Rainforest Live '97 Journals from Queensland, Australia

  From the week ending April 18, 1997

Riparian Reforestation
by David Stern

Recently, the students, here in Australia have been working on directed research (DR) projects. My DR group is seeking to examine several different aspects of how riparian reforestation (i.e., reforestation of creeks, streams and rivers) affects dairy farming. One aspect that we are studying is the relationship between shade cover that cows have and their output of milk. It appears that those cows which have sufficient shade cover tend to produce one and a half to two additional liters of milk on significantly warmer days than those cows that do not have access to sufficient shade.

Another aspect that our DR group is examining are the attitudes that farmers have towards riparian reforestation. Riparian reforestation is important because it provides several environmental benefits. The planting of trees along riparian zones helps to reduce erosion during times of heavy rains and flooding. This in turn helps to improve the overall water quality of the area. Unfortunately, many people who live along riparian zones have not undertaken reforestation. As a result, we are seeking to examine these peoples’ attitudes to better understand why reforestation has not taken place and perhaps help to facilitate future plantings in these areas.

The last aspect we are examining is how riparian reforestation affects property values. Our initial findings seems to suggest that reforestation does not have any significant effect upon property values. However, we are going to attempt to show farmers the economic benefits that they would receive by carrying out reforestation. Hopefully, these economic benefits will provide enough incentives to convince farmers to carry out reforestation along their waterways.

 

A Week of Directed Research
by Jonah Ibson

At the Center for Rainforest Studies, we have reached the pinnacle of our semester long experience in North Queensland, Australia. All thirty-two of us are right-smack-dab in the middle of working on directed research projects. Our directed research projects involve small groups of about four people each doing a project related in some way to the rainforest with the help of one of our professors. Other groups at the center are conducting research on topics such as birds, reptiles, and reforestation.

My group is doing a project on Ethnobotany. This may sound like a big, funny word to you, but it is actually an incredibly interesting science. Ethnobotany is the study of plants used for medicine, food and daily life by indigenous people. Indigenous people are a group who lived in an area before other people came to settle there. For example, Native Americans like the Navajo, Cherokee, and Sioux people are all indigenous to North America like the Aborigines in Australia. My group is working with an Aboriginal man named George who told us about how he and his people used to live on the land before others came and took it away from them. He is sharing the different uses of a variety of plants found in the rainforest. So far we have learned about a tree called the Cockey Apple. When its leaves are heated underneath a fire, they can be used to stun fish in a river, making them easier to catch. He also showed us a kind of grass they roll into balls to soak up honey. And he showed us a plant called the Cycad, whose nuts are poisonous and have to be soaked in the river for two days and cooked, before you can eat them. It is great to learn from George about how his people respect and live off the land. The Aborigines feel that they have a responsibility to take care of the earth, and that they are very lucky to be able to use the earth’s resources. Perhaps we can all learn a little something from them.

www.sitesalive.com / Rainforest Live