Seed bombing
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Seed bombing or aerial reforestation[1] is a technique of introducing vegetation to land by throwing or dropping compressed bundles of soil containing live vegetation. Often, seed bombing projects are done with arid or off-limits (for example, privately-owned) land.
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[edit] Terminology
The term "seed grenade" was first used by Liz Christy in 1973 when she started the "Green Guerrillas". The first seed grenades were made from condoms filled with local wildflower seeds, water and fertilizer. They were tossed over fences onto empty lots in New York City in order to make the neighborhoods look better. It was the start of the guerrilla gardening movement.
[edit] History
The earliest records of aerial reforestation date back from 1930. In this period, planes were used to distribute seeds over certain inaccessible mountains in Honolulu after forest fires.[2]
Seed bombing is also widely used in Africa; where they are put in barren or simply grassy areas. With technology expanding, the contents of a seed bomb are now placed in a biodegradable container and "bombed" grenade-style onto the land. As the sprout grows, the container biodegrades into the soil. The process is usually done as a large-scale project with hundreds dropped in a single area at any one time. Provided enough water, adequate sun, and low competition from existing flora and fauna, seed-bombed barren land could be host new plants in as little as a month.
In 1987, Lynn Garrison created the Haitian Aerial Reforestation Project (HARP) in which tons of seed would be scattered from specially modified aircraft. The seeds would be encapsulated in an absorbent material. This coating would contain fertilizer, anti bug/animal repellent and, perhaps a few vegetable seeds. Haiti has a bimodal[clarification needed] rainy season, with precipitation in spring and fall. The seeds are moistened a few days before the drop, to start germination. Tons of seed can be scattered across areas in the mountains, inaccessible to hand-planting projects.
Another project idea was to use C-130 aircraft and altering them to drop biodegradable cones filled with fertilizer and saplings over hard-to-access areas.[3]
[edit] See also
- Seed ball
- Guerrilla gardening
- Miss Rumphius, a 1982 children's book emphasizing public seed scattering.
[edit] References
- ^ Horton, Jennifer. "Could military strategy win the war on global warming?". How Stuff Works. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/aerial-reforestation1.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
- ^ Horton, Jennifer. "Could military strategy win the war on global warming?". How Stuff Works. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/aerial-reforestation.htm. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
- ^ Brown, Paul (1999-09-02). "Aerial bombardment to reforest the earth". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/sep/02/paulbrown. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
[edit] External links
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This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references (November 2009) |
- Guerrilla Gardening
- Richard Reynolds making and using seed bombs
- Original Seed Bomb instructions
- The Seed Bomb Factory
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