March - April 2020 Newsletter

In this Issue:

• Tip of the Iceberg: Is Our Destruction of Nature Responsible for Covid-19?  An article from The Guardian
• An Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans
• Pass the Torch!
• Compendium Notes: Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size
• Blessed Unrest Conference - Online!

'Tip of the Iceberg': Is Our Destruction of Nature

Responsible for Covid-19?

 A dead monkey sold as bushmeat hangs outside a villager’s house in north-east Gabon. Photograph: Christine Nesbitt/AP

The coronavirus did not emerge from nowhere.  It is a conspiracy of unknowing conspirators, an outgrowth of our burgeoning populations, desperate attempts to survive, blind grasping for goods and growth.

The good news, which we bring to you from around the world, is that we have other ways of living on Earth.  We know how to fix the climate and the pandemic and so much more.  They all share a root cause: Rampant human destruction of the biosphere.

This article from The Guardian explains connections.

Read more here.

An Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans

A Corona Virus     Photo: CDC

People in civilizations (not just our current one) become detached from the natural world on which we depend entirely. We see ourselves as endlessly clever, able to solve our environmental problems with technofixes - until we can't. Now is such a time, and this letter by Kristin Flyntz targets our hubris - no holds barred, yet with compassion and grace.

An Imagined Letter from Covid-19 to Humans

by Kristin Flyntz

Stop. Just stop.
It is no longer a request. It is a mandate.
We will help you.

We will bring the supersonic, high speed merry-go-round to a halt
We will stop
the planes
the trains
the schools
the malls
the meetings
the frenetic, furied rush of illusions and “obligations” that keep you from hearing our
single and shared beating heart,
the way we breathe together, in unison.
Our obligation is to each other,
As it has always been, even if, even though, you have forgotten.

We will interrupt this broadcast, the endless cacophonous broadcast of divisions and distractions,
to bring you this long-breaking news:
We are not well.
None of us; all of us are suffering.
Last year, the firestorms that scorched the lungs of the earth
did not give you pause.
Nor the typhoons in Africa, China, Japan.
Nor the fevered climates in Japan and India.
You have not been listening.
It is hard to listen when you are so busy all the time, hustling to uphold the comforts and conveniences that scaffold your lives.
But the foundation is giving way,
buckling under the weight of your needs and desires.
We will help you.
We will bring the firestorms to your body
We will bring the fever to your body
We will bring the burning, searing, and flooding to your lungs
that you might hear:
We are not well.

Despite what you might think or feel, we are not the enemy.
We are Messenger. We are Ally. We are a balancing force.
We are asking you:
To stop, to be still, to listen;
To move beyond your individual concerns and consider the concerns of all;
To be with your ignorance, to find your humility, to relinquish your thinking minds and travel deep into the mind of the heart;
To look up into the sky, streaked with fewer planes, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, smoky, smoggy, rainy? How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be healthy?
To look at a tree, and see it, to notice its condition: how does its health contribute to the health of the sky, to the air you need to be healthy?
To visit a river, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, clean, murky, polluted? How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be healthy? How does its health contribute to the health of the tree, who contributes to the health of the sky, so that you may also be healthy?

Many are afraid now.
Do not demonize your fear, and also, do not let it rule you. Instead, let it speak to you—in your stillness,
listen for its wisdom.
What might it be telling you about what is at work, at issue, at risk, beyond the threats of personal inconvenience and illness?
As the health of a tree, a river, the sky tells you about quality of your own health, what might the quality of your health tell you about the health of the rivers, the trees, the sky, and all of us who share this planet with you?

Stop.
Notice if you are resisting.
Notice what you are resisting.
Ask why.

Stop. Just stop.
Be still.
Listen.
Ask us what we might teach you about illness and healing, about what might be required so that all may be well.
We will help you, if you listen.

Pass the Torch!

Compendium Notes

Here's another excerpt from our  Compendium of Scientific and Practical Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming. The article below is from our sixth issue, January 2020, Vol. 3 No. 2 (p. 33):

Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size, Stephenson et al. 2014

The growth rate of trees – and thus their accumulation of carbon – increases continuously with tree size. Even though the leaves of smaller, younger trees are more efficient (more productive per unit area of leaf surface), larger trees have more total leaf surface area and therefore grow at a faster rate than their smaller counterparts. “For example, in our western USA old-growth forest plots, trees > 100cm in diameter comprised 6% of trees, yet contributed 33% of the annual forest mass growth.” 

Since trees use atmospheric carbon to grow, the more they grow, the more carbon they
sequester. “Thus, large, old trees do not act simply as senescent carbon reservoirs but actively fix large amounts of carbon compared to smaller trees.” 

Stephenson, N.L., et al., 2014, Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size, Nature 507, https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12914/.

Blessed Unrest:

Growing a Future for Life on Earth 

An extraordinary online conference!

Five sessions starting April 18, 2020

Are you feeling discouraged on Planet Covid?

Well, it's time for some really good news!

Thousands of independent organizations and millions of individuals worldwide are restoring living processes in their local areas while connecting with each other to create global change. This is the spontaneous, non-governmental movement that environmentalist and author Paul Hawken has called “blessed unrest.”

We have a remarkable collection of inspiring speakers and you may join us from around the world.  Lift your spirits and learn more about restoring life on Earth, taming the wild climate, and bringing food and water in abundance to living creatures around the world.

We will tell the stories of  people everywhere on the planet who are working with nature to protect and regenerate Earth's ecosystems. The current covid-19 pandemic is increasingly understood to result from loss of biodiversity and habitat; we hope this conference will inspire you to join and support a vibrant and vitally needed global regenerative movement that has not received enough attention in the media. And while the movement is global, you will see that it is grounded in the local.

We are all the local.  We can all make a difference.  Listen to the stories these blessed unresters have to tell and be inspired to new levels of action!

Our Speakers: Ellen Bernstein, Alfred Brownell, Roland Bunch, Rachel Burger, Arielle Martinez Cohen, Iona Conner,  Ronnie Cummins, Anna Gilbert-Muhammud, Rev Dele, Christopher Haines, Hayat Imam, Susan Jennings, Jim Laurie + Kids, Elizabeth Monson, Holly Paar, Sven Pihl, Florence Reed, Janot Mendler de Suarez, Adam Sacks

Last But Not Least. . .

You're concerned about the current state of the Earth, and we are working for you, our young people, and the diverse web of life we all rely on.

Not to put too fine a point on it, we just want to say that we're a small non-profit doing BIG things.

Your support and involvement are very important! Please  . . .

. . . and a monthly donation is easy on your budget but is a major contribution to our work.

Many thanks!