Report from the polar circle
Aug. 21st, 2022 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaI'm back from the forest survey! Some photos and stories below...
Here is our camp, perfect in every way: a lake nearby to get water and to swim in, and to have a breeze that blows away the mosquitoes and midges, a shelter with a wood stove, a table, and nice flat ground for tents.
A dramatic sunset view over that lake.
regshoe: this is what an old spruce tree looks like in its natural environment!
The exciting red-listed species Chaenotheca gracilienta, which mostly grows at the base of spruce trees in humid environments. Those stalks are about 3 mm high.
We call these mushrooms 'goliatmusseron', though in Japan they are called 'matsutake' and are considered a delicacy. Apparently you can fly them to Japan and sell them for huge sums of money?
Dinner cooking on the wood stove, as well as some matsutake frying. I thought it was quite delicious!
We did the survey in collaboration with a Sami reindeer herding village. The Swedish state is clear-cutting forests that the Sami need for reindeer foraging and which moreover have very high conservation value. So it's natural that the environmental movement should join forces with the Sami on this issue. According to the forest certification FSC, the Sami need to consent to all cutting in their areas, but, well, I think you can all imagine what the 'consent' process looks like (threats to manage younger forest in ways which are detrimental to the reindeer, unless the state can cut old-growth forests). It's absolutely enraging. Well, let's see if we can get some media attention together...
Here is our camp, perfect in every way: a lake nearby to get water and to swim in, and to have a breeze that blows away the mosquitoes and midges, a shelter with a wood stove, a table, and nice flat ground for tents.
A dramatic sunset view over that lake.
regshoe: this is what an old spruce tree looks like in its natural environment! The exciting red-listed species Chaenotheca gracilienta, which mostly grows at the base of spruce trees in humid environments. Those stalks are about 3 mm high.
We call these mushrooms 'goliatmusseron', though in Japan they are called 'matsutake' and are considered a delicacy. Apparently you can fly them to Japan and sell them for huge sums of money?
Dinner cooking on the wood stove, as well as some matsutake frying. I thought it was quite delicious!
We did the survey in collaboration with a Sami reindeer herding village. The Swedish state is clear-cutting forests that the Sami need for reindeer foraging and which moreover have very high conservation value. So it's natural that the environmental movement should join forces with the Sami on this issue. According to the forest certification FSC, the Sami need to consent to all cutting in their areas, but, well, I think you can all imagine what the 'consent' process looks like (threats to manage younger forest in ways which are detrimental to the reindeer, unless the state can cut old-growth forests). It's absolutely enraging. Well, let's see if we can get some media attention together...
(no subject)
Date: 2022-08-22 12:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-08-22 03:43 pm (UTC)Yes! Obviously there was skinnydipping, not only by me but by all the other participants.