trees

They have found a way to green the Sahara and it is not by planting trees: by releasing 500 turtles

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The Sahel is the strip of land that separates the Sahara and the African savannahs, but it is increasingly more desert than anything else. The United Nations UNCCD has already warned that the Sahel is one of the regions of Africa most vulnerable to desertification and what it entails: soils so hardened that they prevent water penetration and plants no longer take root. If planting is not possible and conditions become harsh, desertification leads to forced migration of those who live there. The classic response to try to stop desertification has been to plant trees, but it is an expensive method and does not always work, so someone has proposed a different experiment: it is not introducing vegetation but rather returning an animal whose behavior is capable of changing the structure of the soil. Turtles for frenew the desert. In 2021 a research team he blurted out 500 african spurred tortoises precisely on the southern border of the Sahara. They didn’t do anything special, just let them do their thing. Five years later, satellite images they have confirmed that where before there was only sand, now there are green patches of vegetation. And what do African turtles do? Well dig. This species, whose natural habitat is precisely the Sahelbuilds burrows up to 15 meters in length to instinctively protect themselves from heat and cold. This construction work breaks up the crust of the soil, allowing water to pass through and ultimately creating more favorable conditions for seeds to germinate. Why is it important. Because the African spurred tortoise is a ecosystem engineer: a species that benefits other species with its modification of the environment. Like the UNCCD has already pointed outland restoration is one of the best solutions to desertification and the turtle does it alone, without the need for machinery. For local communities, digging in semi-desert areas to have holes that retain water is an arduous task that the turtle does natively throughout its life. Paradoxically, the African spurred tortoise is native there, but it is increasingly difficult to find because it is threatened. That this turtle disappears from the Sahel is bad news for biodiversity, but also for the soil: without its valuable excavation work, the surface hardens, the water drains away and, ultimately, the seeds do not hold. Context. The soil of the Sahel has been so degraded in recent decades that as early as 1977 was organized in NairobiKenya, the first United Nations Conference on Desertification. Although it is one of the most vulnerable areas, it is one of the great structural problems of Africa: two thirds of the continent is classified as deserts or arid lands and it is estimated that two thirds of African land is already degraded to some degree. But for the African spurred tortoise it has not been a bed of roses either: it has been under the magnifying glass of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora since 2000, with restrictions to protect it and reintroduction in the north and west of Ferlo and Senegal: in 2017 the African Chelonian Institute already made a documented release of 20 individuals. There are also captive colonies in several countries in Africa and outside of it. However, the according to the IUCN Red List The species’ population continues to decline due to habitat loss, exploitation for eggs and meat, the pet trade, and the effects of climate change such as desertification. In detail. The ecological mechanism consists in which the turtle’s digging breaks up the hardened crust of the soil and its tunnels allow rainwater to penetrate deeper layers, instead of evaporating quickly. As a result, porosity improves, surface temperature decreases and nutrient availability is enhanced. As a consequence, the soil gains water retention capacity and humidity is maintained longer. Seeds that could not germinate before find the minimum conditions to develop. In addition, insects and microorganisms colonize these excavated spaces, which activates the ecological chain and ends up attracting birds and small vertebrates. It is not a lush jungle, but it has enough green shoots to stop desertification and recover biodiversity. Yes, but. The reintroduction of turtles does not work miracles: it is just the starting point. For the process to progress on the right track, other requirements are necessary, such as availability of rain and a sustainable and stable management policy. There is little point in introducing them if they are later hunted, something not unreasonable given that the species is already threatened. On the other hand, we know that digging improves the soil, but I could be doing something else: disperse seeds throughout the Sahel, so that part of those new green shoots are also their work without us yet knowing it. In Xataka | The rain has transformed the driest desert on the planet into a sea of ​​flowers. It’s a sight to behold and a problem for experts In Xataka | 4,000 years ago the Sahara was not yet a desert. We have found the new evidence in a cave in Sudan Cover | Wikimedia and Ash Hayes

A medieval poet and some buried trees have just revealed something very strange to us about the 13th century Sun

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At the beginning of the 13th century, the Sun was passing through a solar cycle much shorter than those that exist today, but extremely intense. Having such specific details is complicated for such a distant time, when scientists did not have instruments to measure this type of activity. However, there is something that today’s scientists do have and that has helped them detect this event: a book of poetry and many trees. Art and science. A team of scientists from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology has described this event using two types of data. On the one hand, a poem written in 1204 by the Japanese writer Fujiwara no Teika. On the other hand, the observation of the rings of buried tree trunks in northern Japan. The conclusion is clear. While today solar cycles are usually around 11 years, back then there were some 6 or 7 years, but the activity was high enough to lead to the formation of auroras in Japan. A proton explosion. When solar activity is very intense, phenomena such as solar flares or the coronal mass ejections. The first is a sudden release of electromagnetic radiation from the solar surface, while the second consists of the expulsion of matter, normally charged plasma particles, from the Sun’s corona. Associated with these phenomena, proton explosions occur, in which these charged particles move at high speed. rare isotopes. Normally, a good part of these charged particles and cosmic rays fail to pass through the Earth’s magnetic field. However, when they are very intense they can reach our atmosphere in greater quantities and interact with the gases in it. In this reaction, isotopes such as beryllium-10 or carbon-14 can be formed. These are beryllium or carbon atoms with a different number of neutrons in their nuclei than the beryllium and carbon that are most abundant on Earth. Knowing this process is useful, because it can give us clues on two levels. On the one hand, beryllium-10 is deposited in ice sheets, while carbon-14 It oxidizes, transforming into carbon dioxide and becoming part of the carbon cycle. In this cycle, living beings incorporate it into their cells in different ways. For example, plants do this through photosynthesis. And this is where what has been so useful to these scientists begins. Solar dating and meteorology. Carbon-14 is often used to date fossils, since they come from living beings that once incorporated that isotope into their tissues. The moment a living being dies it stops incorporating carbon-14. From that moment on, it begins to disintegrate at a known rate, so it can be estimated approximately when it died. The point is that, beyond that, if carbon-14 levels are unusually high, it can also be determined if there was an extreme solar event. The poem describes a dawn The poem. in his diary Meigetsukithe poet Fujiwara no Teika described the observation of “red lights in the sky over northern Kyoto.” This city is at a latitude too far south for auroras to form, but that is clearly what it describes. The auroras They are the result of a type of interaction between the gases in the atmosphere and the charged particles of the Sun that causes the emission of visible light. They are normally formed at the poles, as they are the points on the Earth where the magnetic field is most vertical, so that it acts as a funnel, so that these particles can pass through it. When they occur far from the poles it is because solar activity has been very intense and the resistance normally opposed by the magnetic field has been exceeded. What the trees tell. The rings of tree trunks are a kind of natural calendar. They are formed from the inside out, so we can count them and calculate how the years have passed. For this reason, the authors of the study that has just been published They wanted to analyze the equivalent buried tree rings at the beginning of the 13th century. In the rings from the period from winter 1200 to spring 1201 they found an increase in carbon-14 levels. This also agrees with the levels of beryllium-10 found in ice deposits from that same period. Everything agrees. Also in China. There are historical records from the time when Chinese astronomers also described red lights in the sky. Therefore, it seems clear that there were auroras at unusual latitudes. A very rare case. The most curious thing about all this is that this phenomenon did not occur at the peak of the solar cycle. It possibly took place around its periodic minimum. If there was less activity, why so much aurora and carbon-14? This is something that, at the moment, scientists have not been able to explain. Perhaps there were also many auroras at the peak, but no poet stopped to write about them. Tree rings would have to be analyzed to see what carbon-14 tells us. What is clear is that the Sun was burning in those medieval times. Image | Masaaki Komori (Unsplash)/Wikimedia Commons | Kush Dwivedi (Unsplash) In Xataka | A sunspot 17 times larger than Earth caused red auroras across half the world. It is a very rare event

Belgrade’s “liquid trees” are the fascinating biotechnological solution to clean the air in cities

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Today, the city of Belgrade has a significant problem in terms of air quality, which is already something quite typical of large cities. The situation here, the truth is, is quite critical, with some areas where the limits recommended by the WHO are exceeded by up to 5 times, and to solve it, the idea that we can have in mind is need to plant more treesbut the reality is that there is little space available to plant them, so they have had to choose to install what they have called liquid trees. The solution. Under the name of LIQUID 3this project has been operating since 2021 in front of the Stari Grad City Hall in the Serbian capital, and to the surprise of many it is not shaped like a tree, but is a simple glass tank that is filled with 600 liters of water inhabited by local microalgae. But just because it doesn’t have the shape of a tree doesn’t mean it doesn’t work as such, since it literally uses photosynthesis to absorb carbon dioxide from the environment and release pure oxygen into the environment, and the truth is that they are very efficient, since a single tank of LIQUID3 is equivalent to the absorption capacity of two 10-year-old trees or 200 square meters of grass. How is it possible? That a simple tank surpasses an adult tree when it comes to ‘purifying’ the air, the truth is that it seems strange, but biotechnology has achieved something incredible. Specifically, science has seen how microalgae have the ability to capture carbon dioxide and fix it between 10 and 50 times faster than land plants under controlled conditions. In fact, studies indicate that these algae can fix approximately 1.8 grams of CO₂ for every gram of biomass generated, achieving CO₂ removal efficiencies close to 50%. And designed for the city. Being in the center of a city is not easy, and that is why scientists have had to use strains of Serbian freshwater microalgae that grow with simple tap water and withstand extreme temperature fluctuations. And here the research indicates that these species are ready for the most hostile environments. And another positive point they have is that they hardly require maintenance, since it is limited to the fact that the biomass generated must be extracted every month and a half, and in addition, water and fresh minerals are added. The positive here is also that biomass can be used as a great natural fertilizer. More than a lung. The LIQUID3 is not just a laboratory experiment that has taken to the streets, but has been designed as multifunctional urban furniture, since, in addition to purifying the air, the structure functions as a bench to sit on and even adds solar panels to charge your cell phone or provide night lighting. It is not definitive. Although it seems incredible, the truth is that we must put our feet on the ground in the face of technological enthusiasm. Although right now the figures are very good, there is still a lack of studies that can validate the impact it has in the long term and measure whether they are really giving good results, and above all that they are real. But the most important nuance here is that these systems do not replace traditional trees or forests, which logically must remain where they are and promoting their implementation. In this way, we are left with the fact that this technology has been designed for dense and highly polluted urban areas where traditional planting is logistically impossible. Where the asphalt does not give an inch to the roots, the liquid trees rise like a high-tech green oasis, giving the city’s lungs a break. Images | LIQUID3 In Xataka | Tell me where you live and I’ll tell you how healthy your tap water is: the map of Spain that analyzes each municipality

126,000 hectares of almond trees are about to flood a market that does not need them

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Tick ​​tock If you go to any Spanish countryside and stay very still, very silent; Immediately, you will start listening to it. Tick ​​tock, tick tock. It’s subtle, I admit. Almost imperceptible if you don’t pay attention. But it is there and no one can deny it: a ticking time bomb within the country’s agribusiness in the form of the 126,000 hectares of almond plantations that are about to come into production. It is the chronicle of an announced crisis. The almond, the fashionable fruit. In 2016, Javier López-Bellidoprofessor at the School of Agricultural Engineers of the University of Castilla – La Mancha, He told me he was worried because “lately, there is no conversation with farmers that does not include the word ‘almond tree’.” And there were good reasons for it; although they can all be summarized in the same way: a hectare of almond trees is twice as profitable as one of oranges. According to experts, it also had a wonderful future: “The demand market for almonds is on the rise throughout the world, so all experts agree that, at least within the next decade, this nut will have a great market outlet, especially abroad,” said Doménec Nàcher by Asaja in El Mundo. However, López Bellido I wasn’t so clear. This trend was going to translate into many farmers going into debt with an eye on the high prices of almond grains and they were going to find a saturated market that was going to suffocate them little by little. And that, word for word, is what is happening. And it’s been 10 years. Today, Spain is the second largest producer in the world almond In fact, the almond tree is already the most extensive woody crop in Spain and only in the last decade has grown 34%. Furthermore, as I said, right now there are 126,000 hectares of almond trees that have not yet matured enough. But they will. The thing is that we have already seen this movie. It is literally the same mechanism that has caused the lemon crisis: first a price-pull effect, then uncontrolled expansion and, later, calm while those trees reach production age. A calm that lasts until the almonds reach a saturated market and everything collapses. We know what is going to happen, but no one is very clear how to stop it. And that is the great drama of the Spanish countryside. One of many, it is true; but an especially bloody one: one that takes advantage of the desperation of farmers and ends up leaving them bankrupt. And of those dusts, these sludge. Image | Mercedes White In Xataka | How the “hen with the golden lemons” has become a trap for the Spanish countryside

We knew that olive trees were very old trees, what we did not imagine was that they reached 4,000 years of age.

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The olive tree is undoubtedly one of the most iconic trees in the Mediterranean basin. Olive groves have populated the fields of southern Europe and the Levant since time immemorial, but such is the longevity of this species that the history of some of these trees also dates back to, at least, antiquity. An example of this is the Vouves olive treelocated on the Greek island of Crete. Conservative estimates put it on this tree about 2,000 years. This would imply that in his life he could be a silent witness to events such as the division of the Roman Empire, the fall of Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire and, of course, the birth of contemporary Greece. The most extensive estimates estimate that this tree could reach 4,000 years old. This would not only make it a contemporary of figures such as Pythagoras, Aristotle or Alexander the Great but would also imply that this plant was born in Minoan Crete and was Witness the collapse of the Late Bronze Ageone of the most intriguing events that occurred at the dawn of history as we understand it. But perhaps the most surprising detail of all this is that the Vouves olive tree continues to bear fruit. This has led many to ask, how is this possible? What makes this specimen and its species in general so long-lived? The olive tree (Olea europaea) has a life expectancy that, although it does not reach millennia, does exceed several centuries. It is estimated that the life expectancy of trees of this species around five centuriesalthough there is some debate about it. In this sense, a study published in 2021 in the magazine Dendrochronologyestimated that the majority of “monumental olive trees” had maximum ages ranging between 300 and 500 years. Estimating the age of an olive tree is difficult. We noted at the beginning that estimates of the age of this ancient tree ranged between 2,000 and 4,000 years, a very wide range precisely because of the difficulty involved in calculating the age of these trees. Dendrochronology is based on using the growth rings of tree trunks to estimate their age: how many rings, how many years. Counting rings in a felled specimen is simple, but doing it in a living tree and doing it in an olive tree is another story. The trunks of the olive trees grow irregularly, which implies an apparently chaotic pattern in the rings inside, making counting especially difficult, as I pointed out. a study published in 2013 in the magazine PLOS One. Its curious growth could be related to its longevity. According to Scott Travers, a biologist at Rutgers University, in an article for Forbesone of the “secrets” behind longevity of these trees is in vegetative or clonal reproduction. That is, in the fact that this tree is made up of various cuttings that start from the same root. This, adds Travers, allows this type of plants to survive extreme conditions, including fires, cuts and similar incidents. Another survival trick Travers continues explainingis in the biochemistry of the tree, which offers mechanisms that allow it to repair damaged tissues, as well as defend itself against pathogenic organisms. The same oil that we humans use is used by the tree that gives it to us through its fruits. The elderly around us Spain also has ancient olive trees, although if we want to find a tree that competes in age with the Vouves olive tree, we have to go to Portugal. It would be an olive tree located in Abrantesin the center of Portugal. According to a study carried out by the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), Mouchao would be the tree that would hold this record with an age that would be around 3,350 years old. Spain also has ancient olive trees and among them all stands out. Arion’s Fargea tree that we can find in the province of Tarragona. The estimated age of this olive tree It is more than 1,700 years old. This implies that this ancient tree would have been planted in the time of Emperor Constantine I. Olive trees are not the only ancient tree species in our environment. Cedars, sequoias and even Canarian dragon trees can also reach ages that would make the biblical Methuselah pale. Olive trees are trees with a long life expectancy but they do not usually fill the lists of the longest living trees on the planet. The two longest-lived non-cloned trees known are two pines called Prometheus and Methuselahwhose ages are estimated to be over 4,000 years old. Both belong (or belonged in the case of Prometheus) to the species Pinus longaevathe “long-lived pine” so this fact is not entirely surprising. When Prometheus was cut, the botanists who analyzed it counted more than 4,800 rings, so they estimated its age to be about 4,900 years. Estimates indicate that Methuselah has also surpassed by decades the 4,800 year old mark. If we include clonal organisms we can find older trees. For example, the Pando forestconsidered the largest living organism on the planet, composed of thousands of cuttings from the same clonal tree, could have about 80,000 years old according to some estimates. In Xataka | A retiree planted a tree in 2003 in one of the most dangerous areas of Sao Paulo. Today it is an amazing “jungle” of the city In Xataka | We have found the oldest tree in the EU and it has been installed for 1,500 years in a very special place: Teide Image | Eric Nagle, CC BY-SA 4.0 This article was originally published in Xataka in April 2025.

For Finland, protecting its roads in World War II was essential, so flying trees were invented

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In a war it is not only doing and being, but also appearing. We have already seen recently how Iran pretended to have parked fighters so that Israel wastes its missiles, but this trick of playing catch-up is older than gunpowder. In fact, in World War II the United States had until ‘Ghost Army’ who was dedicated to these tasks. Precisely within the framework of the second war on a planetary scale, this curious story of concealment of infrastructurewhich is run by Finland. Finland is a Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula, the easternmost of the triad made up of Norway, Sweden and Finland. That makes it have a border with Russia, only at that time it was the USSR. Its situation on the map made it fight three wars in three different positions: the Winter War where it was attacked by the Soviets, the Continuation War in which the USSR attacked it, taking advantage of the Nazis’ Operation Barbarossa and the Lapland Warin which he fought against Germany after signing his armistice with the USSR. The photo that illustrates the cover of this piece and that you can see in full immediately after this paragraph was taken by Osvald Hedenström and is preserved in the photographic archive of the Finnish Defense Forces, along with the legend written by the photographer: “The Finns have camouflaged the 10 km from the border on the Raatteen road with country roads, with fir trees that seem to hang in the air, because right on the border there is an observation tower erected by the Russians. Suomussalmi, Kuivajärvi 1941.06.27” Flying trees on the Raatteen road. Sa-Kuva The cheapest camouflage of World War II That is to say, the legend makes three facts clear: that there was camouflage that covered the 10 kilometers of road from the border, which included rural roads and the main highway, and that the threat was a Soviet observation tower right on the muga. As? With fir trees lying. The Finnish army was noticeably inferior to the Soviet one, so they took advantage of the terrain, explains Colonel Petteri Jouko, a military historian at the Finnish National Defense University. for Atlas Obscura: “The Finns did not have the funds to purchase large quantities of artificial camouflage, such as nets, they did use trees, leaves and foliage to confuse the enemy” Because Finland is also a country with exuberant nature: the density of its forests is around 75% of the territory. according to the FAOso discovering critical infrastructure for the movement of troops and supplies such as roads or railways was a piece of cake for the Soviets. Obviously this resource of camouflaged roads was only effective for sky-level observationbut not for reconnaissance aircraft. Trees laid to hide critical infrastructure. Sa-Kuva This camouflage technique was technically simple but arduous. The Finns cut down the pine trees near the roads and then suspended them with steel cables that they had tied to other trees at the ends, although they also used wooden poles. The result, as can be seen just above, in another photograph from the Finnish archive, is that it seemed that the trees were flying over the roads, which from a bird’s eye view appeared to be just another leafy forest. Currently, none of these tree structures have survived; the passage of time and the abandonment of these rural roads has condemned them to their disappearance. In Xataka | Ukraine has found the antidote to Russian kamikaze drones in World War II: an optical illusion worth 500 euros In Xataka | A secret Nazi bunker in Germany hides the most sought-after treasure on the entire planet: hundreds of tons of rare earths Cover and photographs | SA-kuva (Finnish Defense Forces photo archive)

The almond trees throughout Spain are already in bloom and that is fantastic news for the sector. Or also a disaster

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40 years ago, on January 10, the father of Simplisíssimus told him it would be a bad year for the almond. The reason was simple: when the trees flowered early, the almond embryo was exposed (“weak and sensitive”) to late frosts that could destroy entire crops. Therefore, the good time for flowering was March, he explained. And he must have been right, but in the last 44 years it has been increasingly difficult to prove it. According to an article published by AEMETSince 1981, the flowering of the almond tree has been advancing systematically and documented throughout the country. But it seems that, at least in some areas, this has changed this year. If confirmed, it could be good news. When do almond trees bloom? According to the work of the Autonomous University of Madrid, the Senckenberg Research Institute and AEMETin these 40 years, the median flowering date in the center of the peninsula has moved from February 12 to February 7. Of course, the progress has not been linear: it has accelerated in recent years. At a historical level, the most advanced in recent decades was in 1993 (around January 8). And why should we care? In general terms, because the almond tree is the most extensive woody crop in Spain and, in fact, it is growing: in the last decade the dedicated area has grown by 34%. The almendril madness in the country is such that, well, Spain leads the sector with 765,000 hectares productive. That is, it is an issue that matters to us as a country. So, we’re talking about good news, right? It will depend on how the weather goes from now on and, furthermore, we must not forget that It has not been like this in all places. However, as has been happening lately in the field, it can be (at the same time) good news and bad news. Good because a big harvest would help remove volatility that the almond has had in recent years, because it would help generate rural employment in a year which is expected to be complicated by flooding and will give a break to agricultural insurance. And yet, a good harvest can end up delaying a fundamental debate: that of varieties. The only way the sector has adapt to climate changes is betting on late or hyperlate variants. They are not a magic solution, but it is a solution. The question is whether the global almond giant, up to its eyeballs in debt, will understand that it has to make a move. Image | Tim Mossholder In Xataka | An end of February with 20 ºC, haze and full reservoirs is not “good weather”: it is the sign of a completely misplaced meteorology

His name is John, he studied at Wharton and manages olive trees from New York

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100 billion euros in farmland. That is what, according to an exhaustive report by Greenpeace and Datadistamanages venture capital in the Iberian Peninsula through some 900 investment funds. It is not a Spanish rarity: it is an international boom. In 2015, there were only 45 funds specialized in ‘agribusiness’ in the world; today there are more than a thousand. Back in Spain, since 2019 the purchase and sale of properties has grown by 20%. In 2023 alone, some 148,000 properties were sold. Nine out of ten; at least in Andalusia, They were bought without a mortgage. But this is not what is worrying. After all, we have spent years talking about the financialization of the field. What we didn’t know was the profound impact that this was going to have. How the Spanish farmer is changing. According to the report, there are three types of buyers: specialized investment funds, large industrial corporations and family fortunes. That is, the ownership of land is separating very quickly of it: what were previously businessmen or traditional owners with a certain connection to the territory, are now simply investors. And that has generated a new type of company: specialized intermediaries. Those that allow investors without any experience operate farms as if they were “franchises”. Companies like Balam or Todolivo offer comprehensive management of plantations (from genetic improvement and planting to harvesting). The problem, according to experts who are studying these transformations, is that changes in ownership and changes in management are leading to a change in productive structure of rural Spain. To put it bluntly: this approach does not generate meaningful local employment. Andalusia, to go with the most visual example, has lost 178,957 agricultural jobs between 2017 and 2014. Billions are entering the Spanish countryside, but that money does not reach the base. Why is it important? Because the rural world is being transformed at a forced pace: the generational change crisisthe lurches in the water regime and the problems with the CAP are the icing on the cake: sources of uncertainty that make it impossible to know where we are going. And that has direct consequences in our daily lives. For example, in the case of oil, we are not only going to see how EVOO price volatility increases even in good harvests. As if that were not enough, we are going to move towards varietal standardization (to focus on super-intensive varieties), a loss of rural population and an even deeper disarticulation (industrial, social and cultural) of emptied Spain. Image | Vasilis Caravitis In Xataka | In California, the funds discovered that there is no investment more profitable than farmland. Now it’s Spain’s turn

He planted 16,000 trees and turned it into an anti-rich sanctuary

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What of send everything to fry asparagus and go live on an island It is something that, more or less, has occurred to everyone. Now, whether you do it is another thing. If we talk about buying an island, the circle is already closed to a few and although the story we are going to tell is not from today and does not have current prices, the reality is that the 8,000 pounds that Brendon Grimshaw paid for the small island of Moyenne in 1962 (approximately 200,000 pounds today, about 230,000 euros) they gave him to buy almost three houses in his native Britain. He would have had real estate to speculate on, but the world would not have the Moyenne National Park. But let’s start at the beginning. Brendon Grimshaw was a British journalist who, after starting his career in popular newspapers such as the Batley News and the Sheffield Star in his native country, moved to Africa, where worked in important media such as the East African Standard magazine or the Tanganyika Standard. At the age of 37, he made a drastic decision: he was on vacation in the Seychelles when he made the decision to acquire an island of just nine hectares. Why buy an island? There are those who say that more than a vacation, he was looking for a purpose in life: to demonstrate his peace and love for nature. The BBC mentions “protect Moyenne from excessive urban development” as its initial objective, but it must be said that Until 1973 he continued working as a journalist and visiting the island on vacation. From that date on, he said goodbye to his profession and moved there to create a natural paradise that would last over time. The Sheychelles were beginning to emerge as a tourist destination and although it was abandoned, it would be a matter of time before someone arrived and set up a resort. And he changed Moyenne from top to bottom. The island had not been inhabited for half a century, except for a family of fishermen, and was in a scruffy state as a result of negligence and excessive human intervention: impenetrable thickets where invasive species reigned, as he himself says in the documentary. A Grain of Sand (which before it was a book). Note: globally the concept of environmentalism and care for the environment was being forged and was beginning to take off (the first “Earth Day” dates back to 1970). He was not alone in this mission: he worked hand in hand with the local René Antoine Lafortunea 19-year-old young man from that family of fishermen. Throwing everything away and setting up a five-star hotel is much easier than restoring an ecosystem, something that It took him a lifetime, literally.because Grimshaw died in 2012. René died younger, in 2007, leaving Brendon as a true Robinson Crusoe for five years. A restoration plan that took a lifetime Its areas of action can be divided into three: massive reforestation with native species, tackling the rat infestation and introducing some infrastructure. In A Grain of Sand narrates how the undergrowth was so thick that a coconut that fell from a tree did not reach the ground and that only four tall native trees remained that stood out, counted for the BBC in an interview. So planted by hand more than 16,000 trees of species such as mahogany, palm trees and other endemic species that had disappeared from the island. In the documentary he tells how the silence impacted him due to the absence of fauna: the absence of native fruit trees and the dense layer of scrub made it not an attractive place for birds, which are looking for a nesting place with food and safety. The reintroduction of native species and the restoration of the flora attracted more than 200 species of birds. Grimshaw also explained that when he arrived, there were also no giant tortoises that are now emblematic of the island: he introduced and bred Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) from other islands of the archipelago, which he later marked to continue their growth. Today there are more than 120 copies. Less striking but also very useful was that They built almost five kilometers of trails to improve accessibility. Practically with pick and shovel. In the 1980s, offers flooded in to buy the island, including that of a Saudi prince, who is said to have offered up to $50 million. Brendon Grimshaw’s response did not give rise to negotiations: “the island is not for sale“. The former journalist was getting older and had no children, so in 2009 and when Lafortune had already died, he arranged for the government of the Seychelles will declare to Moyenne as the Moyenne Island National Park to find legal protection for the island and its preservation. Today Moyenne has an essential biological importance for the Sheychelles archipelago: it serves as a seed bank and refuge for species, since while other islands are plagued with resorts, there there are no shops, restaurants or hotelshardly a basic restaurant for those taking an excursion to the island from neighboring islands such as Mahe. In Xataka | An atoll in the South Pacific has become a magnet for millionaires. Its great attraction is not its beaches, it is its banks In Xataka | A billionaire bought an island in Hawaii for himself and his friends. So the locals had to leave Cover | Jean-Francis Martin and documentary A Grain of Sand on YouTube

the “death bloom” of Ceylon palm trees

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There are plants that are born and die in a year, but every rule there is an exception, with species that spend decades in silence, accumulating energy for a single, spectacular final act. This is the case of Corypha umbraculiferabetter known like Ceylon Palmwhich has flourished again in the Palmetum from Santa Cruz de Tenerife. An event that is historical because it occurs once every 30 or 60 years and that, on the European continent, can only be witnessed here. A special variant. The Corypha umbraculifera It’s not just any palm treesince it has the largest inflorescence in the world, with a branched structure that sprouts at the top and can reach between 5 and 7 meters in height. To give us an idea, only “the flower” is as tall as a two-story house. This specimen of the Palmetum, planted in 1997, began its reproductive process in October 2025 and after months of preparation, now in January 2026, the spectacle is fully visible from the so-called “Red Route” from the Tenerife botanical garden. A unique phenomenon. This is a species that has ‘monocarpy’, a scientific term to define the botanical suicide that this palm tree faces. In this way, the plant dedicates all its energy accumulated over decades to producing millions of flowers and, later, fruits. Once its reserves are exhausted, it dies. And it is something unique, since the Palmetum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the only garden on the continent that has managed to see this species bloom on two occasions (the previous one was a different specimen years ago). And its origin is not in the Canary Islands, but comes from Southeast Asia, where its leaves were historically used as paper for religious manuscripts. Why so much? The fact of having to wait 30 or 60 years to flower is something that responds to an evolutionary strategy of the species. In this way, by flowering only once in such an explosive way, it produces such a quantity of fruits that local predators such as rodents are unable to eat them all. Thus, the palm tree ensures that, even if it dies, thousands of its descendants manage to germinate. The process we are seeing now in Tenerife is the final phase of its life. According to the official records of the Palmetum and local media as Notice Diarythe process is slow, but unstoppable, since during the next few months, the flowers will give way to fruits and, gradually, the structure of the palm tree will wither until its final collapse. The Palmetum. This event is not just an aesthetic curiosity; It is a triumph for the Palmetum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. This space, which is technically a botanical garden built on an old landfill, has established itself as the best collection of palm trees in the world in an urban environment and the truth is that it has managed to grow anything. For botany and photography enthusiasts, this is an opportunity that is unlikely to be repeated on European soil for decades. The “wonderful death”, as some local media already call it, is a reminder that nature has its own times, sometimes slow, but always relentless. Images | Wikipedia In Xataka | Finding a partner for the “loneliest plant in the world” has been one of the great challenges of botany. Now AI wants to solve it

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