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Ghandi's Grandson Receives Legacy Tree
By Teri Okita
March , 2011
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WAIKIKI (HawaiiNewsNow) - The grandson of spiritual and political leader, Mahatma Gandhi, is carrying the family's message of peace and non-violence to Hawaii. Arun Gandhi says the world is being consumed by too much violence, and it's time to break down barriers.
Arun Gandhi stood underneath his famous grandfather's statue in Waikiki - to talk about transformation in an era of turmoil. "The time has come when the world needs to look at alternate ways of resolving the conflicts that we face," says Gandhi.
With violent protests sweeping through the Middle East, an on-going tit-for-tat in the Koreas, and the U.S. fighting two wars, Gandhi points out: we're living in a time of international instability.
"We cannot secure our nation here in this corner of the world, if the rest of the world is going down the tubes. So, we have to ensure that the whole world lives in peace and harmony," explains Gandhi.
Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi pioneered the civil disobedience movement in India during the early half of the last century - based on his philosophy of peace and non-violence.
At age 12, Arun Gandhi went to live with his grandfather who taught him the principles that he now teaches today. Arun's first test of forgiveness, rather than revenge, came just two years later, when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. His parents reminded the young Arun: change had to begin within.
He says about his grandfather, "Gandhi's very famous quotation is: that we must become the change we wish to see. And I have added onto that: and I said, we must not only become the change we wish to see, we must also become the agents of change that we wish to see."
The 76-year-old Gandhi, who now lives in the U.S., is carrying on the family name and message through his lectures, on his Washington Post blog, and through the Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute.
Copyright 2011 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
"To plant the tree that, after we are dead, shall shelter our children, is as natural as to love the shade of those our fathers planted."
 ~Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi~ |
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From the Field
Darrell Fox C.O.O. HLH
July 2011
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Koa flowers in bloom- can seeds be far behind...
With another successful planting in the field, June marked the beginning of a new year. We have completed the assignment of trees to 2010 100 tree units and the Legacy trees are being catalogued for our Legacy partners. Soil testing results were used to create a custom fertilizer blend that was applied to all trees in all of our planting areas. The long days of summer stimulate new growth that you can almost see before your very eyes. It is almost like watching small children grow when every time you return to an area the trees seem just that much bigger.
Looking to our next planting we have identified an area of a little more than 200 acres of prime reforestation land. This will provide a protected site for the planting of approximately 100,000 native trees and plants. The fence lines have been mapped and preparations are underway for staging the fence crews. Our mowing crew should start within the week and the initial 70 acre portion of this planting will be prepped in anticipation of a more normal weather pattern that will allow planting to start as early as November. That 70 acres has already had its initial clearing of invasive species, debris and deadfall.
We have been watching the 200+ mother trees identified for seed collection and mature seed pods are starting to develop. Initial indications are that this will be a very good seed year for koa. A seed processing area is being built to handle the increased volume of seeds required for this ambitious scale up. It includes humidity controlled cabinets to dry the seeds to a stable moisture content suitable for long term storage. Koa seeds have been known to be viable after decades in the soil. We are striving to build a seed bank that will accommodate even greater expansion in coming years. In the interest of genetic diversity we are broadening our mother tree pool for our habitat restoration program.
Summer on Mauna Kea is a great time of year. The days are warm approaching 70° F. In the afternoon mist blows up the mountain and fog drip waters the land. Evenings are cool with temperatures in the upper 50's. It is the perfect time of year for a new beginning. Thanks to all of our tree owners and legacy partners for being part of the adventure.
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Plant a Wish: The Film
A Documentary By Noni Films
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In Plant a Wish: The Film, a married couple from Hawaii embarks on the "Plant a Wish" tour, a self-imposed 15-month mission to single-handedly create and host "wish tree" planting events with communities in all of America's 50 states.
With a camera in one hand and a shovel in the other, the couple harnesses their media skills, online funding methods and the hospitality of friends, family, and strangers, to conduct and document (on film) a three-part tree-planting road trip tour that brings them up close and personal with the land, the lives, and the ecological systems that make the United States special.
As they travel, they quickly notice that man's apparent plan to hold dominion over nature is fundamentally flawed. Their mission soon grows to include investigation into the need for local ecological literacy and restored indigenous biodiversity to America's towns, cities, and rural areas - ideas which often counter the modern paradigms of the global economy and consumer-based land use practices.
As Joe and Sara leave their home in Hawaii and criss-cross the country, we are joined with their mission to complete their enthusiastic goal and historic journey. Along the way, the couple learns what it means to make the physical and emotional sacrifices to grow a movement they are passionate about. We are taken through the ups and downs that challenge them, and feel the beauty of the successes that encourage them to keep going.
For their fiftieth and final planting event, they return to their home island of Maui, where their neighbors, friends, and family embrace them with the spirit of aloha.
Plant a Wish: The Film - the filmmaking duo's feature debut - features spectacular footage of the land, the people, and the stories that make America unique in the global dedication to restore a balance to the Earth's communities, reconnecting us to the land - and to the ancestral knowledge - we need to survive.
Watch the Trailer Now
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Forests and How to Save Them
The Economist
September 23, 2010
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The summer dry-season, now drawing to an end, is when the Amazon rainforest gets cut and burned. The smoke this causes can often be seen from space. But not this year. Brazil's deforestation rate has dropped astoundingly fast. In 2004 some 2.8m hectares (10,700 square miles) of the Amazon were razed; last year only around 750,000 hectares were.
This progress is not isolated. Many of the world's biggest clearers of trees have started to hug them. Over the past decade, the UN records, nearly 8m hectares of forest a year were allowed to re-grow or were planted anew. This was mostly in richer places, such as North America and in Europe, where dwindling rural populations have taken the pressure off forestland. But a couple of big poorer countries, notably China, have launched huge tree-planting schemes in a bid to prevent deforestation-related environmental disasters. Even in tropical countries, where most deforestation takes place, Brazil is not alone in becoming more reluctant to chop down trees.
The progress made in recent years shows that mankind is not doomed to strip the planet of its forest cover. But the transition from tree-chopper to tree-huger is not happening fast enough. Over the past decade, according to UN figures, around 13m hectares of forestland-an area the size of England-was converted each year to other uses, mostly agriculture. If the world is to keep the protective covering that helps it breathe, waters its crops, keeps it cool and nurtures its biodiversity, it is going to have to move fast.
To Read The Full Article Click Here
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Did you know?
Green jobs have expanded the workforce by 9.1 percent between the years 1998 and 2007
. A carbon footprint is a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide or CO2 emitted through the combustion of fossil fuels; in the case of an organization, business or enterprise, as part of their everyday operations; in the case of an individual or household, as part of their daily lives; or a product or commodity in reaching market. Know your carbon foot print? Click the Link below. Carbon Footprint Calculator Slay the energy vampire. What do computers, multifunction printers, flat-screen TVs, CD players, power tools and hand-held vacuums have in common? If they are plugged in, they continue to draw current, even when they're turned off. Standby power can make up 10 percent of your bill, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory |
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Investor Update
Investors will start to receive certificates within the next two weeks.
Seed collection will begin in July. Land clearing and fencing is already underway for 2011/2012. This season we anticipate planting 215 acres.
Amazingly the 2010/ 2011 season was sold out before the trees left the nursery.
Our tree capacity doubled to fulfill those orders. We are now expanding once again to accommodate
continuous high demand.
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