The Scent of a Tree (From the Archive)

The smell of the inner bark is one of the most important diagnostic characters for identifying trees in tropical forests where flowers and fruits may be small, of drab color, and high up in the canopy.  Materos all over the world use this trick.  Approach the tree, glance up at the canopy to check for flowers or fruits, slash the bark, and give it a whiff - or occasionally a taste.  All with such wonderful insouciance.

Management Planning II

This is what participatory forest management looks like. In this case, managing for rattan in Laos. Baseline data on rattan density from community inventories shown in the background on the flipcharts. I did the writing, so it's a little messy. Bansa Thammavong (WWF Laos; with blue dry marker) and Thibault Ledecq (Regional Director of WWF Rattan Project; with beard) stand up front and try to explain what it means; Le Viet Tam (WWF Vietnam; right foregound) takes notes on his computer. Massive (and extremely heavy) wooden chairs, a highly polished conference table, plates of snacks, and several bouquets of plastic flowers. It was Saturday and we were in the main conference room at the Provincial Governor's office in Lak Sao. Can only assume that we had permission to be there. 

Train Locals to Help Conserve Tropical Forests

A considerable proportion of the remaining tropical forests on the planet are under some form of community-based ownership. These forests are exploited, and, in many cases, conserved and skillfully managed by tens of millions of indigenous and forest peoples who depend on them for their livelihoods. Yet, despite widespread concern about the fate of tropical forests and biodiversity, effective forest management by rural commmunities in the tropics has become increasingly constrained by legal, normative, and technical hurdles. 

One idea of what could be done about this. [NOTE: Photo shows Dayak villagers from Tae in West Kalimantan, Indonesia collecting fruit in their managed forest orchard (see Tembawang)].

Lunch at Ban Sobphuan

After running the inventory transects at Ban Sobphuan (see Thin Red Line and Sediments), we returned to the village and were served a delicious, multi-course lunch. The hand on the right side of the image is pointing to the tasty rattan shoots on the plate with the fish. [NOTE: That's Le Viet Tam (WWF Vietnam) on the left and Ou Ratanak (WWF Cambodia) to the right with the colorful scarf tied around his waist].

The young, tender (mostly) shoots are from Calamus viminalis Willd. ("wai ton"), which is grown in small plantings near the agricultural fields outside of town. Lunch was delicious - as were the rattan shoots.

Reading

Domestic still life. Amy had just come in after shoveling the snow (see First Snow of 2012) off the sidewalk in front of the house, hence the snowpants. I guess this wore her out, because she decided to "stretch out" in the living room chair and do some reading. Fluffy grey figure in the right foreground is a dog chew toy that Nikki (see Nikki) is systematically destroying. Painting, Blue Dog at the Revel, is by George Rodrigue.  Baskets are made of split rattan. Don't know why she's holding her legs up in the air. [NOTE: Love the colors in this image].

More Kachin

Another shot from the 2005 Naga Festival in Shimbweyeng (see Naga Festival and Manau Leader). I like the image, but the real reason for posting it is that the people and resources of Kachin State in northern Burma have been very much on my mind since Friday's post. May all beings be safe, happy, healthy, and free from suffering. [NOTE: Including Kachin in your mettā practice certainly couldn't hurt anything. Gassho].

First Snow of 2012

Started snowing after midnight and now we have about 4 to 6 inches on the ground. Wonderful, hushed Saturday; good day to catch up on my reading. Postman reminded me that by this time last winter we'd already had 32 inches of snow.

Tension in Kachin

In spite of all the positive developments in Myanmar and the recent cease fire with the Karen (see More Good News From Myanmar), the Myanmar military continues to do horrible things to the Kachin people in the northern part of the country. Hope President Thein Sein steps up and does something about this. These are the folks that are collaborating with my community forestry project (see Naw Aung and His Sagawa). [NOTE: Image shows Kachin family stopping to rest along the side of the Ledo Road north of Shimbweyeng].  

Scones

Made a batch of oat and maple syrup scones before going to sit last night. Recipe from the delightful Smitten Kitchen. Made them in the shape of stars to celebrate President Obama's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline proposal (see Tar Sands). [NOTE: Full disclosure, the star-shaped cookie cutter was the first one that I dug out of the drawer].

Rakusu Redux

Rakusu (see Rakusu)  hanging on the back of the door to my room at the Garrison Institute during the Fall 2011 sesshin (see Fall Sesshin 2011). [NOTE: No Wikipedia links in this post because the site is down in protest of pending SOPA and PIPA legislation. As, perhaps, I should be, as well. Go here to learn about what's at stake].