In 2017 the worst wildfire season in Chile's history turned 457,000 hectares of landscape into a charred wasteland.
A crack team was brought in to help restore the damaged ecosystem. Border collies, Das, Summer and Olivia, were outfitted with special backpacks full of seeds and set loose to race through the ruined forests, dropping seeds along the way. The hope is that these seeds will take root and sprout, bringing the forest slowly back to life one tree at a time.
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The forests are not 'ruined'. There is a whole ecosystem that thrives on burned forests. It is just part of a cycle. Some tree species rely on fires to release their seeds. Larger grazing animals move in with the clutter of years of fallen debris gone and grasses appearing. Insects move in to feed on the dead wood, small mammals move in to feed on the insects and new foliage, birds have clear perches to hunt from. Just because we didn't get to the trees to make toilet paper first does not mean it is a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteFire is not "bad' or 'evil'. We just are afraid of it.