“It is difficult to realize how great a part of all that is cheerful and delightful in the recollections of our own life is associated with trees.” – Wilson Flagg, Naturalist

There’s a sadly familiar pattern that comes with environmental news stories about the world’s great forests. “Here’s why they’re too precious to squander. Here’s why we’re squandering them. Go see them while you still can.” But take heart – because on Thursday, the trees won.

The boreal forest of Canada is a natural marvel on a staggering scale. Covering well over half of the entire country and storing twice as much carbon per acre as tropical forests, it’s – you guessed it – way too precious an environmental resource for us to squander. Yet that’s exactly what some people have been trying to do – with oil and gas exploitation, hydroelectric development and loosely regulated logging galore. Thankfully, these efforts have to date been too puny to make much of a dent in this 1.3-billion acre behemoth. Given time, this story might change for the worse.

For any unscrupulous developers casting an avaricious eye over all this natural wealth – time may have just have ran out. On Thursday, members of the Forest Products Association of Canada and nine environmental organizations, including ForestEthics and Greenpeace, announced their backing for the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. First up – the suspension of 29 million hectares of logging to protect caribou habitats (and as a trade-off, environmental groups are dropping a number of “Do Not Buy” campaigns.)

So yes, go see the stunningly beautiful boreal forests of Canada. But don’t feel in any great hurry. Because thankfully, they’ll still be here tomorrow.

Images: pentaboxes and axiepics.

Have you ever really thought about what chewing gum is made of? Maybe you don’t really want to know. Modern gum is mostly made up of petro-based polymers. Essentially, you’re chewing plastic. But the original chewing gum came from chicle, the latex of a tropical Central American tree. And the Consorcio Chicleros of south-eastern Mexico are taking chewing gum back to its original Mayan roots.

So gum-lovers, I’d like to present you with a better option: Chicza, an organic, biodegradable, agave-sweetened gum made completely from chicle tree latex, the old-fashioned way. The chicle latex is sustainably harvested right in the tropical forest. These trees can’t produce the latex in any other environment than their natural one, so the chicleros have great incentive to protect their trees and their livelihood.

And you, as the gum chewing consumer, can rest assured that you’re chewing a botanical product (and not the product of the petrol business) and helping these people protect their land from deforestation and cattle grazing. So chew up! And toss your gum in the compost when you’re done.

I have two thumbs and neither one is green, in any way, shape or form. Nature and plush, pretty gardens fill me with joy, but don’t let me anywhere near a shovel or pruning shears – tragic mishaps are likely to occur.

I’ve been responsible for many a premature death due to my apparent lack of “intuition” when it comes to growing green things. But even I could probably take on a Grow Me a Tree and nurture it through adolescence and into adulthood.

The Silver Birch seeds arrive “grow ready” in a compostable brown sack filled with soil. Rip off the top of the sack and care for the seeds (i.e. water, assure proper sunlight exposure, etc.) until the tree is mature enough to plant outside. Seems easy enough. But please note that the Silver Birch can grow as tall as 30 feet high. Plant carefully.

Despite my trepidation, I ordered one for myself and plan to focus as if the future of the planet depends on it. If others followed suit, and each grew a tree, what a wonderful world it might turn out to be.

Find the Grow Me a Tree at snowhome for approximately $8.50 (plus $15 shipping from the U.K. to the U.S.).

- via Nigel’s Eco Store

Boris Trajanov, who organized the planting of 6 million trees in one day in Macedonia, knows that such huge efforts are not impossible when you put your heart and some great organization into it! Now, Mokugift, a leading online tree gifting service, pledges to plant 5 million trees by the end of 2009.

Mokugift is in partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme’s Billion Tree Campaign. The UNEP is sending out the call to citizens globally to plant over 7 billion trees, or roughly one tree per global citizen, by the close of 2009.

It’s being called Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign. The campaign got a head start in the first 18 months following its launch in 2006. Individuals and communities, private sector companies, organizations and governments in 166 countries have planted 2.5 billion trees already, making it one of the UN’s most successful environmental campaigns yet. The campaign has exceeded all expectations because of strong grassroots support and well-planned global outreach strategies.

“Plant for the Planet: The Billion Tree Campaign” stresses the power of solidarity because everyone matters, and every tree counts.

If you missed out on the action in Macedonia, Mokugift makes it possible for ordinary people to join in the fun!  Each tree planted cost only $1. All you have to do to plant a tree is make a few refined turns of the index finger, click the mouse and – this could be the hard part – choose a country in which you want your tree(s) planted. In mere moments, you can go from web surfing to becoming a global tree planter participating in the reforestation of the planet.

Giving a tree really is as easy as sending an e-card.  When that someone special receives a tree, they can proudly display their trees online at Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle and other popular Web sites. Mokugift even enables iPhone and iPod touch owners to plant a tree and they make it as easy as buying their favorite song.  Plus, Mokugift plants a tree when iPhone and iPod touch owners purchase A Real Tree application on Apple’s iTunes AppStore.

Image: McPig