Martin Lukac

Explore the trees with the most interesting stories – Tree of the year The European Tree of the Year 🌳 is a popular competition that takes place every year in February and features the winners of the national rounds.

Some of these look pretty beautiful, I have to say. Vote open now. www.treeoftheyear.org @alastaircampbell2.bsky.social

Ancient pine trees growing in eastern Spain have quietly recorded more than five centuries of Mediterranean weather. Analysis of tree rings clearly shows that todays storms and droughts are becoming more intense and more frequent than almost anything the region has experienced since the early 1500s.

Meanwhile in Slovakia:

Bears > 1000
Wolves > 600
Lynx > 300
Wild boar > 60000
Beavers > 700
Bison > 200

No need to aim for future growth, just tweaking the paranoid visa policy will do the trick ok.

We’re pleased to share the ReForest Toolbox for Agroforestry!

It includes:
• Case studies
• Knowledge Hub
• Digital tools

🔗 Explore the Toolbox:https://reforest.euromed-economists.org/toolbox/#1755795576358-ffc7b132-090f

Height-based biomass models differ for naturally regenerated and planted young trees This study investigated biomass allocation in young stands of European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) across 3…

We have a new paper useful for tree or carbon modellers. As we suspected, it turns out that biomass models based on planted trees (which likely constitute the majority) cannot be reliably transferred to naturally regenerated forests. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Anyone who thinks the invasive species problem is exaggerated, that it's "all just nature", should experience the cemetery that is a native Irish rainforest choked by rhododendron, as so many are.

Invasives are a *human* impact, and one of the top causes of biodiversity loss on Earth.

A woman is killed by a man every 3 days in the UK...

78% are murdered by a partner/ex

Yet not once have I heard Reform talk about this

Not once have I heard them back measures to protect women’s safety

In fact, they voted against them...

🌱✨ Agroecology Map App 2.0.2 is here! 🌍💚 Now available in 🇧🇷 Portuguese, 🇫🇷 French, and 🇪🇸 Spanish! Enjoy smoother navigation, ❤️ “Like” button for localizations, and 🚀 faster performance. Let’s grow the global agroecology network together! 🌾🤝🌻 #Agroecology

🔗 agroecologymap.org/mobile

Catch us at the #WCA2025, as we join global leaders to discuss how trees can power sustainable development for people and the planet.

Agroforestry for People, Planet and Profit.

📅 20–24 Oct
📍 Kigali, Rwanda

Learn more🔗: https://t.co/0cHhYsksaa

#Trees4Resilience

Photosynthesis has 2% light conversion efficiency on a good day, panels are pushing 15%+. I never thought growing crops to generate leccy was a good idea. One could 'store' energy in biomass, of course, but now we have batteries to complement the panels.

INvitation poster for Join us on Wednesday, 8 October 2025, 16:00 CEST (Prague) for our 🧪 #forest🍁#ecology seminar, MENDELU, CZ "Landsharing: can #agroforestry enhance #biodiversity" by Martin Lukac @mtnlkc.bsky.social, University of Reading, UK. Shows text in front of an agroforestry plantation photo and the Excellentia and EU logos

🚨Join us on Wednesday, 8 October 2025, 16:00 CEST (Prague) for our 🧪 #forest🍁#ecology seminar, MENDELU, CZ "Landsharing: can #agroforestry enhance #biodiversity?" by Martin Lukac @mtnlkc.bsky.social, University of Reading, UK. Zoom: excellentia.ldf.mendelu.cz/seminar-series. Free. Q&A via chat

A color infrared panorama of a road disappearing off a mountain horizon into a thicket of carmine colored juniper scrub and a great sandy basin in the middle ground, before rising into Kit Carson in the background. Puffy white clouds and blue skies give an air of normalcy to the otherwise otherworldly aerochrome adjacent colors.

Another favorite from this past winter’s road trip out west, taken along an unplanned detour up the side of Colorado’s Blanca Peak

#TheRoad #BlueSkyArtShow
#IR #Landscape #Mountains

Land-use intensity of electricity production and tomorrow’s energy landscape The global energy system has a relatively small land footprint at present, comprising just 0.4% of ice-free land. This pales in comparison to agricultural land use– 30–38% of ice-free land–yet future ...

So, agree we shouldn't ignore the land used by extractive industries, but there is a metric to compare this apples-to-apples: land use intensity of energy (or electricity). We did a meta-analysis for electricity production if you are interested! journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

There is a problem with the figure for EVs. Says 30% energy is lost, AND 90% goes to wheels. So the 20 % going back to the wheels comes from ... where?

🌳 Big shoutout to the ReForest team at the 10. Forum Agroforstsysteme!

🎤 Rico Huebner presented the project in a session on climate farming.
📌 Dr. Prajna Kasargodu Anebagilu showcased her poster on agroforestry decision tool!

#Agroforestry #ClimateFarming #HorozonEU

This is rising up the agenda really fast. An Italian colleague tells me that signed argivoltaics contracts in Italy are now in GW territory. Even farmers in the UK are interested despite lower yield, probably as the PV part of the system pays immediately .

Indeed, much of the show is about small scale timber processing and adding income streams to the farm business.

🌳🐑 How can silvopasture really work on an upland beef & sheep farm?

Join us at the ReForest #TrainingHub for a hands-on workshop to exlore
🌿 Design options
🌿 Tree species, trade-offs, constraints
🗺️ Interactive mapping

Hosted by Katie Bliss as part of our Living Labs
🤝 Come share, learn, co-design

🌿 Do your farm trees deliver for your business?

Join us at the Agroforestry Show for a hands-on session with Will Simonson & Rico Hübner 🌳

✅ Farmer stories
✅ Functional metrics
✅ Practical takeaways

🔗 www.agroforestryshow.com

#AgroforestryShow #TreesOnFarms #FarmPlanning #ReForest

Farmer training session in a medieval barn, the speaker describes how to run silvopastoral systems in the UK.

@reforestproject.bsky.social is running agroforestry training sessions in a 16th century barn. What a way to connect farming history with producing food today! #AgroforestryShow2025

Agroforestry is on the rise — but how do we bring it to life on farms?

#ReForest is launching the #TrainingHub at the #AgroforestryShow. This isn’t theory — it’s all about your farm. Real change starts on the land.

📅 Sept 10-11
📍 Find us under the Black Barn
🔗 Full programme: agroforestryshow.com

🌳 ReForest joined the 19th North American Agroforestry Conference!

Martin Lukac, our project coordinator showcased
🧩 FarmTree 💰 Financial tools

Field highlights? 🌰 Chestnut–wheat alley cropping 🐑 Silvopasture with rotational grazing

🔗 Dive into updates: agroreforest.eu/event/19th-n...

How we can smash Britain’s two-party system for good at the next election | George Monbiot Labour is beyond repair. Time for a co-ordinated strategy to support progressive parties committed to electoral reform, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

I don't always agree with George Monbiot but he's spot on here.
"Labour... wants to rule alone. The result is that most of the time it doesn't rule at all."
2 party politics and FPTP does Britain no good at all. Electors have had enough. Time for change.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Peatland burning ban aims to protect wildlife and England’s carbon stores Labour’s measures to ban deep-peat burning aim to safeguard habitats, tackle carbon emissions, and protect wildlife, so why are hunters up in arms?

Finally....

Burning vegetation on deep peat will be banned under government plans to protect nature and reduce carbon emissions.

Vegetation on peatland is often burned to create habitat for grouse, which like to feed on the fresh shoots of new plants...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Does gender really matter? How demographics and site characteristics influence behavior and attitudes of German small-scale private forest owners When analyzing management behaviors of small-scale private forest owners, demographic variables such as income, age, or profession, and land character…

Very happy about our new study together with @plieningerlab.bsky.social! 🤩

👉 Drivers of private #forest owners' management behavior and attitudes are identified
👉 Gender-specific outreach should be complemented by targeting specific forest owner groups

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Figure shows that hazel shrub biomass is directly proportional to its height.

Our publication on hazel biomass prediction is out! We show that you can predict the amount of carbon in hazel shrubs based on their crown volume or just the height.
Which is handy if all you have is a remotely-sensed observation of your ecosystem from a drone. doi.org/10.1016/j.fe...

No, not if you are standing on either of the poles for example.

You need to be on the equator for an exactly 12 hour day today.