Our humanity is inseparable from our historical moment. Ultimately our complicated existence is tied to our connection with and toward all things living.
There’s still wonder in the world. Respect for life is reinforced. Love all things associated with the large borderless online digital community of similar peoples engaged in learning and sharing knowledge and their appreciation for nature in its broadest sense—a beautifully desperate gesture, a raging hope as we course through the latest (and sixth) mass planetary extinction. And still we are awed.
We have gradually widened the circle of interest and complexity in our pursuit of this endeavor so as to grow experiential knowledge. There is and always will be much more to learn about the circle of life. We’re but one link.
What’s the name and basic range of all these life forms? It’s a compelling quest.
We are all citizens of the world living on the only planet we have. Therefore I am a citizen naturalist and amateur photographer.
Those fortunate enough to practice photography know that it is the sum of our experience. Photography is both art and science. It is faith and aesthetics; discipline and intuition. I’ve always been a shutterbug. But my work has grown; it has evolved. It is tied to the era of the digital revolution like iNaturalist.
May there always be another day to share the word and images that accompany it. It is our collective report on the planet’s life. May we share it with those we love and those we have yet to meet, kindred spirits we may yet call friends. Life is fleeting but intense. New generations await their turn at changing course.
May we always remember our place en el árbol de la vida. All life on our planet shares the same cosmic fate of the universe. We are one or none at all.
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
“But what neither Yeats nor Einstein could envisage as they stared into their personal crystal balls for intimations of the future is that a biological breakdown of the entire planet was possible; that was beyond even their imaginations. When contemplating the future, they thought in social and economic terms and of the possibilities of nuclear war, but fundamental changes to the planet’s biomass or the biochemistry of the atmosphere just wasn’t on their radar.~Clive Doucet.
“In the 21st century, you don’t need to be a great physicist, poet or novelist to anticipate a different and more profound danger to humanity in your personal crystal ball; being a city councillor will suffice.”~Clive Doucet.
What do afforestation areas provide in an era of climate change?
Snowfall Saturday September 22 2018 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK, CA
Branta canadensis Canada Goose
Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE, Hon. LL.D. F.I.A.L., For.Dip.Cantab., ACF (9 October 1889 – 9 June 1982)
How does one explain extinction? “Like a child descending a playground slide, a point is passed in the descent when the acceleration becomes so swift that the final transformative moments occur with unstoppable finality. In the case of the biosphere, the final transformation is more likely to be exactly this kind of sudden transition, not a predictable, gentle last step down a biological staircase. ..there would be no final warning at all; that it would happen from one season to the next and by definition in a way that no one expected.”~Clive Doucet.
People are generally aware of the build up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and climate change. Similarly, folks are aware of the ozone layer thinning, allowing heat to escape. “During the day, the temperature on the earth’s surface rockets up and then at night diminishes very quickly; these sharp temperature differentials cause hurricanes and form new deserts because fewer plants can survive to conserve water and create the transpiration cycle that the atmosphere needs to continue a balanced, regenerative behavior.”~Clive Doucet.
“In Europe right now, it takes years for the vegetation to recover from a severe summer heat wave and drought. The year following a heat wave has less plants, less transpiration, less cooling oxygen, less reduction of carbon dioxide.”~Clive Doucet.
“Planting and growing increasing quantities of trees is the scientific solution to Earth’s environmental dilemma.” –Richard St. Barbe-Baker
What do George Genereux Urban Regional park, and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area provide to you?
These two afforestation areas are not park spaces with money allocated for their upkeep, maintenance or forest management. George Genereux Urban Regional park, and the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area are not municipal reserves or naturalized area reserves. These two afforestation areas belong to land bank, the city department in charge of buying and selling land.
The responsibility is not shouldered by our governments alone, nor solely by our city councillors. Democracy is a word which comes from two Greek words; dēmos “common people,” and kratos “rule, strength.”
So, our government, our city councillors depend on the voice of the common people. As a matter of fact, Saskatoon started an initiative called Saskatoon Speaks. Email your city and your mayor and your councillor. Ask questions, learn, and get answers. Your mayor and your city councillor are hired with your tax dollars, they work for you. You are the employer, speak up.
The Saskatchewan provincial motto is Multis e gentibus vires: from many peoples, strength.
“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
Bibliography
Doucet, Clive. Urban Meltdown Cities, Climate Change and Politics as Usual. ISBN 1-800-567-6772. New Society Publishing. Gabriola Island, B.C. 2007.
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!
“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.
“…there is nothing more sacred than the pact between humans and the land that gives them their food. Janine Benyus.” (Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti)
“journeys of … eco-municipalities towards sustainability also teach that there are no package solutions toward this goal. Each community and each actor within that community must find the particular path that fits that local terrain and situation.”Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti
Rime Ice at George Genereux Urban Regional Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. NE 21-36-6 W 3 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063 NE 21-36-6
Snowfall Saturday September 22 2018 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, SK, CA
Fresh Snow in the Sun
Fresh Snow Reveals a Nest in the Bare Branches
“[We] do not really know what we are losing when we lose species. Some ecologists have likened the loss of biodiversity to an airplane flight during which we continually pull out rivets as the plane cruises along. How many rivets can we pull out before disaster occurs?” Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti
One of the signposts along the path include a guiding local vision. Saskatoon has undertaken its vision or journey of growth to half a million people with the YXEGreenStrategy, and Saskatoon’s Strategic Growth Plan which includes seven strategic goals.
“Eco-municipalities have educated thousands of their employees about unsustainable environmental and social trends and the reasons why new local practices are essential for helping to change these trends. These municipalities have engaged community citizens – sometimes, entire villages – in planning and revitalization initiatives toward sustainability. These community initiatives have found locally suited ways to reduce use of fossil fuels, metals and minerals, chemicals, encroachment upon nature, and to meet human and community needs fairly and efficiently.”Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti
“What you people call your natural resources, our people call our relatives” ~ Orien Lyons, faith keeper of the Onondaga.
“Many of us are aware that having open space, woodlands, babbling brooks, and singing birds nearby contributes to our quality of life. What we often forget, though, is that these aspects of nature are also our life-support system. Without enough oxygen to breathe, without enough green plants to support our food system, without enough potable water, there would be no us.” Sarah James and Torbjörn Lahti
“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
Please read the following long range planning reports and how they relate to the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and the George Genereux Urban Regional Park.
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.
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!
“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
“Man has lost his way in the jungle of chemistry and engineering and will have to retrace his steps, however painful this may be. He will have to discover where he went wrong and make his peace with nature. In so doing, perhaps he may be able to recapture the rhythm of life and the love of the simple things of life, which will be an ever-unfolding joy to him.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Some may have to suffer mental or physical pain before they are able to accept the teaching they are in most need of. I have noticed that this applies to vegetarianism. When people have made themselves very sick living on unnatural foods and maybe have spent fortunes on specialists and submitted themselves to serious surgical operations and in the end have given up and told there is no hope of recover, then and only then, as a last resort, you will find people experimenting with the vegetarian way of life.”~My Health – My Wealth Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
“It seems difficult for people to accept the fact that it is quite unnecessary to kill for food. Yet beef and mutton have been so long regarded as providing the perfect protein on the grounds that it is claimed that they contain all the amino acids that the body requires for health. But surely one of the values of any food lies in its power to neutralize the acid waste left in the system by other foods. Meat is not only acid-forming, but it is deficient in calcium, iron, sodium and Vitamins C and D. The small quantities of Vitamins A and D found it it are usually destroyed by cooking. “~My Health – My Wealth Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Shepherdia argentea, commonly called silver buffaloberry bull berry, or thorny buffaloberry. CC-BY-SA-3.0 credit Julia Adamson
Persons on strictly vegetarian diets have been remarkable for longevity. “~My Health – My Wealth Richard St. Barbe Baker.
“We cannot remove tree cover without running the risk of losing the blessing of the water cycle. We cannot denude the earth’s surface without creating the desiccation of sand the dust dunes. We cannot permit animals to devour whatever little is left of green growth. Excessive grazing of cattle, sheep and goats is as damaging to the land as a wholesale felling of trees…” from Desert Challenge Richard St. Barbe Baker.
Caragana Flower Bloom (edible) Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA
“They’re teaching about The Pyramid of Life in the schools today. There is the ground producing all the soil bacteria, which is in the top few inches. That grows the grass, and a a lamb comes along and eats ten pounds of grass, and that makes one lamb, and then a tiger comes along and eats ten pounds of lamb, and that makes one pound of tiger. We have too many tigers. The Pyramid of Life is upset, and one of the things we must do is to turn from an animal economy to a silvan economy. We’ve got to have tree crops, instead of wasting all this land for raising beef and bringing money to the beef barons, who are proud to call themselves beef barons. It takes eighteen times more land to feed people on beef than it does on nuts and fruit. Eighteen times more land. When half the human family today are dying from starvation. I don’t feel justified in making these demands on the earth. I, myself have been a lifelong vegetarian. ” Richard St. Barbe Baker. State of the Forests. Probe Post Canada’s Environmental Magazine, October 1982. Richard Beharriell interview with Richard St. Barbe Baker in 1980.
Caragana arborescens, the Siberian peashrub, Siberian pea-tree, or caragana
Caragana arborescens, the Siberian peashrub, Siberian pea-tree, or caragana blossom
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 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
‘I will have nothing to do with this destruction of life, I will play no part in this devastation of the land, I am determined to live and …today it is the duty of every thinking being to live, and to serve not only his own day and generation, but also generations unborn by helping to restore and maintain the green glory of the forests of the earth. Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker
“We believe in the development of a fuller understanding of the true relationship between all forms of life, in an endeavour to achieve a natural balance between minerals, animals and mankind” Segment from the New Earth Charter, Men of the Trees
Rabbit
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
Blue heron
“Earth is richer for Richard St. Barbe Baker. He knew from his youth that the Earth was a sentient living being and that we humans are an integral part of nature. He is truly a steward of the planet, accepting the task that God gave Adam of tending the creatures He had made. His passion for trees has led him to give his dynamic energy to awakening mankind to the folly of exploiting the tree cover of the earth for gain, without replacing the loss. St. Barbe Baker has probably done more than any man alive to awaken a love of trees.”~Sir George Trevelyan, Bt. M.A.
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 believe in the Oneness of Mankind and all living things and the interdependence of each and all.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
Nature is man’s teacher.
She unfolds her treasure to his search,
unseals his eye, illumes his mind,
and purifies his heart;
an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds
of her existence. Alfred Billings Street
Nature is man’s teacher.
She unfolds her treasure to his search,
unseals his eye, illumes his mind,
and purifies his heart;
an influence breathes from all the sights and sounds
of her existence. Alfred Billings Street
‘I will have nothing to do with this destruction of life, I will play no part in this devastation of the land, I am determined to live and …today it is the duty of every thinking being to live, and to serve not only his own day and generation, but also generations unborn by helping to restore and maintain the green glory of the forests of the earth. Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker
Submit your forestry event to the calendar, and download the free poster! Celebrate the passion you have to save your forests.
What happens Wednesday September 27, 2017?
“The weight of our civilization has become so great, it now ranks as a global force and a significant wild card in the human future along with the Ice Ages and other vicissitudes of a volatile and changeable planetary system”- Dianne Dumanoski
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 SW 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 /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!
“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
“We forget that we owe our existence to the presence of Trees. As far as forest cover goes, we have never been in such a vulnerable position as we are today. The only answer is to plant more Trees – to Plant Trees for Our Lives.” ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Act. Don’t react. See a need, fix it first. Worry about the details later. If you wait until you are asked you have just missed a golden opportunity. They are fleeting and rare.” Philip Wollen founder of Winsome Kindness Trust
A transformational model that will help individuals, institutions, and communities make an eleven-billion world work for everyone—and the planet.
Ideas Transform the World.
Planet Earth, the World, is in our Hands
Ideas Matter.
Eleven Billion facebook and the book “Eleven” are written by Paul Hanley, winner of the Canadian Environment award and the University of Saskatchewan President’s Award for Non-Fiction 2015, via Saskatchewan Book Awards, for Eleven. Hanley has definitely compiled a timely book which faces the paradigm facing all of us individually as the global population reaches 11 billion by the end of this century.
Hanley reclaims the future, sows seeds for a new culture, and provides a model for positive change. What do greenhouse gases, climate change, health, 21st century culture, agriculture, environment conservation and protection have in common? “We are going to change so completely that future civilization will be barely recognizable. We are going to change because, faced with extinction, ‘our better angels’ will prevail.”P3. Eleven
One of the many, diverse stories in Eleven is about Sawadogo, The Man Who Stopped the Desert. This farmer, without any training at all, began pioneering farming techniques for agriculture, increasing farm productivity. Amazingly Sawadogo also created 20 hectares of forest…in a desert. These innovative techniques of “restoring vegetation has been shown to create climatic feedback loops that increase rainfall.” p.162 Eleven. Think of that ~ a desert with rain!!!
These concepts were also seen by Richard St. Barbe Baker. After completing his silviculture course in forestry at Cambridge University, St. Barbe was posted to Kenya, Africa. While there, he witnessed the devastation which agricultural methods were creating on the land. It was here that the first forest scouts “Watu Wa Miti” {Men of the Trees} were assembled and encouraged to make a solemn promise to do one good deed each day, plant ten trees, seedlings or seeds each year, and take care of Trees everywhere.”*
Just as Sawadogo recognized the effects of erosion, St. Barbe, also only turned around farming practices in Kenya with the Watu Wa Miti initiating the International Trees Foundation (formerly Men of the Trees) St Barbe says; “The great Empires of Assyria, Babylon, Carthage and Persia were destroyed by floods and deserts let loose in the wake of forest destruction. Erosion following forest destruction and soil depletion has been one of the most powerfully destructive forces in bringing about the downfall of civilizations and wiping out human existence from large tracts of the earth’s surface. Erosion does not march with a blast of trumpets or the beating of drums, but its tactics are more subtle, more sinister.”
St Barbe Baker wrote in Green Glory: The Forests of the World that “We advocate that all standing armies everywhere be used for the work of essential reafforestation . .. in the countries to which they belong, and that each country . . . shall provide expeditionary forces to cooperate in the greater tasks of land reclamation in the Sahara and other deserts.”
Hanley explains that “deforestation and forest degradation, through agricultural expansion, conversion to pastureland, infrastructure development, destructive logging, and fires accounts for nearly 20 percent of global [Greenhouse Gas] GHG emissions, second only to the energy sector, and more than the entire global transportation sector.” p. 168 Eleven.
However, just as St. Barbe and Sawadogo saw and recognized poor agricultural practices and put into practice innovative techniques to reclaim the environment, and bringing hope to people and communities, so too, does Hanley offer a way for us to wake up with innovative ideas. Paul Hanley knew Richard St. Barbe Baker personally. Hanley suggests, that, “This awakening world would necessarily lead to an ethical revolution that will help emerging generations build a new social-ecological order on a sustainable foundation.” P. 337 Eleven. How can we wake up, how can we change the world? Hanley offers hope, but not only hope, Hanley offers a well-researched model for progress, a methodology for all of us to get started to change the world outlined in his book Eleven.
Yann Martel, author of Life of Pi says “Every concerned citizen of this planet needs to read this book.” However, it may be best to go one step further, and say everybody, every citizen will gain insight and incredible opportunities to transform the world by reading Eleven. Hanley, environmental columnist for the Saskatoon Star Phoenix since 1989 has delved into global and environmental concerns, and in Eleven, Hanley provides more than hope. Eleven is an innovative solution and recipe for an enlightened social-ecological system for personal, local and global worldviews to survive. Not only to survive, but to live sustainably and well.
“You may ask, ‘…Why do I have to be at all concerned with those circumstances that have existed before I was born, and will most certainly continue to exist after I have taken myself out of this rather soiled and seedy world and have moved to other areas of consciousness?’
The only answer that can be given to such a question is that the world is a mirror and the more one polishes and cleans the mirror, the better one can see one’s reflection. …Does it not stand to reason that the elements that are used in this magnificent venture need to be kept in tip-top condition?” ~Emmanuel
“Trees worked for millions of years to make it possible for man to come on this planet. Yet man, who owns his presence on this Earth to trees, has been cutting, burning, greedily and recklessly. He has turned the forest into desert, until today we are faced not only with a timber famine, but with a food famine.” ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Business, Technology, 21st Century Culture, Planet Earth
Let us turn back the clock…to the great wars, World War I and World War II. Outside of combat, war efforts had other ecological impacts. “Twentieth Century technology made forest destruction much easier than in Caesar’s (or William Tecumseh Sherman’s day)… European wheat demand in World War I led to the plowing up of about 6 million hectares of grasslands on the American High plains and in Canada’s prairie provinces. This helped prepare the way for the dust bowl of the 1930s. The British war effort in World War II consumed about half of Britain’s forests. McNeill.” How have we corrected and ameliorated these environmental changes and damages? What can we possibly do now? Hanley has an answer for ecological, environmental and agriculture futures in Eleven.
“The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”~ James Allen
Is it true what Vaclav Havel says that “Modern man must descend the spiral of his own absurdity to the lowest point; only then can he look beyond it. It is obviously impossible to get around it, jump over it, or simply avoid it.” Or is it more probable as Rene Daumal says, “You cannot stay on the summit forever; you have to come down again. So why bother in the first place ? Just this: What is above knows what is below, but what is below does not know what is above. One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art of conducting oneself in the lower regions by the memory of what one saw higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” A glimpse into Eleven will surely allow everyone to know. To know a healthier world, a “united, just and sustainable civilization that encompasses everyone, including our extended human body ecosphere. P.372 Eleven.”
“ELEVEN is a call to consciousness. Only an ‘ethical revolution’ will allow us to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. Paul Hanley proposes a transformational model that will help individuals, institutions, and communities make an eleven-billion world work for everyone—and the planet.” *
Emmanuel’s Book. A Manual for living comfortably in the cosmos. Compiled by Pat Rodegast and Judith Stanton. ISBN 0-553-34387-4. Bantam Books. New York. 1987.
Hanley, Paul. Eleven “eleven billion people will share this planet by century’s end. Adding 4 billion to an already overburdened world will force everyone to change everything.” Friesen Press. Victoria BC. ISBN 978-1-4602-5045-7 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4602-5046-4 (Paperback) ISBN 978-1-462-5047-1 (ebook). 2014.
MacNeil,J.R. Ideas Matter: A Political History of the Twentieth Century Environment. “The grand social, and ideological systems that people construct for themselves invariably carry large consequences, for the environment no less than for more strictly human affairs. Among the swirl of ideas, policies and political structures of the twentieth century, the most ecologically influential were the growth imperative and the (not related) security anxiety that dominated policy around the world…By 1970, however something new was afoot.” From Current History November 2000, PP 371-382. originally excerpted from “An Environmental HIstory of the Twentieth Century World” New York. Norton 2000) by Current History Inc. reprinted with permission: Environment 2002/2003. Annual Editions. 21st Edition. Editor John L. Allen. McGraw-Hill Dushkin. ISBN 0-07-250682-2.
Van, Leon C. Le. Poems from Swedenborg Swedenborg Foundation Inc. New York. ISBN 0-87785-134-4. 1987.
Wildlife Montage. Red Winged Blackbird, White Tailed Deer Fawn, Garter Snake, JackRabbit, Mallard Ducklings, Black Crowned Night Heron
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)
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!
“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
“We feel that our greatest victory remains to be won when man will realize his oneness with the trees, the creatures and with all living things, not ours to destroy, but to be handed on for the enjoyment of future generations.” – Richard St. Barbe Baker
Spring Trees Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
The angels,
Who are principled
In the science
Of all knowledges,
And that in such a manner
That scarce a thousandth part
Can be unfolded
To man’s apprehension,
Yet esteem knowledges
As nothing
In comparison to use.~Swedenborg
From water and earth we came, and the future of mankind on this planet will be determined by respectful or disrespectful treatment of these basic elements. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in the fog
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK, CA
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, West Swale Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
The present is full of opportunity. Never before in the history of the planet has mankind been given the privileges and opportunities that are at his disposal today. A great light has been raised and is penetrating the darkness of the world, but alas, too many with dust blinded eyes have yet to catch the vision. Some of us have. That is our privilege and our responsibility. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
What is an afforestation area? Afforestation is the planting of trees upon land which have not contained trees previously.
Reforestation, on the other hand, is the reforestation of an existing forest which has been depleted usually because of deforestation.
Deforestation is the removal of a forest to make use of the land as farms, ranches, or neighbourhoods.
So in the case of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and the Afforestation Area Formerly known as George Genereux Park, the lands were part of the aspen parkland biome. Aspen parklandrefers to a very large area of transitional biome between prairie and boreal forest. Aspen parkland consists of groves of aspen poplars and spruce interspersed with areas of prairie grasslands, also intersected by large stream and river valleys lined with aspen-spruce forests and dense shrubbery. This is the largest boreal-grassland transition zone in the world and is a zone of constant competition and tension as prairie and woodlands struggle to overtake each other within the parkland.
Because of afforestation, the area possesses a miraculous, and fully established mixed wood forest featuring both deciduous and evergreen trees. It is common in the Saskatchewan eco-system to not behold a mixed forest of this stature unless one is north of the tree line or at Cypress Hills park, as both these areas are at a higher elevation. To have a mature mixed forest with gorgeous canopy, full understorey, rich and vibrant semi-wilderness wildlife habitat corridor along with wetlands inclusive of Chappell Marsh with emergent fauna is a true blessing and good fortune within the boundary limits of the City of Saskatoon. This is a tribute to the City of Saskatoon parks department and the great insight of a great man, named Bert Wellman Saskatoon Director of Planning and Development who had a vision for a green belt to embrace and grace Saskatoon.
From water and earth we came, and the future of mankind on this planet will be determined by respectful or disrespectful treatment of these basic elements. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker
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)
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!
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
I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.
today it is the duty of every thinking being to live, and to serve not only his own day and generation, but also generations unborn by helping to restore and maintain the green glory of the forests of the earth.
It is very encouraging, indeed, that we have heard from the engagement and enthusiasm of the Multi Faith Youth Groups of Saskatoon. Truly fantastic moments arise, when youth are encouraged to take leadership roles in the community, build relationships, and connect with the earth and the environment which sustains all of us in this city of Saskatoon.
“Wherever you are, in communities of any size, I urge you to find out who your neighbors are, what their faith traditions are, and learn from each other…. various faiths and world religions show their commitment to health and the environment.” source Moses Kanhai, President of Multi-Faith Saskatchewan
To walk together in solidarity with community associations, businesses, corporations, sports and environment groups, the multi faith youth share a value connecting ideals of peace, hope, and stewardship of the earth by cleaning up the environment at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. The idea of removing litter from the West Swale wetlands, and restoring the riparian forest area resonated with the Multi Faith Youth, and their response has been joyously received at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. What an amazing way for youth to get involved and be engaged in the care for animals, the planet, and each other with a love which transcends across the planet, beginning locally at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
The acts and behaviors of youth active in community service work can and does impact the environment and climate which then does have an impact on society at large. Youth coming together with a genuine commitment for transformational change is an amazing journey where youth come together in cooperation and sustainable initiatives. The commitment of the youth groups as they take an important role in the larger community is well and truly appreciated as we all come together working towards a common goal of friendship in Saskatoon to restore the local environment at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
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
White-tailed Deer Fawn. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
White-tailed Deer Fawn. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
Trembling Aspen Leaf with dew drops, Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA
“Planting and growing increasing quantities of trees is the scientific solution to Earth’s environmental dilemma.”
Richard Barbe-Baker
“…today it is the duty of every thinking being to live, and to serve not only his own day and generation, but also generations unborn by helping to restore and maintain the green glory of the forests of the earth.” Richard St. Barbe Baker
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!
What was Richard St. Barbe Baker’s mission, that he imparted to the Watu Wa Miti, the very first forest scouts or forest guides? To protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.
“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
“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.
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 
