In September of 2013, The University of Michigan Permaculture Design Team was given a 4000 year old sequoia tree clone by David Milarch and Archangel Ancient Tree Archive. The tree clone is currently housed at the Matthei Botanical Gardens and under the care of their staff.
In January of 2014, University of Michigan research students have partnered with Ann Arbor based Chiwara Permaculture Research & Education, to study how many champion sequoia trees would be required to offset the University of Michigan’s carbon footprint.
The project will create strong data on tree quantities and carbon sequestration timelines, as well as design and model permaculture based Sequoia forest ecosystems for several potential sites in Ann Arbor. We look forward to the project’s final report and design models to be completed in Spring 2014.
This is the kind of material that the contemporary children’s books need to be sharing: the stewards of our future need to be educated differently, with a wider vision and a humble respectful attitude towards nature and our role within its delicate and exquisite equilibriums. I am still waiting for Archangel to get back with me abour writing a children’s version of The Man Who Planted Trees, but meanwhile, I continue to educate myself, reading Beresforg-Granger, learning Permaculture and relentlessly coming back here to this page to wonder, to admire and to collaborate.