Pellau Magazine: A tribe in India has mastered the art of making living tree bridges!

A tribe in India has mastered the art of making living tree bridges!

7:58 AM | Posted by Pellau | Edit Post

North-eastern India in the Cherrapunji rainforests are the wettest places in the world. It is so wet, that standard timber bridges would rot away quickly. So, the people of the area have wisely engineered bridges out of living trees.

The rubber fig has secondary roots that grow above the soil surface. The people guide roots like these across chasms and slowly they grow stronger and become permanent bridges. This sheds a whole new light of Indian Jones-esque bridges. The living bridges are strong and lasting, though they take 10-15 years to complete.

They use nature to forge pathways to connect areas without all the hoopla of construction and ruining of the environment. Even though the Cherrapunji rainforest is the wettest place on Earth, the people have to travel miles to get usable water. Irrigation is problematic, because the rain washes away the topsoil due to humans moving into the rainforest. The Khasi people live in the rainforest and are a matriarchal people.

via Eden Apparel TT http://www.edenappareltt.tk/2013/04/a-tribe-in-india-has-mastered-art-of.html