Toni Leuenberger from Switzerland launches “Wood Chronicle”

Cape Town, 2 April 2009 – by Bianca Gubalke

When it comes to Nature, many of us surely have something in common: our love for forests, trees and precious woods and a deep desire to protect them for future generations. This is why this unique picture from space touched us so deeply:

“It might have been grass. It might have been algae, mould or verdigris. What the Apollo astronauts saw when they turned round and looked back (and they say they did so quite frequently…) was like a greyish-green frost on porcelain which they could have wiped off with their sleeves.

They also noticed how, in some parts, that dark velvet seemed to encounter something like a rusty iron plate and dissolved. How it came up against brown and grey backbones, which were traced out by an army of clouds that had drawn up in a perfectly straight line. How, towards the Arctic, it gradually changed to violet, and then from violet into the white of virgin snow – the polar ice cap. How some coasts were completely covered by that dark film, while some others looked as though it had been scratched off.

The Earth and its forests.”

Wood Chronicle by Toni Leuenberger

Toni Leuenberger knows the Swiss Alps with their specific plant and animal kingdoms; he spends a lot of time in the forests… although spending the night out there is not something he recommends due to the wild and very temperamental boars!

By creating his brand-new “Wood Chronicle” Toni wants to pass on his passion, knowledge and experience while – at the same time – inviting contributions from others who have similar interests.

Of course, this Online Newspaper is also a product of the past Ycademy Business Building Seminar and the various preparatory Training Calls that lead up to this extremely successful event – here’s what Toni says:

“I was flat down yesterday evening after an exciting Seminar with such a lot of new informations about every aspects of efficient blogging.

On Saturday morning when I loaded my Newspaper website, I felt like early Easter. But, instead of a basket full of eggs, I looked at a functional YORGOO Press website with a professional look, filled with excellent and theme-oriented graphics by Bianca Gubalke.

The entire process of preparing and setting up my Blog was far above my expectations. Never before, I felt so comfortable with setting up a Website. I’m very happy with the result so far.”

Wood Chronicle by Toni Leuenberger

Bringing the importance and value of trees and forests to peoples’ attention is crucial as our life depends on them. In this respect it is interesting to know that it was one person, one artist… Henry Jackson, who with his magnificent landscape photography of Yellowstone touched the American congressmen so deeply that they voted unanimously to declare the region the first National Park in the world! This was in 1873.

I am sure all of us know forests from different aspects, and we carry dear and perhaps melancholic or even romantic memories within us. In a way, they touch us deep inside and remind us of that quintessence and mutual dependence of all Life.

If you don’t have access to a forest in your area, do yourselves a favour and call up artists like Edward Weston or Ansel Adams on Google… which will bring you to many others, and enjoy the absolute magic they captured in their Artwork. This wonderful work has the power to move having the contemplater participate in something meaningful and lasting…

The fact is that if there were no human beings in the world, more than two thirds of the Earth’s land surface would be covered with dense jungle. What is left now are a few parts in the Amazon basin and the Congo basin.

Today, forests account for only one third of the land surface. It is important to create an awareness of the importance of forests as we meet them indirectly in our daily lives – namely in the form of furniture, parquet flooring, chipboard and paper – or even… chopsticks! There is an inseparable link between Man and Nature that we need to respect in order to survive.

Nature will always be – the question is with us or without us.

Terefore, hopefully, Toni will add an ecological aspect to his “Wood Chronicle” as part of a much bigger picture: our survival on the beautiful blue planet we saw from space at the beginning of this article.

Good Luck Toni – we’ll stay tuned!

Bianca Gubalke

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