The One Planet Summit is organized by France alongside the United Nations and World Bank to take place on January 11. This virtual summit will be a conversation between 200 nations worldwide as they plan for the United Nations biodiversity talks. The themes at this summit will be fourfold:
protection of terrestrial and marine ecosystems
promotion of agro-ecology
mobilization of biodiversity funding
link between deforestation, species and human health
Afforestation areas are amazing to contribute to biodiversity, and as such the World Wildlife Federation made Richard St. Barbe Baker (planter of trees worldwide) the first honourary member.
If a man loses one-third of his skin he dies; if a tree loses one-third of its bark, it too dies. If the Earth is a ‘sentient being’, would it not be reasonable to expect that if it loses one-third of its trees and vegetable covering, it will also die?
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.
“The United Nations has declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). The year is a once in a lifetime opportunity to raise global awareness on how protecting plant health can help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
The long needles of the Scots Pine
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Caragana Flower Blooom FRichard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK CA
“If a man loses one-third of his skin he dies; if a tree loses one-third of its bark, it too dies. If the Earth is a ‘sentient being’, would it not be reasonable to expect that if it loses one-third of its trees and vegetable covering, it will also die?” Richard St. Barbe Baker
The FAO says “Protecting Plants, Protecting Life.”
Richard St. Barbe Baker says; “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.”
Every act of kindness benefits the giver, as well as the receiver.
-Katrina Mayer
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
“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
“How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose, if there were no winter in our year!”–Thomas Wentworth Higginson
What an excellent way to bring in the summer months.
Puppies. Puppy Day March 23.
Grooming the Trail, Packing the Path
Horned Grebe Podiceps Auritus breeding colours
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, West Swale Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
June 1, 2019 is a Saturday, and also commemorates International Trail Day which falls on the first Saturday of June.
By June the Winter season for the Winter Fatbike Trail Network is finished as all the snow has indeed melted. However, that being said, Jeff Hehn ambassador of the Fatlanders Fat Tire Brigade and other members of this group have created Fatbike winter trails in addition to the existing to the paths previously extant in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area.
Additionally, the city of Saskatoon has created the South West Off Leash Recreation Area, with trails to enjoy, and take your dog along on the trails.
The Saskatoon Nature Society did in fact include the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area in their 2016 new edition of the book. “Nature Viewing Sites in and around Saskatoon”. Members of the Nature society have been actively ringing (banding) birds in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area for a number of years, so keep your eyes open while out on the trails, and bring your binoculars and cameras.
Walking: the most ancient exercise and still the best modern exercise.
Carrie Latet
Participants in the trails day event at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, or at the Afforestation formerly known as George Genereux Urban Regional Park, are invited to post on facebook your photos while walking, bicycling, hiking, or bird-watching along the trail incorporating why you love urban forests in Saskatoon.
To show your appreciation for the afforestation area, while you are out on the trails, please bring along an extra plastic bag and volunteer to remove debris in the afforestation area, or remove trash in the parking lots or scoop some poop in the off leash area.
These are the ethics of “Leave no trace” to help preserve the afforestation area and its trails for the future generations, and for your families use tomorrow.
Take someone to the Richard St. Barbe Baker afforestation area who has never been to this “best kept secret” of Saskatoon or perhaps take your family out on a new trail which you have not explored yet.
“Hiking is a bit like life:
The journey only requires you to put one foot in front of the other…again and again and again.
And if you allow yourself the opportunity to be present throughout the entirety of the trek,
you will witness beauty every step of the way,
not just at the summit” ~Unknown
Take only photos and memories, Each leaf, flower, stone and berry is an integral part of the ecosystem in the afforestation area. If we were to remove items from the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area we are removing what may be food and shelter for the wildlife community.
Leave only footprints along the paths. Animals and wildlife subsist better on food from the wild. Trash can cause distress and harm to the animals and vegetation and wetlands in the area. Human food and human garbage can make animals sick. This is a wetlands area, trash can also make humans sick as the West Swale drains into the South Saskatchewan River.
Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail. Robert Motherwell
Explore the afforestation area with respect. Extend your adventure on the trails of the park to preserve the ecological system. Walking off path disturbs the vegetation of the understory and affects the water drainage of the site. There are still wild animals in the afforestation area, and as the city grows, it would be amazing if it would stay that way for future generations to enjoy as well.
Sustainable trails and trail signage preserve the wildlife habitat, prevent erosion, conserve the forest understory, and provide a conservation friendly direction for the eco-footprint caused by an increase in users
With a growing awareness of the afforestation area, a proper trail network establishing proper and appropriate paths mitigates damage to wildlife habitat and ensures long term preservation practices while allowing increasing numbers of user to appreciate the full scenic beauty of the afforestation area. Well planned sustainable trails mitigate soil movement and erosion, require minimal long term maintenance, while allowing vegetation and wildlife to inhabit the area.
Eliminating illegal use of motorized vehicles in the afforestation area and the wetlands will eliminate unprecedented erosion, ecological and habitat damage. Taking responsibility and accountability for the environment will increase public appreciation for a picturesque urban forest by walkers, bicycle riders, educational classes, naturalists, bird watchers, and a number of other users on properly planned and designed pathways to mitigate the ecosystem footprint.
Remember next year’s International Trails Day is June 6, 2020.
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.
“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 is the “Skin” of the earth, for without it there can be no water and, therefore, no life.”Richard St. Barbe Baker
Introducing Vertical Forests and Façade Greenscapes
So recently discussing the nestling of naturalized settings in an urban setting such as the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and the George Genereux Urban Regional Park of the city of Saskatoon a question came up regarding the long range planning of areas in the city. The question was; what exactly is a vertical forest?
Green roofs, façades, and walls, are amazing, aesthetically pleasing, and have a huge positive impact on the environment and your pocket book. A stunning and exquisite living roof or ecowall is nothing but a dynamic expression of health, well-being, life, and movement. Texture, pattern, and fragrance with eco-architecture unite and network businesses and customers, inspire families, and network neighbourhoods. The University of Saskatchewan is implementing a number of green roofs, starting with the College of Law, and residential property owners are initiating their own practices of green roofing.
musée du quai Branly y Paris Courtesy Jean-Pierre Dalbéra
Living walls and roofs definitely contribute to environment quality and ensure that the home or building owner plays a key part in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). It is without doubt an unequivocal, and irrefutable the wonderful environmental footprint when an eco wall or roof makes an impact on energy efficiency.
Zachary Smith says, “Living walls are visually stunning, yes, but there is much more than meets the eye…[they] promote the positive effects that plants have on individuals’ mental and physical wellness, a key benefit in and of itself.”
These green spaces implemented on buildings such as shopping centres, civic architecture, and private homes provide real, definitive health and well-being benefits. Green buildings add value to the property as well as providing environmental benefits.
A green roof can be an “Ecoroof” requiring minimal maintenance, or it may be a “roof garden” or “podium roof” offering higher variety, and access to people. Can you imagine being a restaurant or lounge owner, and bringing in customers to experience your podium roof? This unique setting could provide recreation, or an amazing amenity featuring additional space for bars, restaurants or cafés. What a drawing card. Can you imagine being The Premier Venue folks choose for graduation and wedding parties, as your living wall becomes the backdrop for the wedding photographs, and reception.
Ronald Lu & Partners Green Wall, Hong Kong 2010
Living walls help nurture the patient in health care or the employee in a business setting. Nature is known for its positive effects on creativity, performance and productivity in the work place. Similarly eco walls foster a healing environment reducing time spent in hospitals, and reducing the patients reliance on pain medications. Hospitals, and care homes both have greater well-being among their residents and patients, staff have a reduced workload and higher capacity to provide satisfying care.
A home owner can establish another garden upon the roof growing edibles or just have an amazing private get away for a relaxing “Staycation”.
Green walls, living walls or vertical gardens on the other hand, increase the buildings insulation creating their own micro-climate, and improving the air quality around the building. The amazing thing to consider is that living walls can be established inside or outside. Another one of a kind concepts for skyscraper developers is integrating “Vertical farming” into their design. This feature would provide residents with salad greens, herbs, and fruit, while landlords would realize reduced energy costs. It would be a “win-win” situation.
Kitchener Ontario Children’s Museum courtesy M. Rehemtulla
A Vertical Greenery System (VGS) is mostly developed for aesthetic, environmental and economic benefit regardless for commercial groups or public individual. The foremost benefit of VGS based on last five years studies are thermal reduction, shading and cooling effects, energy efficiency and saving electricity cost Apart of that, VGS acts as acoustic insulation, air filtration, carbon sequestration, biodiversity preservation and increasing property values. (Source) This scientific study has delved into the impact of Vertical vegetation, and the carbon sequestration potential for climate change mitigation.
“Urbanization has led to many environmental issues such as climate change, global warming, urban heat island effect, air pollution, soil and water contamination, floods and acid rain. The contribution of cities and buildings to greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and energy consumption accumulates over their lifecycle from conception (material collection, transportation, soil excavation, site clearing, etc) to construction (production, transport, distribution, etc), through usage (waste, electricity, energy consumption, maintenance, refurbishment) and finally demolition (disposal, waste). The construction industry has a vital role in creating a more sustainable built environment, and emerging from this realization are niches categorized as sustainable architecture, ecological architecture, climatic design , energy-efficient buildings, green architecture, green building, and sustainable property development” (Source)
A separate method of greening a residence or building is via green façades. Many people may think of a green façade as a partition proferring shade from the sun or as a privacy screen. This may be the simplest, incorporating climbing vines or hanging gardens.
Hybrid living walls incorporate ideas and systems from both green walls and from green façades, a merger of the two, if you will.
Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana Mexico Courtesy Thelmadatter
Are there cost savings and financial benefits? $$$ Business owners can be assured of an increase in customer traffic, as their building is a point of interest and a landmark for people to come and see. Home owners also see a savings to their finances as a green roof will last between 30 – 50 years. (Source) A typical asphalt roof in comparison will last only 15 years in our arid climate with temperature swings between +40 to -40 Celsius. (Source) A green roof or a green wall, reduces the impact of temperature fluctuations on the building due to its unique micro-climate.
“Garden walls contribute to healthy communities, and can serve to introduce green space where ground level landscaping is hard to come by. Plants in communities are linked to a number of benefits, including reduced crime rates and increased civic participation.” (Source)
University of Ottawa Social Sciences Building courtesy Jon Kolbert
“As the vertical assemblages of plants found on living walls are not commonly found in nature, this gives the opportunity to create a complete new ecosystem able to thrive and develop in cities. Recreating and supplementing threatened habitats within a city setting offers new avenues for conservation. Working on green walls in urban settings is an emerging area of ecology; exploring the functionalities and the possibilities of green walls, and especially living walls, should not be constrained by conventional conservation paradigms. “Source
Rainwater is absorbed by all green spaces, managing the stormwater run off. To help manage the bio-roof, the addition of a cistern would aid the vegetation. (Source)
Both the heating and cooling bills are reduced for the store or home owner. Air conditioning bills reduce in the summer, and the wear and tear on the heating system is also reduced during the winter months. The savings in both climate extremes are amazing when comparing green roofs and green walls to conventional building systems.
“When the trees go, the rain goes, the climate deteriorates, the water table sinks, the land erodes and desert conditions soon appear”.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
In addition to the texture, vegetation can be selected and planted in patterns, pictures and murals to “Transform your building wall into a living canvas with a broad palette of plants.” Source
Noise reduction is an amazing feature for residents, developers and architects proposing construction near railway tracks, in a down town area, or near a busy highway or arterial road. Green walls, with their layers of plant material serve to reduce sound carrying into the living space remarkably. Source
A green wall or a living roof will do its part in mitigating climate change. Hard surfaces such as asphalt shingles, brick walls, harness the sun’s heat in the summer months, radiating this heat. Vegetation provides relief from heat islands created by homes and buildings.
Green walls serve to mitigate bird deaths from “Bird strike” on buildings incorporating a large amount of glass windows, a common contemporary architectural feature. Vegetation contributes to our biodiversity, offering homes for bird nests, and assisting in their migration. Naturalists could combine this technology, and those concerned about our dwindling song bird species, and pollinators could select appropriate food sources, and species. In conclusion, green walls or eco roofs both increase biodiversity in urban areas. In neighbourhoods with limited green spaces, perhaps these sources of vegetations are the only space for food, shelter or nesting for the migrating or indigenous animal species.
Bosco Verticale towers in Milan, Italy
“Animal groups respond differently to the characteristics of green walls and the surrounding features. Importantly, the design and the maintenance interventions of green walls influence their use by animals and, as such, it is possible to modify these environments to make them more attractive to certain animal communities. Whether growing on independent self-supporting structures, or directly on or in buildings, plants can use largely under-exploited vertical space allowing an additional type of ecosystem to be incorporated into the urban environment.”Source
The higher the green environment around a building or home, the cleaner the air. Vegetation reduces pollution, and clean fresh oxygen is available in return.
So comment if you have considered developing an amazing restaurant with a green wall, or if your city features a children’s museum with a living vertical forest. Perhaps you are a home owner contemplating an eco-roof, or maybe you are an architect wishing to bring into play an apartment or condominium as a vertical forest. Have you actually done the construction, and comment about how it went. What do you think? Do you think it would be delightful to be sitting in a living wall restaurant sipping a cappuccino overlooking the wetlands of Saskatchewan? The possibilities are endless for developers, contractors, and owners. Conversely, wouldn’t it be so delightful if the greenscape of the naturalized area was extended in a larger point of view, encompassing both the natural green space, and extending upward into a green wall rather than a greyscape? What a photograph! Are vertical forests, eco-roofs, and green façades a wonderful way to enhance naturalized reserves in cities such as the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, the George Genereux Urban Regional Park and the each and several multitudes of natural parks and green spaces across the city of Saskatoon.
“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
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!
“The future of the planet concerns all of us, and all of us should do what we can to protect it. ” Wangari Maathai.
“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
Caragana arborescens, the Siberian peashrub, Siberian pea-tree, or caragana
Planet Earth, the World, is in our Hands
Cross Country Skiing at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, Saskatoon, Sasktachewan
Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis
South West Off Leash Recreation Area. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Meewasin Valley Authority, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus),
Pelican Preenning
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale Wetlands in the fog
White-Tailed Deer Fawn
Canada Goose Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale Wetlands, Saskatoon, Sk, CA
“Every trail can’t be all things to all people but all trails can play beneficial roles. Trails play roles in the economy, play roles in the environment and perhaps most importantly, play roles in our health.*” Trails have the capacity to provide connectivity, economic benefits, education potential, environmental interpretation, health, heritage, and recreation. Trails can also focus on just interpretive trails. Trails may be made solely for recreation without awareness of the environment. Those people focusing on the lack of Vitamin “N” in the urban population, may construct trails for education and health, and not focus on a wide variety of recreation. Then there are those trails which with planning and foresight have the capacity to combine many features for an audience of skiiers, classrooms of snowshoers, groups of fat bicycle riders, and nature enthusiasts who come to the forest to band birds. Trails invite people and increase the human footprint. Is it at all possible for trails to provide health benefits of recreation and to conserve the footprint of birds and wildlife at the same time?
Trails can be constructed to encircle biospheres, and trails can loop around and create length for an exercise workout. Ecosystems in the afforestation area vary widely. Prairie gives way to permanent class IV wetlands, in turn cycles to Aspen Parkland bluffs, which at the next turn reveals implanted and afforested trees. Native grasslands mix with modified grasslands. Native trees combine with afforested mature tree plantings. Shallow temporary floodplains flow with intermittent streams between marsh areas.
Abandoned roadways in the afforestation area formerly allowed motorized vehicle travel east and west. Newly created trails create greenways through the forest biome itself.
“‘Planning Trails with Wildlife in Mind’ helps trail planners and builders balance the benefits of creating trails with being stewards of nature and wildlife habitat.” How does one make a bicycle path appropriate for a semi-wilderness wildlife habitat? What are some guidelines for being aware of wildlife, aquatic areas, and environmental impacts and consequences? Can trails be designed in the winter months without an awareness of the spring, summer and fall biosphere? How can trails enrich greenways, and the wildlife, while still providing a recreational experience? Are there impacts of trails on the nesting site of deer families, and fawns? What is the view from the bird’s nest with an increase of trail users in a forest?
Is it possible that a greenway concept or trail design, that the flora and fauna of wetlands and woodlands can thrive alongside people in nature? What types of design considerations and awareness of the biodiversity are required? Trail and corridor planning has the capacity to provide ecologically sustainable trails for a city urban footprint. Trails can protect environmental resources, if the natural eco-system is e
Fat Bike bicyling at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Horseback Riding
Canada 150 km walk
valuated, and considered.
However, that being said, trails can focus only on recreational aspects, and those benefits. Trails can be indeed fantastic ways to enjoy winter recreation. Once built, the same trails over the spring, summer and fall months, have opened up the wildlife habitat to people. There is no doubt about it, the winter recreation trails don’t disappear along with the snow melt.
Do these trails bring people into the environment with minimal environmental impact? What happens on a winter trail in the summer? Do the trails provide the tourist with the capacity for educational, scenic or interpretive opportunity year round? Can all vegetation be linked with a greenway corridor, or are there species which do not thrive around a trail? Similarly what species of animals will make homes, reproduce, and live in the same habitat as trails? Can this be accomplished, or does it become an either or? Is it a choice to choose between trails and a variety of fauna, or can they exist together? Do trails include the biosphere of flora and fauna species and therefore enhance the environment?
How do challenging bicycling and hiking trails compare to a shorter interpretive or nature trail? Is the area only large enough for recreational trails, and the park should only be open in the winter, and close up for the other seasons? Can recreational winter trails, afford environmentally friendly trails during other seasons?
Trails dig deep into a woodland, when a trail transects through a forest what are the impacts on the woodland animals, and birds? Do botanists work alongside trail planners to know which areas are sensitive and which would thrive with trails?
Trails are amazing things, a well-designed trail has minimal devastation to the vegetation, are easy to hike, bicycle, ski and snowshoe. However it may possibly be that protecting the vegetation, is not the sole responsibility when trail planning when providing a minimum impact onto an eco-system. Again, trails are truly amazing things, providing people with an opportunity to bicycle in nature, hike, showshoe, ski, or band birds. Alongside the vegetation, good trail planning will consider the seasons and the urban footprint all year round. If a winter ski trail is created in one area of a biome, will this impact where a deer gives birth to a fawn in the spring? When a winter trail loops through a forest, will that have a ripple effect on species of birds nesting over the summer?
Eco-tourism is wonderful. A healthy and active outdoor lifestyle is absolutely marvelous. Having the capacity to celebrate a semi-wilderness habitat in the city is remarkable. What is the way to make these concepts mutally inclusive? How can winter trail networks live in harmony with semi-wilderness wildlife habitats? This question begs the need to know what wildlife habitats exist, which species live where. Where do the nature enthusiasts band their birds? Where do the deers nest their fawns? If these questions are answered, the biosphere, is truly enhanced with trails, and the next generation of skiiers, snowshoers, hikers, and bicyclers will also be handed a glimpse of a deer, and the grandchildren of the bird-banders, will also be able to band birds alongside the same trails. Wouldn’t that be fantastic if many generations of recreational enthusiasts, could have a grand time celebrating winter, and that their great grandchildren may also see a deer in a city forest? Is it possible and how can it be accomplished? The question now is how?
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!
“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
Stand firm. Grip hard. Thrust upward to the skies. Bend to the winds of heaven. And learn tranquility. ~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
“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
Stand firm. Grip hard. Thrust upward to the skies. Bend to the winds of heaven. And learn tranquility. ~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
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 is the “Skin” of the earth, for without it there can be no water and, therefore, no life.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Our task must be to free ourselves … by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” —Albert Einstein
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.
The Yellow-headed Blackbird is amazingly sure of foot, even when perched upon swaying cattails. Though they appear delicately perched upon the the heads of the cattail, which disintegrate into a cottony fluff from which the seeds disperse by wind, the yellow-headed Blackbird, stays his post, and is not unmoored.
“Let us heal the naked scars in the earth and restore her green mantle. Let us set our Earth family in order”.~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!
“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
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 is the “Skin” of the earth, for without it there can be no water and, therefore, no life.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
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 is the “Skin” of the earth, for without it there can be no water and, therefore, no life.~Richard St. Barbe Baker
I learned early to regard the forest as a society of living things, the greatest of which is the tree. ~St. Barbe
Spring Sunset Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Spring Sunset Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Spring Sunset Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Fresh New Spring Afforestation Images
“We depend on nature not only for our physical survival. We also need nature to show us the way home, the way out of the prison of our own minds. We got lost in doing, thinking, remembering, anticipating – lost in a maze of complexity and a world of problems.” ~Eckhart Tolle
How can one possibly describe the evenings? The mild yet beautiful evenings, when the whole wide-spread scene of crystal waters, forest, and prairie illumined with almost celestial radiance. Bird songs filled the air. The prairies crowded with all the varieties of animal life in peaceful enjoyment. No sights of violence or suffering met the eye. No discordant sound fell upon the ear. All was beauty, harmony, and joy. The landscape resembled our imaginings of the world before the fall, when it came fresh from its Maker’s hands, and all the morning stars hailed its birth. The region was beautiful. There was no continuous forest, but extended, well-watered plains, interspersed with groves of a great variety of majestic trees. John Stevens Cabot Abbott would reflect on prairies thus.
“Ts’ui Pe must have said once: I am withdrawing to write a book. And another time: I am withdrawing to construct a labyrinth. Every one imagined two works; to no one did it occur that the book and the maze were one and the same thing.” ~Jorge Luis Borges
And of the forest, St Barbe would write, “Has any one of us ever really seen a Tree? When we become aware of trees we may each glimpse of them to moments of spiritual vision and, identifying ourselves with the trees, become conscious of the rising of the sap; the upward thrust of life, leaf burgeoning, their consciousness of the changing seasons; we may share their passionately boisterous exuberance of life in the height of the storm, and their tranquility when at rest; with them we will enjoy the glad murmur of the ripening seed clusters when after weeks of drought the steady warm rain brings relief to thirst; and we will know that these creatures, our elder brethern, are intimately related to us in their love and hunger for life. We may even catch their enthusiasm and aspire heavenwards while still rooted in our Mother Earth and in communion with our fellow man and, tree-wise, strive to make the Earth more fruitful again.
The glorious rich, colourful, quilted covering of trees and vegetation is not there merely to feed and please us, its presence is essential to earth as an organism. It is the first condition of all life. It is the skin of the earth.
I learned early to regard the forest as a society of living things, the greatest of which is the tree.~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
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
onation, write a cheque please to the “Meewasin Valley Authority Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area trust fund” (MVA RSBBAA trust fund) and mail it to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area c/o Meewasin Valley Authority, 402 Third Ave S, Saskatoon SK S7K 3G5. Thank you kindly!
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park. 