The Giving Tree

We need wood for many things. Trees are felled to build homes and create paper products of all kinds. Companies make money and loggers are put to work. There are a finite number of trees to meet the needs of the world's population. Sustainable logging may be a pipe dream that many of us pretend is real. Anyone who has bought furniture from IKEA or a Christmas tree from a seasonal vendor probably thinks little about where that wood originated. Any way you add it up the preservation or destruction of forests means someone loses big time.

Plenty of what is cut down, be it old growth or rain forests, is done illegally. Developing countries turn a blind eye toward the practice as developed nations accept the import of wood with nary a whisper in protest. Rain forests which help to regulate the environment are lost as are any potential medicines their plants offer. Trees which held onto precious soil, once removed, allow for greater soil erosion which affects nearby water quality. Carbon is released into the air which increases the threat to the ozone layer.

Keeping these sources of wood pristine comes with its own unique price tag. Countries that lose money due to a decrease in commerce must get it from somewhere. Carbon offsets are sold to some while the World Bank must then make up the revenue shortfall. Native peoples who would have been able to farm the land must then look elsewhere for a place to live and a way to earn a living. Strange bedfellows are created when environmental groups collaborate with the very same companies that would have benefited from the logging had it occurred.

I cannot see any middle ground. We both lose and gain when trees are cut and when forests are cleared or saved. The need for all that our tall and leafy friends bestow upon us is undeniable. My desk, my printer and my bathroom all remind me of what gifts mother nature brings. My best hope is that a paper substitute is developed that satisfies us as homes, at least, can now be created with newer and stronger materials. Revenue will be lost no doubt as the practice of logging ends. Maybe someone smarter than me will find a solution to this conundrum?