The Baobab also contains alkaloids that have many medicinal properties. It has been an important part of local life through history as a water source during drought and medicine for their bodies and spirits. The locals eat the starch that is contained within the large seed pods, brew a drink from it and use the shells for musical rattles.

A canopy shot enables one to gain more perspective in how certain trees maximize the capturing of sunlight. When you start to factor in the absorption of energy by such a tree as well as the transpiration of cooler ground water one can begin to appreciate how deciduous trees cool the air.

As most are aware, fire ants in the south are an invasive, exotic species from Latin America that arrived in the U.S. in the 1930’s. Viewing this ant hill one gets a better understanding of why we do not want to import exotics. We drove past these ant hills on a daily basis and found them amazing. Try hitting this with the lawnmower on a Saturday!

Yet the soil is similar to the red clays of Georgia. The more we understand our similarities in ecosystems the more we can respect the differences and why exotics can wreak such havoc in ecosystems that developed over millions of years and created their own symbiotic relationships.

Mangos are a common tree in the savannas along the coastal areas around Accra. Mangos are also common in the coastal areas of Michoacan Mexico.

As environmental restoration specialists, we wanted to see the forest and understand the harvest operations. What are people being paid for stumpage? Who is buying the wood , what products are being made, etc.

With little time for the quest, this is what we learned:

The largest logger in Accra is from Lebanon and the large veneer grade trees are being made into plywood and 50 containers of veneer clear plywood is being shipped weekly in April, 2004.

The primary veneer grade tree is Ceiba.

It took two frames to capture this majestic giant. Raymond stands 5ft 5 inches tall. Clearly the Ceiba towers some 100 feet above him and the base is 5 times as wide as he is, making its diameter approximately 10 feet. This lone tree was left when this forest was clear-cut because it was a den tree and would not make a log as the hollow section went half way up the trunk.

Let’s assume that the tree is solid and that 2/3rds would be veneer grade material. It would take two log trailers to move this single tree!

As our day went on we headed North and came into a small village and the next set of pictures is what we saw.

Ceiba logs on the way to the veneer mill. The driver had stopped for lunch so our driver, Raymond, was able to engage the in conversation with the truck driver.

Raymond said that the seller was paid 100,000 Cedis, which is the currency of Ghana.

The exchange rate for Cedis was 9,000 to $1USD. The man sold the tree for $11.00 USD.

Here you are able to see this tree on two log trucks. The driver told Raymond that it took 4 loads to move this one tree.

We no longer have trees in the United States of this class that I am aware of, except for the protected Redwoods. But it is safe to say that we are looking at 50,000 pounds of material and at todays prices of $27/ton for veneer Popular logs we are looking at $675.00 per load X 4 loads = $2700.00 to the land owner if it was here in the the Southeast and the product was Popular.

This situation raises the question in my mind of how are American tree farmers to compete against this? We cannot place restrictions on the safety of that truck, or require the logger to have a few million in General Liability insurance or require him to pay Workers Compensation insurance.

Does the landowner pay property taxes including school taxes? How do we as a Nation compete? Personally, the only way I see to level the playing field is to incorporate Cap and Trade in our foreign trade policy.

What this means to the average landowner is that if properly setup you, an American Tree Farmer, would be paid for the Carbon Dioxide that you store each year. The producer of the final wood product from a tree such as this would have to pay for the mitigation or offset of the loss of this tree and the energy it took to make the retail product. A tree of this magnitude must use the resources of 50 square feet or one 16th of an acre of land.

In simple terms if the global market price for sequestered Carbon Dioxide stays at $30 per ton, which it is presently trading for in London, and one acre of southern yellow pine is drinking up 4 tons of CO-2 per acre per year then you the tree farmer should be paid $120.00 per acre for each year you keep your tree farm in vigorous heath. At that price for storing CO-2 who cares what the global stumpage price is of trees for lumber?

We planted this stand of pines on an 8 by 8 spacing in Candler County GA in 1997. If the owner Mr. West was being paid $30/ton for each ton of carbon dioxide the stand absorbs given the soil type, lets assume 2.5 tons per acre per year that would be $75 per acre.

This is the key to equalizing the global playing field. Now many call this a tax and that it is going to kill the economy.

Consider it this way. A year ago we were paying nearly $4 a gallon for gasoline. What happened? Our economy nosed dived and nearly took down the global economy. Gasoline is back down to $2.30 a gallon. That is a $1.70 a gallon drop. Who is losing the money? Exxon? perhaps but when the CEO is making $8 million a year is he going to lose his home if he only makes $5.5 million next year? Of course not.

The market is only going to bear what it can stand. If consumers cannot afford the $4/gallon fuel then we stop driving or implode the economy. If cap and trade ended up adding 50 cents to the gallon of gas who is going to pay that? You and me? No the global price of crude will drop and the producer, mainly the Oil sheiks in the Middle East will have a few less billion to work with.

Guess what else will happen. Growing trees will be in such demand these kids can all have jobs planting trees across sub-saharan Africa. Who knows, why the cost of mitigation might give rise to reforesting Iran and Iraq. It was not that long ago Cedars, Mangos, and Almond plantations were the landscape of much of the Middle East. Who remembers the name of that garden? I do.

Please allow me to invite you to read my website www.ucicglobal.com

The question is how do we set up the mitigation to do all of this.

The answer is found in my Landowners Investment Partnership.

It will work but it needs you to join so that together we make it happen.

David has often said the way to end terrorism is through a man’s stomach and his ego. If he can feed his kids, have satisfying work, why would he fight? Who would he fight?
As long as there are Ceibas in the forest of Ghana, there will be boats to fish with and fun to be had by kids at play.