Apart from their extraordinary importance for the survival of the planet Earth and its inhabitants, the forests and among them the tropical forests are, in my opinion, probably one of the most beautiful and fascinating things existing in this world.
This incredible abundance of life in a very small space! In various shades of green on the ground and in the height, the plants sprout and entwine in all imaginable forms and colours around the trunks towards the light. Toothed, round, oval, hairy, elongated, narrow, waxed, perforated, variegated; in all imaginable variations they complement each other to form a harmonious green community. Arm-thick lianas entwine high into the crowns like cone pullers. Small tree seedlings can be found on the ground, hardly thicker than a thumb and perhaps as high as one's own knee. If the same species can be seen again in another location, they can be one and a half metres thick and, with their huge crowns, tower above all the rest of the green, so that the dense foliage makes it impossible to see their crowns from the forest ground.
.jpg "Regenwald-Thailand, noch junger Naturwald in Thungsaliam 1994")
still young natural forest in Thungsaliam 1994
If you look around in the abundance of green, you soon realize as a quiet hunch that we can't do something like this. The whole thing is a miracle! Who could even want to destroy it - if he recognizes the creative powers in everything and can also recognize himself as part of the whole? Can one extinguish life that one cannot ignite himself?
natural forest in Thungsaliam 1994
Thailand used to be covered with large forests. The forests stored huge amounts of water, as mountains and glaciers can do in other countries. Like a sponge, forests have the ability to store large quantities of water, which is then slowly released again to all dependent creatures. The water is pure and clear and of extreme goodness. Even after a tropical thunderstorm, the streams remain clear. The forests are important for the water balance all over the world. If there are forests, there is never a lack of water, even in the dry season. Due to the loss of large forest areas, Thailand today has great water problems - too much water due to flooding, or no water due to drought. Large parts of the country are now affected by major floods every year. The cause, if you take a closer look, lies in the disproportion of the temperatures. If the soil is warmer than the rain hitting the ground, the water can no longer penetrate the soil, or can do so only very sparsely, and therefore flows off quickly on the surface in its entire mass. If the soil is shaded by forest, the soil is cooler than the temperature of the incident rain. So the water can penetrate deep into the soil and feeds the springs in the whole environment for a long time.
natural forest in Thungsaliam 1994
The major floods cause major financial damage every year, among other things, and many families live in poverty. Every year, tons of fertile soil are washed into the sea by the rivers and are lost forever. Only the forest can change this misery lastingly to the good again, and wealth for all comes in large measure from a naturally regulated water balance - the forest! The forest contains the sustainable wealth of a people, because it contains the most precious element on this earth that we have: Water!
At the time of the Emperor of Abyssinia in 1960, the land of Abyssinia still had 40% forest. Today, only 40 years later, this country (today Ethiopia) still has 1% forest - so a large water shortage is permanently a life-threatening fact. Drought and erosion characterise the landscape and poverty in this African country penetrates via the media to Europe in the form of cries for help and bread. The forests of India suffered the same fate. India today is only 8 % forested - the water shortage, poverty and huge floods are correspondingly high every year.
still young natural forest in Thungsaliam 1994
Let's just plant trees again and do what ultimately serves everyone! Do you help?
Our activities:
Our activities:
1. we acquire land with sparse but still valuable trees, supplement the damaged forest with more trees and maintain and promote the existing diversity. The acquired land is fenced in to protect the growing trees from forest pasture.
Mai Kuang (Dipterocarpus tuberculatus)
2. We buy wasteland and reforest it. We exclusively plant native tree species in as great a variety as possible. These raise the groundwater level and also benefit the whole animal world. Also small forest pieces are valuable. They improve the microclimate on a small scale, in the immediate vicinity and thus support the overall climate of the country and ultimately also the global climate.
Gratum Bän or Quao ( Haldina cordifolia Roxb.,Rubiaceae)
3. Whenever we have the opportunity, we inform the local population about the meaning and value of the forest and motivate them to preserve the existing individual trees and possibly help them to plant new ones. The extraction of charcoal is a big problem for the forest in Thailand.
"Don Wah (Syzygium cumini,L.,Myrtaceae)",
an old giant from the original forest
