East

• But efforts to increase global tree cover to limit climate change have skewed towards erecting plantations of fast-growing trees.
• The reasons are obvious: planting trees can demonstrate results a lot quicker than natural forest restoration.

Plantations in colonial-era India

• Britain extended its influence over India and controlled much of its affairs via the East India Company from the mid-18th century onwards.
• Britain needed great quantities of timber to lay railway sleepers and build ships in order to transport the cotton, rubber and tea it took from India.
• Eucalyptus and other exotic trees which hadn’t evolved in India were introduced from around 1790.
• Similarly, pine has spread over much of the Himalayas and displaced native oak trees while teak has replaced sal, a native hardwood, in central India.

Restoring forests in India today

• India has pledged to restore about 21 million hectares of forest by 2030 under the Bonn Challenge.
• A progress report released by the government of India and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2018 claimed around 10 million hectares was under restoration.
• Several assemblies (known as Gram Sabhas) in the Gadchiroli district of central India has restored degraded forests and managed them as a sustainable source of tendu leaves, which are used to wrap bidi (Indian tobacco).

Future forests

• The Indian government’s definition of “forest” still encompasses plantations of a single tree species, orchards and even bamboo, which actually belongs to the grass family.
• This means that biennial forest surveys cannot quantify how much natural forest has been restored, or convey the consequences of displacing native trees with competitive plantation species or identify if these exotic trees have invaded natural grasslands which have then been falsely recorded as restored forests.
• Natural forest regeneration and plantations for timber and fuel should both be encouraged, but with due consideration of how other ecosystems and people will be affected.
• Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue.

• Sunrise Senior Living , the leading provider of personalized senior living services, together with partners Hines and Welltower (NYSE: WELL), today announced The Apsley , a new luxury senior living community in Manhattan, has officially opened on the Upper West Side.
• Located at 2330 Broadway between 84th and 85th Streets, The Apsley is the second luxury senior living community in Manhattan by Sunrise, Hines and Welltower, with Sunrise at East 56th celebrating its first anniversary on the Upper East Side in December 2022.
• View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230710171616/en/
  The Apsley brings brand-new senior living residences to a sophisticated audience with the highest level of personalized care, innovative technology, and exceptional lifestyle offerings.
• As a result, all suites and amenity spaces at The Apsley feature appointed elements that emphasize luxury, functionality, and comfort.

• Everyone wants to claim the Scottish philosopher and economist as one of their own.
• With the exception of Jesus, it’s hard to think of anyone who attracts such radically different interpretations.
• What we know is that he was born in the town of Kirkcaldy on the east coast of Scotland.
• Certain landowners were exempt from Kirkcaldy’s bridge tolls and market stall charges due to the town’s status as a royal burgh.

The Wealth of Nations

• The two books that Smith published in his lifetime are The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) and his more widely known, An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776).
• It viewed economic value simply in terms of the amount of gold that a country had to buy the goods it needs.
• Larry Fink, head of investment giant BlackRock, has only just been arguing that artificial intelligence could improve productivity, for instance.

The battleground

• Smith argues that slavery and feudalism are bad and that economic growth and getting people out of poverty are good.
• He also warns against things like cronyism, corporate corruption of politics, imperialism, inequality and the exploitation of workers.
• Those on the right of the debate often cite Smith’s “invisible hand” phrase from the Wealth of Nations in support of their worldview.
• It is a metaphor for how a “free” market magically brings buyers and sellers together without any need for government involvement.

States and abuses

• The truth is that Smith’s writing has enough ideas and inconsistencies to allow for all sides to cherry pick references as required.
• This is linked to the fact that Smith was writing at a time when the British East India Company was responsible for a staggering 50% of world trade.
• It operated under a royal charter conferring a monopoly of English trade in the whole of Asia and the Pacific.
• Innovation and competition would provide employment, keep prices down and help reduce the appalling levels of urban poverty of the time.

• Earlier in the week, highschoolers from three private schools will welcome visitors to celebrate school choice at a breakfast at the Iowa State Capitol.
• The 7-8:30 a.m. breakfast on Tuesday, Jan. 24 will give students and staff the opportunity to share their school choice experiences.
• Both events are planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2023, which will feature tens of thousands of school choice celebrations across all 50 states.
• The events' host, Iowa Alliance for Choice in Education, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to expanding school choice options in Iowa.