Do you think trees are important?
As the world seeks to slow the pace of climate change, preserve wildlife and support the planet’s population, trees inevitably hold a major part of the answer.
So, yes! Trees are important.
The mass destruction of trees (deforestation) continues to take place as the industrial sector sacrifices the long-term benefits of a standing tree for short-term monetary gain.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization’s 2020 report, between 2015 and 2020, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 10 million hectares per year.
A marginal improvement, as in the 1990s, the rate of deforestation was estimated at 16 million hectares per year.
However, since 1990, primary forest worldwide has decreased by over 80 million hectares.
Our Today has taken to list the importance of trees and urges the world to further decrease the rate of deforestation.
WHAT MAKES A TREE IMPORTANT?
1. Trees improve the quality of the air, assisting in climate amelioration, the conservation of water while preserving soil and wildlife.
2. Most importantly, during the process of photosynthesis, trees absorb the carbon dioxide that is released from a human’s body and in return produces the oxygen we breathe.
IMPACTS OF BURNING TREES
The impact of burning down trees is as follows:
- It affects the earth’s vegetation.
2. It affects the earth’s soil.
3. Constant deforestation is a sign of drought.
4. It affects the earth’s natural water system.
5. It pollutes the air inhaled in.
6. It affects the health and welfare of humans.
7. It affects the habitats of the different wild life.
8. It affects the Earth’s beautiful aesthetic.
Now, according to a report that was released this morning (April 22) by the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM), the Institute for Health Policy Studies (IEPS), and Human Rights Watch, the fire that razed Brazil’s Amazon rainforest caused dramatic deforestation that has resulted in the poisoning of the air millions of people breathe.
The Amazonian fires that captured the world’s attention in late August 2019 are a calamity of monumental proportions for the world’s shared climate, biodiversity loss and health.
What’s the solution to the aforementioned calamity?
Every individual should try to plant at least one tree and avoid cutting down others.
That doesn’t mean there should be a complete ban on the removal of trees here and there to make room for new infrastructre. Instead, practise proper tree removal techniques that do not consist of (accidentally) burning or chopping them down.
These techniques include:
- Check the surrounding area for obstacles that may be in the way.
2. Stand back and observe the nature posture of a tree.
3. Check the tree for safety hazards, such as dead or hanging branches.
4. Check the trunk of the tree for open wounds. This area will indicate that the centre of the tree is hollow or rotten and that’s when you go in for the big chop.
According to Scottish poet, Andrew Lang:
Trees grip their ground and faces seasons all around.
Trees don’t walk but they do talk, sing and dance in the wind.
If you listen long enough, they will tell you where they have been, they will say how long they have stood and how glad they are not to be WOOD.
“They will say how long they have stood and how glad they are not to be WOOD.”
-save trees, save oxygen, save lives
#PlantATreeToday
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