Finalist – monochrome: Transpiration
‘While driving home from a pre-dawn shoot in the Meander Valley, I stopped to admire the dawn breaking behind a young Blackwood tree. Its silhouette struck a beautiful contrast as the sun warmed its transpiring leaves, with the evaporating water droplets rising from the branches to mingle with the surrounding mist.’ Tommeginne country, Deloraine, #Tasmania.
Photograph: Joy Kachina
Finalist – astrophotography: Celestial Iris After the Fires
‘On New Year’s Eve 2019, a huge fire devastated the tiny town of Mallacoota and the surrounding forests. This photograph was taken looking vertically up through the burnt coastal melaleuca. Amongst all the devastation, the Milky Way, so clear in our dark skies, seemed to symbolise the hope of renewal and regrowth.’ Bidwell country, #Mallacoota, #Victoria.
Photograph: Caroline Jones
How #Guatemala, #Mexico, and #Belize plan to protect 14 million acres of #Mayan#Forest
Mexico, Guatemala and Belize have announced plans to create a huge reserve of tropical forest spanning across the three countries. Pushing out criminal gangs and protecting the land from ranchers, miners and loggers won’t be easy.
By Sonia Pérez D. And María Verza, Aug. 21, 2025
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — "Mexico, Guatemala and Belize have announced plans to create a huge reserve of tropical forest spanning across the three countries. Pushing out criminal gangs and protecting the land from ranchers, miners and loggers won’t be easy.
The nature reserve announced last week and called the #GreatMayanJungleBioculturalCorridor would stretch across jungle areas of southern Mexico and northern parts of the two Central American nations, encompassing more than 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares). It would become the second largest reserve in the Americas, behind only the Amazon.
In interviews this week, the environment ministers of Mexico and Guatemala emphasized the need for security, while also expressing the intention of administrations in both countries to avoid destructive projects in the area.
" 'The first thing is that the security forces begin to have a presence,' because the region has been abandoned and left to organized crime, Guatemala Environment Minister Patricia Orantes said. 'This is not primarily an environmental battle. We’re talking about the Guatemalan state needing to retake control of its territory.'
"#Environmental groups have long said that the jungle on both sides of the Mexico-Guatemala border is dotted with clandestine landing strips for cocaine-laden planes, smugglers moving migrants north and illegal loggers.
"Mexico Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena said that all three countries will need to boost their security presence in the reserve. 'We’re not going to protect the forest ourselves, the security secretary has to help, the army,' Bárcena said.
Communities as allies
"Just sending troops will likely be insufficient, as Mexico’s experience along another part of its southern border in Chiapas has shown. Organized crime has infiltrated economically-strapped communities with few options and it has been difficult to root them out.
"Guatemalan lawyer and environmental activist Rafael Maldonado said it will be vital 'to convert communities that are believed to participate in drug trafficking into allies of the park.'
"To do that, Orantes said the government must offer economic alternatives to those residents.
"One proposal from Mexico is the expansion of its '#PlantingLife' program, which offers landowners money to grow certain kinds of #trees either for #fruit or #timber. The program has a $2 billion budget, Bárcena said.
"But the program, which dates to ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has faced criticism. In 2021, the World Resources Institute reported that it had actually incentivized deforestation in Campeche state. Bárcena said the program is being adjusted to better meet environmental objectives.
"Mexican sustainability and climate action expert Juan Carlos Franco, who works in southern Mexico, said security is crucial and requires the government to act as 'guarantor.' But the work has to be carried out with civil society in the #LocalCommunities, including in places where locals have found ways to coexist with the illegal activity surrounding them, he said.
" 'Communities oriented toward the #biocultural management of the territory can overcome despite the crime, that’s the most revealing message,' he said.
"Another challenge will be holding governments over the long term to commitments to forgo big projects that promise economic development but threaten environmental damage, such as Mexico’s tourist rail operation, the Maya Train, which Belize is interested in extending to its territory.
"Orantes, the Guatemala minister, said that Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo would not allow megaprojects in the reserve because when access is opened in the forest it becomes difficult to control everything that follows.
"Arévalo recently declined to renew the contract of a #petroleum company that had been operating for 40 years in a Guatemalan reserve known as the #Maya Biosphere.
"Guatemala is making the largest land contribution to the reserve, encompassing 27 existing protected areas. Arévalo had already made clear that he would not run an extension of the Maya Train proposed by Mexico’s last president through protected areas.
In Mexico, Bárcena noted that the 950-mile (1,500-kilometer) train line, which started running in late 2023 and goes in a rough loop around the Yucatan Peninsula, lies outside the new reserve’s territory.
"She said her agency was working to alleviate some of the environmental impacts of the train line, in collaboration with companies operated by the Mexican Army, which built a large portion of the rail line and operates the train.
"To avoid destructive projects in the new reserve, the three governments agreed to create a council made up of environmental authorities, as well as an Indigenous advisory council, Bárcena said. Any proposed projects in the reserve would have to pass through them.
"Some Mexican activists, like Pedro Uc who lives in the Yucatan, remain skeptical of the government’s commitment to conservation considering the same political party that brought the Maya Train remains in power in Mexico. Others like Franco are willing to move ahead and keep the pressure on the three governments to maintain their commitments."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/GyXR8
#SolarPunkSunday #ForestsAreLife #ProtectTheForest#PreserveNature#CentralAmerica
Peach colored rose-like flowers from a 𝑃𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑢𝑠 family tree (aka Sakura)
#bloomscrolling #photo #photography #trees #flowers #rose #flower #spring
Peach colored rose-like flowers from a 𝑃𝑟𝑢𝑛𝑢𝑠 family tree (aka Sakura)
#bloomscrolling #photo #photography #trees #flowers #rose #flower #spring
How #Guatemala, #Mexico, and #Belize plan to protect 14 million acres of #Mayan#Forest
Mexico, Guatemala and Belize have announced plans to create a huge reserve of tropical forest spanning across the three countries. Pushing out criminal gangs and protecting the land from ranchers, miners and loggers won’t be easy.
By Sonia Pérez D. And María Verza, Aug. 21, 2025
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — "Mexico, Guatemala and Belize have announced plans to create a huge reserve of tropical forest spanning across the three countries. Pushing out criminal gangs and protecting the land from ranchers, miners and loggers won’t be easy.
The nature reserve announced last week and called the #GreatMayanJungleBioculturalCorridor would stretch across jungle areas of southern Mexico and northern parts of the two Central American nations, encompassing more than 14 million acres (5.7 million hectares). It would become the second largest reserve in the Americas, behind only the Amazon.
In interviews this week, the environment ministers of Mexico and Guatemala emphasized the need for security, while also expressing the intention of administrations in both countries to avoid destructive projects in the area.
" 'The first thing is that the security forces begin to have a presence,' because the region has been abandoned and left to organized crime, Guatemala Environment Minister Patricia Orantes said. 'This is not primarily an environmental battle. We’re talking about the Guatemalan state needing to retake control of its territory.'
"#Environmental groups have long said that the jungle on both sides of the Mexico-Guatemala border is dotted with clandestine landing strips for cocaine-laden planes, smugglers moving migrants north and illegal loggers.
"Mexico Environment Secretary Alicia Bárcena said that all three countries will need to boost their security presence in the reserve. 'We’re not going to protect the forest ourselves, the security secretary has to help, the army,' Bárcena said.
Communities as allies
"Just sending troops will likely be insufficient, as Mexico’s experience along another part of its southern border in Chiapas has shown. Organized crime has infiltrated economically-strapped communities with few options and it has been difficult to root them out.
"Guatemalan lawyer and environmental activist Rafael Maldonado said it will be vital 'to convert communities that are believed to participate in drug trafficking into allies of the park.'
"To do that, Orantes said the government must offer economic alternatives to those residents.
"One proposal from Mexico is the expansion of its '#PlantingLife' program, which offers landowners money to grow certain kinds of #trees either for #fruit or #timber. The program has a $2 billion budget, Bárcena said.
"But the program, which dates to ex-President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has faced criticism. In 2021, the World Resources Institute reported that it had actually incentivized deforestation in Campeche state. Bárcena said the program is being adjusted to better meet environmental objectives.
"Mexican sustainability and climate action expert Juan Carlos Franco, who works in southern Mexico, said security is crucial and requires the government to act as 'guarantor.' But the work has to be carried out with civil society in the #LocalCommunities, including in places where locals have found ways to coexist with the illegal activity surrounding them, he said.
" 'Communities oriented toward the #biocultural management of the territory can overcome despite the crime, that’s the most revealing message,' he said.
"Another challenge will be holding governments over the long term to commitments to forgo big projects that promise economic development but threaten environmental damage, such as Mexico’s tourist rail operation, the Maya Train, which Belize is interested in extending to its territory.
"Orantes, the Guatemala minister, said that Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo would not allow megaprojects in the reserve because when access is opened in the forest it becomes difficult to control everything that follows.
"Arévalo recently declined to renew the contract of a #petroleum company that had been operating for 40 years in a Guatemalan reserve known as the #Maya Biosphere.
"Guatemala is making the largest land contribution to the reserve, encompassing 27 existing protected areas. Arévalo had already made clear that he would not run an extension of the Maya Train proposed by Mexico’s last president through protected areas.
In Mexico, Bárcena noted that the 950-mile (1,500-kilometer) train line, which started running in late 2023 and goes in a rough loop around the Yucatan Peninsula, lies outside the new reserve’s territory.
"She said her agency was working to alleviate some of the environmental impacts of the train line, in collaboration with companies operated by the Mexican Army, which built a large portion of the rail line and operates the train.
"To avoid destructive projects in the new reserve, the three governments agreed to create a council made up of environmental authorities, as well as an Indigenous advisory council, Bárcena said. Any proposed projects in the reserve would have to pass through them.
"Some Mexican activists, like Pedro Uc who lives in the Yucatan, remain skeptical of the government’s commitment to conservation considering the same political party that brought the Maya Train remains in power in Mexico. Others like Franco are willing to move ahead and keep the pressure on the three governments to maintain their commitments."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/GyXR8
#SolarPunkSunday #ForestsAreLife #ProtectTheForest#PreserveNature#CentralAmerica
A happy place.
📸 iPhone 13 Pro Max
#ColorADay#GreenSat#AbstractAug#Trees#EastCoastKin#MobilePhotography#Forests#WatkinsGlen#FingerLakes
A happy place.
📸 iPhone 13 Pro Max
#ColorADay#GreenSat#AbstractAug#Trees#EastCoastKin#MobilePhotography#Forests#WatkinsGlen#FingerLakes
The view today from Grand Teton National Park. For more information https://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm and https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/grte/grte_geology/sec1.htm and https://www.gtnpf.org/ and #interpretation #nps #nationalparks #publiclands #landscapephotography #photography Image credit Grand Teton National Park Foundation and National Park Service #grandteton #geology #wywx #wyoming #trees #mountains #sage #snow#summer#jacksonhole
The view today from Grand Teton National Park. For more information https://www.nps.gov/grte/index.htm and https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/grte/grte_geology/sec1.htm and https://www.gtnpf.org/ and #interpretation #nps #nationalparks #publiclands #landscapephotography #photography Image credit Grand Teton National Park Foundation and National Park Service #grandteton #geology #wywx #wyoming #trees #mountains #sage #snow#summer#jacksonhole
Secret Corners: Hiding in Plain Sight
The Enchanted Forest. In the hidden corners of the world, sweet mysteries abound. NOTE: I created this piece quite a while ago, using a rubbing technique (a block of concrete) to get the texture of the tree bark. :-)
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NOW AVAILABLE in my Redbubble shop:
https://www.redbubble.com/people/gretchenkdeahl/shop
(Fulfills and ships orders worldwide. :-)
(100% human-made) human imagined, drawn and painted, no AI whatsoever.
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#art #artist #illustration #illustrator #spiritual #drawing #paintings#noAI #childrensbooks #fineart #artwork #landscape #nature #childrensart #artforchildren #interiordecor #flowers #mastoart #art #artistsonmastodon #artlover #artlovers #decor #popart #artnet #artlover #artlovers #handmade #supportthearts #monsters #monster #creature #friend #love #march #forest #magic #imagination #fantasyart #fantasy #trees #treescape#de_artists #mastoart#de_artist #artist_de #mastoart #mastoartist#de_artists
Secret Corners: Hiding in Plain Sight
The Enchanted Forest. In the hidden corners of the world, sweet mysteries abound. NOTE: I created this piece quite a while ago, using a rubbing technique (a block of concrete) to get the texture of the tree bark. :-)
---------------------
NOW AVAILABLE in my Redbubble shop:
https://www.redbubble.com/people/gretchenkdeahl/shop
(Fulfills and ships orders worldwide. :-)
(100% human-made) human imagined, drawn and painted, no AI whatsoever.
---------------------
#art #artist #illustration #illustrator #spiritual #drawing #paintings#noAI #childrensbooks #fineart #artwork #landscape #nature #childrensart #artforchildren #interiordecor #flowers #mastoart #art #artistsonmastodon #artlover #artlovers #decor #popart #artnet #artlover #artlovers #handmade #supportthearts #monsters #monster #creature #friend #love #march #forest #magic #imagination #fantasyart #fantasy #trees #treescape#de_artists #mastoart#de_artist #artist_de #mastoart #mastoartist#de_artists
A stream leads to a line of trees and the Teton mountains in the distance at Schwabacher’s Landing in Grand Teton NP. It is particularly beautiful in the spring when the mountains are still snow-capped.
#grandteton #nationalpark #schwabachers #schwabacherslanding #reflections #mountains #lake #trees #clouds #spruce #cottonwood #river #wyoming #nature #snow #landscape #landscapephotography #artforsale #BuyIntoArt#AYearForArt #giftideas @joancarroll
A stream leads to a line of trees and the Teton mountains in the distance at Schwabacher’s Landing in Grand Teton NP. It is particularly beautiful in the spring when the mountains are still snow-capped.
#grandteton #nationalpark #schwabachers #schwabacherslanding #reflections #mountains #lake #trees #clouds #spruce #cottonwood #river #wyoming #nature #snow #landscape #landscapephotography #artforsale #BuyIntoArt#AYearForArt #giftideas @joancarroll
This is what 5 years of reforestation looks like ✨
Once cleared for a palm oil monoculture, this forest is now lush and diverse again.
Together with Leuser Conservation Forum, we’re restoring the Leuser ecosystem in Indonesia — supporting natural regeneration and planting native trees with local communities.
5 years of progress, powered by the Ecosia community 💚
The US government’s climate cuts nearly killed 360,000 trees meant to protect Dr. Jane Goodall’s famous chimpanzees.
Then millions of ordinary people stepped in. Thanks to your searches, we're able to plant the seedlings and defend the forest (and the chimps who call it home).
Thank you to the Jane Goodall Institute and Jane Goodall Institute Austria for their incredible work!
Novel research reveals thriving microbial life in trees https://phys.org/news/2025-08-reveals-microbial-life-trees.html
A diverse and distinct #microbiome inside living trees https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09316-0
"A single tree hosts about one trillion #bacteria in its woody tissue... #microbes are partitioned between heartwood and sapwood with each having its own unique microbiomes with minimal similarity to other tissues... They are actively producing gases and cycling nutrients... these communities may have coevolved with #trees over time"
A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate
