Showing posts with label Urban deforestation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Urban deforestation. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

"Trees are perishing ... and the climate is ruined ..."


"Millions of trees are perishing, the homes of wild animals and birds are being laid waste, the rivers are dwindling and drying up, wonderful scenery is disappearing never to return. One must be an unreflecting savage to burn this beauty in one's stove, to destroy what we cannot create."

Who wrote this? The Ancient Forest Alliance? Pacific Wild? No. It was written in 1898 by Anton Chekhov -- lines from his play Uncle Vanya. 

He continues:  "There are fewer and fewer forests, the rivers are drying up, the wild creatures are becoming extinct, the climate is ruined, and every day the Earth is growing poorer ..."

Even back then some people were aware of the relationship between Earth's forest cover, extinction rates, and changes to climate, although people in general, and policy-makers, listened to them no more then than they do today. Today, though, the situation is much worse. When Chekhov wrote Uncle Vanya there were about 1.6 billion people on Earth; now there are over 7 billion, all de-foresting and paving it for housing and the agricultural space needed to feed 7 billion mouths.

Chekhov's character goes on: "when I hear the rustling of the young copse planted by my own hands, I realize that the climate is to some extent in my power ..."

Why are we not all planting young copses? It is in our power. Why are we still logging old (and secondary) growth in the wilderness? Why are we denuding cities for "in-fill development" instead of retaining the urban tree canopy? In 2018 -- 127 years after Uncle Vanya was written -- people and politicians STILL aren't listening.

Victoria's new council (like the rest on Vancouver Island) has named "climate change action" as one of its priorities. So will it plant trees, or remove them for development, density and growth? Can't have it both ways; it seems Victoria's stated goals are in conflict with each other.


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Tuesday, July 12, 2016

What green space that $7.6 million could buy ...

$7.6 MILLION for bike lanes in Victoria?? How much badly needed park space could be bought for that amount? How many heritage gardens saved? Trees planted?

Only a tiny minority ride bikes, but EVERYONE benefits from trees (ie from beauty, shade, oxygen ...). If climate change is the issue, deforestation causes much more of it than cars do. Strange priorities, Victoria.


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