though trees grow so high...

Dry forests (Part 6):Up the valley of the Salas River

2007-06-07T19:13:00.000-07:00

Driving up the Valley of the Salas River, towards Lanchaco, the landscape changes drammatically. The higher we get, the greener the forest. We drive till the boundary with the cloud forest. Tilansias and Bromelias and occasional orchids are abundant. The tree with The flying tilansia beards and the red seeds is, I guess, a "hualtaco" tree (Loxopterigium huasango). Some one told us, that it's seed are the favorit food of the rare "pava aliblanca" (Penelope albipennis).

Dry forests (part 5): La Peña

2007-06-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

La Peña is a big basin, a savannah like region, part of the Salas province, in the back country of Chiclayo. It is certainly a most fragile ecosystem. It's vegetation is here in it's majoriy, like in so many other regions of northwestern Peru, a remnant of the 1998 Phenomenon of El Niño, except for the capparis angulata, called "sapote", a tree which grows very slow, one could say, with almost no water, and is very appreciated for its wood to make handicrafts. Very common are also cactae, which form unique symbiosis with prosopis and capparis species, here especially the raimondi gigantae. Then those spiny trees with striking green stems, the Cercidium praecox, also Cordea Luthea (yes, it's "my" tree), with it's yellow flowers, beautifully contrasting with the aridity of the landscape, as well as Bursera graveolens, known as "Palo Santo", which spreads an incredible smell, like myrrh. For moments I couldn't help but feeling lost somewhere in the plains of Africa.

Now, should the agro-industrial project "Olmos", widly and wildly promised in the region, become a reality, La Peña, and with it, thousands of hectares of dry forest will be smashed and flattend by whole fleets of bulldozzers to give way to huge esparragus fields or artishock fields or paprika fields or whatever product is up in the market -whatever it may be, this mega project which shall cover 3 departements obeys to the patterns of distorted mentality of unsustainability. The responsibles calculate that the construction (mainly the building of a tunnel through the Andes to bring water from the Rivers Huancabamba, Tabaconas und Manchara to the coast) will take at least 10 years. The works have started 3 months ago. Once finished, there should be enough water, so they say, to irrigate 40'000 hectares, produce energy for 600 megawatts and create 80'000 jobs. Why is it, that these kind of mega-projects are so suspiscious? But then, in ten years a lot can happen...

Dry forests (Part 4): Salas

2007-06-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

On H. E.'s property, on the other side of the riverbed, remains (thanks to his protection) a unique fragment of primary forest, which consists mainly of (if I'm right) Pithecellobium excelsum, Muntingia calabura, Loxopterigium huasango, Cordea luthea, Acacia macracantha and, of course, the king of peruvian dry forests - the "algarrobo" (prosopis pallida). Altough we haven't seen any (all forest animals are shy), there must be still ant-eaters living here. There sure are a lot of ants, and lots of birds, iguanas, squirrels, termites, wild honey bees, etc. And then and when the puma appears. We saw bones and furs of goats or sheep.

House and Garden of H. E.

2007-06-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

Near Salas (Lambayeque), in the middle of the dry forest, lives a german architect who has dedicated 7 years to raise sheep, but then, due to a prolonged drought, saw himself forced to sell them. He also runs a small but exclusive hostel. It's an ideal place to stay for bird watchers and the like. On these pictures one might not see, how urgent the water ptoblem is. His place is near the riverbed, where humidity has been retained over the years of drought and he and his partner do what they can with water drawn from a well, to not let the place dry out completly.

Dry forests (Part 3): Carrizalillo

2007-06-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

"Algarrobo Milenario"

This forest is located in the northeast of Tambo Grande, Piura, near the ecuatorian border. It shows a high variety of arborean species. Here it hasn't rained for four years. My friend, the botanist was shocked when we arrived at the "Algarrobo Milenario". Last time he was here -more than ten years ago, in company with several auhorities, amongst them the maire of Tambo Grande, the tree was surrounded by the thick, original forest. Now the site has been cleared, paths have been laid and a plaque installed, with the name of the maire. The thought, that he might have inspired the maire with his distinguished presence from abroad to turn the unique tree in a tourist-attraction, depressed him. Well, it's Peru -"Es el Perú...", like we say here, shrugging shoulders. Far worse are the many wood-extracting companies that are operating in this zone, despite that the INRENA (National Institute for Natural Resources) has declared these activities in dry forests illegal.

Dry forests (Part 2): Cañoncillo

2007-06-04T00:11:00.000-07:00

The "Cañoncillo" forest consists predominantly of prosopis pallida and is unique for its lagoons which provide enough humidity. "Cañoncillo" means Little Canyon. On this picture of Google Earth, one can see why:

It is considered a protected area, managed by the people of local communities, who use it exclusively for wood supply and forrage for their goat, sheep and cow herds. In fact, there is not much vigilance and we could hear the dry chopping sounds of axes ecoing through the woods. The signs of over-grazing are here, like almost all over the dry forests, far too evident, and it is said that the lagoons are drying because of the growing rice plantations around the forest. Still, how not to be owerwhelmed by this beauty!

Dry forests of northwestern Peru (Part 1)

2007-06-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

Although it is well known that the dry forests of norwhestern Peru are being constantly depredatet by charcoal burners and overgrazing of goats, sheeps and cows and and threatened by big mining- (see here and here) and agro-industrial projects, they are still impressivly extense, especialy if one has seen the situation in the south of the country (see my post from Ica). They are also known to be based on very fragile ecosystems. But then they seem to be incredibly resistent and skilled for survival. They await the rain, reduced to their minimal expression, barren and naked, suffocated by the heat and dust during the dry season, which is most of the year. In the rainy season, from december through april, it might rain occasionaly. Enough for the forest to come out of it’s lean season. But the highlight is the El Niño phenomenon, with heavy rainfall, floods and run-off streams, known as "huaicos". New forests might rise seemingly out of nothing, in deserted areas, and the existent ones turn into real jungles. For several years the forests and the people and animals that live in them and from them thrive in abundance and sumptuousness.
In the following posts I want to show the pictures I took with my little Pentax Optio of different types of these forests, depending of their geographical conditions.
Further I want to make clear that I'm not a "ingeniera forestal", nor a botanist, nor even an environmetalist. I am not a "professiona" of any kind. I just love photography and happen to go along with a botanist, environmental scientist and manager of a conservation and reforestation project, and, of course, I love trees and plants (and don't understand cruelty against them). Therefore, my use of latin names is clumsy and I appologize for errors.

the thousand aspects of trees

2007-05-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

All pictures taken from trees in Lima. As one can see, not every thing is lost...

Trees and concrete

2007-04-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

As I already mentioned in the post trees die standing up, in many cities and towns in Peru trees are treated as if they’d be the mortal enemies of humankind. In Lima, capital of Peru, where I’ve happened to be born, there’s no exception to this. And the more they despise, mistreat, chop and mutilate the poor trees, the more I admire them in their stoic way of continuing to re-sprout and grow and reach for the light in every possible manner. The theme for the 11. issue of festival of trees is “trees and concrete”. I am specially fascinated with the force and strength of the roots of trees that crack open stone and cement,

as well as with the contrast of textures of bark and brick, for example, or with the natural and light display of ramifications and the squareness and solidity of modern buildings. And suddenly a flowering Chorisia speciosa. The effect of it in middle of the concrete is indescriptible.

the huarango at it's full

2007-04-25T16:31:00.000-07:00

Trees die standing up

2007-04-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a  green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and  deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the  man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself."  William Blake

Each tree is a miracle, more so in the desert. Or that’s what I know. In Ica though, like in so many other cities, towns and villages of the arid Peruvian coast, it seems that trees are the mortal enemies of humans. Apart from the business with charcoal, like in the specific case of the Huarango (prosopis pallida), there exists an absurd, incomprehensible and insane tradition of mistreating trees. Twice a year the municipalities send their troops, in green uniforms, armed with machetes, axes and chainsaws –they are the workers of the Parks and Gardens Area– to carry out what they call “pruning”. But what they actually do is to massacre the trees. They do it with such ferocity that it leaves me each time puzzled. They chop and chop and chop. Chop, chop, chop. Cut, cut, cut. They mutilate and sever every branch that comes into their way. What’s left is a sad trunk with a pair of stumps. They take away what makes a tree be a tree: the canopy. They don’t leave a branch where a bird can rest, lets not say nest, or that could cast a shadow.

Thanks though to the moderate climate they almost always re-sprout)

I have tried to understand this madness, this insanity. Where does it comes from? I think it comes from a false idea of civilization which holds “civilization” for that which is imposed on nature, that which controls, suffocates and squashes whatever grows and behaves itself naturally. I am sure that the Catholic Church, with its obsolete picture of man as the “crown of creation” (thus any other creature is inferior and has to be subjugated), has much responsibility in this.

But lets come back to the Huarango, this unique tree of the southern coast of Peru. The Huarango represents the habitat of an incredible biodiversity. It is designed to survive a thousand, maybe two thousand years and to catch the fog with its branches and create an extraordinary microclimate, as well as to enrich the soil with fertile sheets of humus of the tiny fallen leafs. And, last but not least, it provides shade, fodder, firewood and a highly nutritious fruit, a pod that turns golden yellow when ripe.
Many thousend years ago the now a days hyper arid pampas between Nasca and Ica were covered with Huarango forests. There are evidences that some pre-Columbian cultures deforested whole valleys. In the Colonial time the whine and Pisco culture practically crushed the Huarango culture with indiscriminate cutting. And in the XIX century, with the building of a railroad from Ica to the port of Pisco, the forests of the Pampa de Pisco were thouroghly cutted. These are only some of the most well known events. The numbers of the most recent history speak for themselves. Thirty years ago there were still fifty thousand hectares of Huarango forest, today there are less than a thousand. That is, nowadays, together with the cutting for charcoal burning and the unlimited expansion of the agricultural industry, climate change with increasing temperature and humidity has spread a series of plagues never seen before. Huarangos die faster than they can cut them. This is specially the case in the Nasca region. One would say, a dead forest is something very sad. Though these dead trees are still of an outstanding beauty. They still give shade and sustain to the soil and give life to so many species, like the woodpecker, for example. I could see it with my own eyes during the last three weeks (and in many other opportunities) when filming for a project of conservation, reforestation and restoration of habitat, financed by Darwin Initiative and granted by Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, of London. It seems that the SOS shout has finally reached the ears of Regional Government, whose authorities show decisiveness in totally forbidding the cutting of these emblematic tree. Let’s see if it’s true. I feel tempted to tell them to include the trees that died standing up.

WELCOME TO THIS TREE BLOG

2007-04-24T16:52:00.000-07:00

I admit that I created this blog inspired by the Festival of Trees which I found through via negativa. Although I have posted some of the photos and articles in my other blog, which is in spanish, I didn't want to overload it with translations. I think trees are a huge and urgent subject and that there will be enough material to justify a blog dedicated to them, or maybe not. Who could ever know what will happen in deed?.
And sorry for my awkward english.