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Tree Planting - A step in the right direction?

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Nov 29 2007 | By: admin

Thank you all for your positive comments about our blogs and Sheryl for your pertinent question about the value/hypocrisy of tree planting. Yesterday, Devis, myself and others of our team took part in the local activities of the national planting day, planting some 1,000 tree around one of the villages which borders the park. We agree with you 100% that reforestation will never replace existing forests. Tropical trees simply take too long to grow for reforestation to ever be truly effective.

However, there are two plus points. It is important to engage people in conservation-orientated activities. Promoting tree planting, or more precisely agroforestry, is essential here in Borneo. If you’ll pardon the pun, trees root farmers to a particular patch of land. With only seasonal or annual crops, which demand greater soil fertility, farmers need to keep opening up new fields. However, if they have fruit bearing trees, they can receive a regular income from the one plot of land, without having to move.

The second reason is the symbolism of the government focussing on tree planting. It does show that forestry issues are moving up the political agenda and, given that all the local police and Government officials were dragged away from their desks and forced to dig dirt and plant trees, it has the potential effect of making them less sympathetic when they encounter cases of illegal logging for instance!

Speaking of illegal logging, we are battling a case right now, so I may be inclined to agree with the cynical thought that the tree planting day was just green-washing. Honestly though, I am more positive about it. I do think it was a (small) step in the right direction.

Kind regards

Stephen

4 Responses to “Tree Planting - A step in the right direction?”

sheryl, washington dc, on 29 Nov 2007

Well, since you put it that way I suppose I’m a bit more positive about the actual efforts now. However, the NPR coverage left out what, to me at any rate, was the most important element of the story - the effects of illegal logging on orangs and the insane demand for palm oil in Europe and the U.S. I do believe I’ll write to NPR and point them to some pertinent information so they can, perhaps,correct the story, or run another one.

I don’t think the majority of Americans know anything about Indonesian deforestation or oil palm farming, but if they read the labels on packaged foods they’d find palm oil, in one form or another, is in EVERYTHING. It’s the replacement for partially hydrogenated oils (trans fatty acids) but in reality, palm oil is devastating to one’s heart and arteries. For myself, a vegan, I don’t buy any food that contains palm oil until I’ve contacted the company and got assurances that they’re getting their oil from sustainable yield sources. If they can’t assure me of that in writing, then I don’t buy their products.

Thanks for all the first-hand info on the tree-planting day. I am glad to hear that it was mandatory for many people. We are all so disconnected from nature …

s.

angie. Brit in LA, on 29 Nov 2007

Sheryl, that is such a good idea to contact the companies and inquire about the source of their palm oil. I will do so in future. Making companies know that we are aware of what they are using and that they will lose our custom is the only way that they will consider change. It is a strategy that works. The make up industry, especially in the UK changed to using cruelty free products due to financial pressure

Orangutan Foundation » Blog Archive » National Tree Planting Day - photos, on 06 Dec 2007

[…] A couple of photos from the National Tree Planting Day last week (see Stephen’s previous post ‘Tree Planting - A step in the right direction?‘) […]

THERESA SISKIND, on 06 Dec 2007

Stephen, you are right about planting these trees. Dr Jane Goodall used this strategy in the Gombi Reserve by creating sustainable crops and other projects the locals there could live on. What about eco tourism there? Is it plausable. Animal lovers can see the chimps of Gombe and the gorilas at the Karisoke Research Center. Pressure needs to be put on the Indonesian government to opt for eco friendly tourism insteading of destroying the rain forests.

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