Trees For The Future

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Interesting Tree Facts

(From the United Nations Environmental Programme)

Deepest Roots
A Wild Fig tree at Echo Caves, near Ohrigstad, Mpumalanga, South Africa has roots reaching 400 feet making it the deepest a tree’s roots have penetrated.

The Fastest Growing Tree
In 1974, it was noted that an Albizzia falcata in Sabah, Malaysia had grown 35 feet and 3 inches in 13 months: approximately 1.1 inches per day.

The Greatest Girth
In the late 18th century, a European Chestnut, known as the Tree of the Hundred Horses, on Mount Etna in Sicily, had a circumference of 190 feet. It has since separated into three parts.

The Most Dangerous Tree
The Manchineel Tree of the Caribbean coast and the Florida Everglades is a species that secretes an exceptionally poisonous and acidic sap. Upon contact with the skin, blisters can occur. If there is contact with the eye, a person can be blinded. One bite of its fruit can cause blistering and severe pain. This tree has been feared ever since the Spanish explorers came to the Americas in the 16th century.

The Most Massive Tree
The "Lindsey Creek Tree", a Coast Redwood with a minimum trunk volume of 90,000 cubic feet and a minimum total mass of 3,630 tons, was the most massive known tree until it blew over in a storm in 1905. The most massive living tree is "General Sherman", a giant sequoia found in the Sequoia National Park in California. It is 275 feet tall with a girth of 102 feet, eight inches.

The Oldest Tree
Found in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in California, the oldest tree recognized is a Redwood known as Eternal God. The tree is believed to be 12,000 years old, although it is argued as being only 7,000 years old, which still makes it the oldest.

The Slowest Growing Tree
A White Ceda, located in the Great Lakes area of Canada, has only grown to less than 4 inches tall during its 155 years.

The Tallest Tree
In 1872, an Australian Eucalyptus at Watts River, Victoria in Australia was said to measure in height 435 feet, but it is speculated that it probably measured to over 500 feet at some point in its life. The tallest living tree is a Coast Redwood known as the "Mendocino Tree" found in Montgomery State Reserve in California. This tree, which is over 1000 years old, is more than 367 1/2 feet tall and still growing.

The Yoga Club has planted 4000 trees already!!!

In partnership with Trees for the Future, we plant a tree for every paid member of our community, every month, for the entire life of the membership!

As our community grows, so will our positive impact on the environment. We are committed to planting 250,000 trees in a year.

In addition we also plant a tree for every purchase made on our website. Every time you buy a book or get those really cool yoga pants – a tree is planted! We give back to the environment with gratitude and respect!

Join our yoga community today and make your contribution to global well being!

If you would like to share the yoga experience the Yoga Club provides, and in the process help us plant more trees, please refer your friends to our site.

Trees for The Future is an agroforestry resource center helping people in developing countries improve their rural livelihoods through the introduction of environmentally sustainable land management projects focused on beneficial tree planting. Trees for the Future provides technical knowledge on agroforestry and sustainable development, along with planting materials so that communities can return their degraded lands and struggling farms back to sustainable production.

Why plant trees?

Trees form the foundations of many natural systems. They help to conserve soil and water, control avalanches, prevent desertification, protect coastal areas and stabilize sand dunes. Forests are the most important repositories of terrestrial biological biodiversity, housing up to 90% of known terrestrial species.

Trees and shrubs play a vital role in the daily life of rural communities. They provide sources of timber, fuel wood, food, fodder, essential oils, gums, resins, latex, medicines and shade. Forest animals have a vital role in forest ecology such as pollination, seed dispersal and germination.

Through a network of technicians, volunteers, and community leaders world-wide, Trees for the Future program reaches remote areas and gives local people the knowledge and ability to rehabilitate their environment. Since 1988, Trees for the Future has helped thousands of communities in Central America, Africa, and Asia improve their livelihoods and their environment by planting nearly 50 million trees.

Trees remove CO2 from the atmosphere. One tree planted in the humid tropics absorbing on average 50 pounds (22 kg) of carbon dioxide annually over 40 years - each tree will absorb 1 ton of CO2 over its lifetime; but as trees grow, they compete for resources and some may die or be destroyed - not all will achieve their full carbon sequestration potential. On average, 5 trees should be planted to ensure that at least one lives to 40 years or that their combined sequestration equals 1 ton.

Curious fact 1: In one year, an average tree inhales 12 - 22 kilograms (26 - 50 pounds) of CO2 and exhales enough oxygen for a family of four for a year.

Curious Fact 2: The average American (non-vegetarian) for his or her diet generates the equivalent of 1.5 tons more carbon dioxide per year than a vegan diet. (University of Chicago study, May 2006)

Curious Fact 3: Forests cover 30 per cent of the planet’s total land area. The total forested area in 2005 was just under 4 billion hectares, at least one third less than before the dawn of agriculture, some 10,000 years ago. (1 hectare is equal to 10,000 square metres) (United Nations Environmental Programme)

Curious Fact 4: Trees absorb carbon dioxide and are vital carbon sinks. It is estimated that the world’s forests store 283 Gigatonnes of carbon in their biomass alone, and that carbon stored in forest biomass, deadwood, litter and soil together is roughly 50 per cent more than the carbon in the atmosphere. The loss of natural forests around the world contributes more to global emissions each year than the transport sector. Curbing deforestation is a highly cost-effective way to reduce emissions. Other solutions include increased energy efficiency, reduced energy demand, better transport and the use of green energy. (United Nations Environmental Programme)

Curious Fact 5: World population currently stands at 6.5 billion people. It is projected to grow to 9 billion by 2042. The expansion of agricultural and industrial needs, population growth, poverty, landlessness and consumer demand are the major driving forces behind deforestation. Most deforestation is due to conversion of forests to agricultural land. Global removals of wood for timber and fuel amounted to 3.1 billion cubic metres in 2005.

Worldwide, deforestation continues at an alarming rate, about 13 million hectares per year, an area the size of Greece or Nicaragua. Africa and South America have the largest net loss of forests. In Africa it is estimated that nearly half othe forest loss was due to removal of wood fuel. Forests in Europe are expanding. Asia, which had a net loss in the 1990s, reported a net gain of forests in the past five years, primarily due to large-scale forestation in China.

Forest planting and the natural expansion of forests help to reduce the net loss of forests. The net change in forested area in the period 2000–2005 is estimated at 7.3 million hectares a year (an area about the size of Sierra Leone or Panama), down from 8.9 million hectares a year in the period 1990–2000. (United Nations Environmental Programme)

Curious Fact 6: Rainforests cover only 7 per cent of the land on earth but they contain nearly half of all the trees on earth. They generate about 40 per cent of the world’s oxygen.

Curious Fact 7: Aspirin originally came from the bark of a willow tree. Quinine, the cure for malaria, comes from the bark of Cinchona trees.