OF recent, the Karachi city government has been busy. Busy cutting down trees and making the city’s already tree-starved landscape, more barren. Though not much official has been said to this end, but off-the-record some city government officials said it was to make way for the date palms that had been brought in. Cutting trees to plant more trees? That’s strange. Another version of the events is that these hacked trees were sold-off for a lucrative price to greedy contractors. And with the way things are run in this country, that sounds more believable.
Whatever the reason, today Karachi’s pollution racked atmosphere has lesser trees to filter its air. But if the government isn’t doing anything about the scarcity of trees (reportedly hundreds of fully grown date palms were imported to be planted all round the city. So far, only few are visible), what’s stopping us from starting our own little effort, something on lines of the Arboriculture Society in England? Their site, http://www.trees.org.uk/ says it all.
Arboriculture is about the cultivation of trees and shrubs for study, ornamentation, or profit. The site here includes areas of work include selection, planting, production and tree surgery. Of course this site is British but this is one place where they had links called “Tree Surgeons” and “Tree Officers”. Newsletter, Arboricultural Journal and links are all here.
Well, all right, there is little something happening here in Pakistan as well. Like the Pakistan Bonsai Society. Part of the Bonsai in Asia Guide Book http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Palace/7574, the singular web page chronicles the activities of the bonsai people in the country. However, the page leaves quite a bad taste in the mouth when one finds that they are still talking of the next PBS annual competition and exhibition that will be held “next year in the last week of Feb 2002”!
Still, there is the address of the society here and if you want to take charge of things, you should get in touch with a person called Mr Muhammad Ovais and talk things over. There are 18 different places listed here where Bonsai has definitely more roots than here in Pakistan.
By the way, for you ignorant ones out there, bonsai is the art of growing miniature trees, rather the miniaturized forms of trees and shrubs by rigorous pruning of roots and branches.
An informative link that is devoted to information about trees is http://www.2020site.org/trees/. Here you’ll find information on big trees and small! From palm tree, oak tree, pine tree, fruit tree and maple tree there’s information that can prove to be useful. Also included are excerpts from the poets, describing these beauties in their own words.
One of the most common trees found here in Karachi is the neem tree. Famed to hold great medicinal value, the neem tree has been part of subcontinental home remedies for as long as time can remember. Here, on the official site of the Neem Foundation, http://www.neemfoundation.org/index1.htm you can find information related to this magical tree. According to the site, “It is known to help control diseases like malaria, cancer and Aids, combat desertification and deforestation, reduce excessive global temperature and even help in population control”. What more does one want? Of course in order to cater to your taste, the site has stuff like therapeutic uses to environmental use and organic farming. The site is also available in Spanish.
A rather interesting link that I stumbled upon was the Exploring the Secret Life of Trees site http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees2/index2.html. This address basically takes a look at the life of the oak tree and the lifesystem that the oak tree supports. But the best part about this site is, that it is in Flash and that it is interactive. Meaning, you don’t have to read text here. In fact, this is one very fun and colourful way for children to learn more about the tree. Our host for the web site is Pierre Quercus, an acorn who guides us and introduces younger students to the world of trees, the mysteries of plant life and worms. Learning modules use a variety of formats including interactive cartoons with audio accompaniment to entertain and educate.
The site also has minor tests to check if you have been able to learn all that is being taught here. Here again, if you know the language, Spanish is the second tongue.
A Year in the Wonderland of Trees http://www.publicbookshelf.com/public_html/A_Year_in_the_Wonderland_of_Trees_/ has articles and excerpts on the importance of trees and the environment. The articles here are basically excerpts from a 1920’s textbook, A Year in the Wonderland of Trees, by Hallan Hawksworth and Francis B. Atkinson. Written from a biological perspective, the book, and the articles here, aim at educating kids on the importance of trees and the environment. Questions like why are dead leaves important and why do leaves change their colour in autumn to the history of the pine tree and old age trees have interesting information to read. It’s a lot of reading tough.
The Trees for Life foundation http://www.treesforlife.org/treesforlife.html helps people in developing countries plant fruit trees, that provide “nutrition and fight hunger, as well as protect the environment”. This site is fundamentally inspirational and with stories from other people, it makes good teatime reading.
And finally, there is Botany, http://www.botany.com/, the encyclopaedia of plants and botanical dictionary. And believe me, this site really lives up to its name. You want trees, you’ve got trees. Oodles of them. Very informative and very interesting. The site is in fact every botany student’s dream come true. And it doesn’t even mess around with your browser.
Trees often act as genesis of life. They filter our air, act as natural reservoirs, hold the earth together, provide shade, provide beautiful green scenery and much much more. Please, do help and contribute in their preservation and growth.
OF recent, the Karachi city government has been busy. Busy cutting down trees and making the city’s already tree-starved landscape, more barren. Though not much official has been said to this end, but off-the-record some city government officials said it was to make way for the date palms that had been brought in. Cutting trees to plant more trees? That’s strange. Another version of the events is that these hacked trees were sold-off for a lucrative price to greedy contractors. And with the way things are run in this country, that sounds more believable.
