life giving oxygen.
Afforestation areas create a healthy environment in an urban environment. City people can reconnect with nature and the outdoors, themselves becoming healthier and happier. The entire city society benefits from this nature interconnectivity. Richard St. Barbe Baker spoke of spiritual renewal. Urban city folks such as the Fatlanders Fat Tire Brigade can bicycle or off leash dog walkers can meander on trails enjoying recreational, tourism and educational activities. Saskatoon Nature Society members ring birds and monitor bird counts, citizen scientists contribute to e-bird and i-naturalist. Photographers capture the natural beauty and esthetics of the area.
“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 nations 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.
Afforestation areas do protect land from soil erosion and flooding. The Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and the George Genereux Urban Regional Park are two of three afforestation areas in Saskatoon. These two are located on the south west peri-urban area of the city and are in the West Swale locale. The West Swale is subject to flooding and holding permanent and temporary wetlands as the Swale is a “low lying” area created from a major Pleistocene floodway channel. The West Swale is a striking geomorphological feature as it provides the historical evolution of the enormous events which happened during the culminating era of proglacial lakes and spillways which formed in central Saskatchewan. A truly remarkable period in geological history.
Forests provide crucial services for human well-being and economic development. They provide food, freshwater and fuel, support soil formation, regulate floods, climate and diseases, and can fill educational, medicinal, aesthetic and spiritual needs. They stabilize ecosystems, play an integral part in the carbon cycle, support livelihoods, and supply other goods and services that drive sustainable growth. Yet, forests are under stress from overexploitation, pollution, population pressure and the expansion and intensification of agricultural practices. With the additional impacts of climate change, forests are further threatened, and these adverse events may further impact land quality – leading to biodiversity loss, food insecurity, increased pests, reduced availability of clean water and increased vulnerability to environmental changes.” Luc Bas, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) European Regional Office Director.
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
Natural Resources Canada has developed a Tree App just for you!
The My Tree app is a free download developed by the Canadian Forest Service, which will help you, as a property owner, to decide which trees will grow best in your region of Canada. “The My Tree app now includes more than 180 native and introduced tree species and their colour-coded hardiness zones.”
Snowfall Saturday September 22 2018 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK, CA
Fresh Snow in the Sun
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Forest
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Are you able to also take the Watu wa Miti, or “Men of the Trees” oath? These forest guides, or forest scouts promised that they would protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere. It is recognized that Women are at the heart of the Men of the Trees, and Richard St. Barbe Baker “found friendship and guidance from some key female collaborators and colleagues… The International Tree Foundation empowers women to be bold for change.”
Native trees for the prairies include the following (as well as numerous shrubs and bushes):
“Of the earth’s thirty billion acres, already nine billion acres are desert. And if a man loses a third of his skin, he dies; plastic surgeons say “He’s had it.” And if a tree loses one-third of its bark, it dies. And if the earth loses one-third of its green mantle of trees, it will die. The water table will sink beyond recall and life on this planet will become impossible. It’s being skinned alive today. . .” Richard St. Barbe Baker
It is wonderful when the municipal or city government plants 1/3 of its acres to trees, it is remarkable when a provincial government department steps up to the plate and commits to planting trees around its province, and it is phenomenal when the country takes a stand to afforest their nation. Did you know Ontario has committed to planting 50 million trees in a densely populated province? “Environment Canada recommends that a minimum of 30% forest cover and 10% forest interior habitat is needed to sustain the natural diversity of both plants and animals in a watershed, and that 75% of a stream length be naturally vegetated a minimum of 30 metres wide on both sides for these ecological features to perform their function.”Source “In addition to enhancing the aesthetics of a property, the presence of trees and bushes provide a variety of benefits. For example, they clean the air and produce oxygen, they help stabilize the soil and prevent erosion, and they provide habitat and food for wildlife. “Environment, Energy and Transportation Statistics Division
That being said, what are you doing individually? Have you planted 1/3 of your property to trees? Have you requested that your landlord sets 1/3 of your condominium or apartment property as trees? If not, why not?
Honour the International Tree Foundation’s forest scouts called Watu wa Miti, or Men of the Trees, and tale action. This autumn, it is not too late to plant trees. The ground is not frozen! According to Trees Canada, “Deciduous trees can be planted … in the fall, from leaf-fall until freeze-up. Evergreens can be planted.. in the fall, from about the first week of August to the end of October”. “The fact is that for many plants fall it is actually THE BEST time to plant! It’s also a great time to get deals on perennials, trees, and shrubs too!”Source
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!
“Clearly, human pressure is exerting a sudden and cataclysmic impact on much of this province, if viewed in the time-frame of evolution and geology to which the rhythms of ecosystems are tuned. The groundswell of environmental concern taking shape among us, its citizens, results in public pressure for new and stronger strictures on human exploitation and desecration…Such action is needed as the embodiment of an ethical responsibility to the land and living things, for our own well-being as well as for that of all other species.” Theberge, 1989. P.376
“To be in a better position to help them I studied their language [Kenya’s Kikuyu people], their folklore and tribal customs, and was initiated into their secret society, an ancient institution which safeguarded the history of the past which was handed down by word of mouth through its members.
Soon I came to understand and love these people and wanted to be of service to them. They called me “Bwana M‘Kubwa,” meaning “Big Master,” but I said, “I am your M‘tumwe” (slave).” Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 