The old Latin word for forest is 'sylvie'. This is where we get the English word 'sylvan' (also spelt 'silvan' and 'silvian') an adjective that means 'of or connected to a forest'. Thus, Sylvie culture is the culture of the forest. The inter-relationships between soil, plants, trees, animals, water as well as man makes up the culture of the forest that is also known as forest ecology.
The forests of the world are vital for the health of the planet. Forests along with plankton in the sea are the main carbon recyclers for the planet. More than 20% of the world's oxygen is made in the Amazon rainforest (http://www.rain-tree.com/facts.htm). More than 80% of the world's dietary items originated in a forest. These food items include fruits such as avocados, coconuts, figs, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas, guavas, pineapples, mangos and tomatoes; vegetables including corn, potatoes, rice, winter squash and yams; spices like black pepper, cayenne, chocolate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar cane, turmeric, coffee and vanilla and nuts including Brazil nuts and cashews. Without the culture of forests our diets would be very poor and our life expectancy would surely be much shorter as a result.
Forests not only supply foods, they also supply medicine. 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients. Scientists believe that the biodiversity of forests hold the key to finding cures for most of the serious diseases in the world. At present, only 1% of the plants of the Amazon have been tested by scientists. There are many undiscovered species of flora in the forest that could unlock the door to many cures that could see humanity extend its life to ages as yet unheard of. Such is the promise and magic of forestry culture.
How sad it is and how myopic it is that mankind seems intent on destroying this most important of cultures, our forests. Every one and a half seconds an acre of forest is cut down somewhere in the world. At the present rate of logging and clear cutting all the great forests in the world will be gone in 40 years. If you factor in the likely rise in sea levels due to climate change this process of deforestation could be accelerated.
Without the lungs of the world how will we survive? Without the medicines of the forest how will we survive? Every year clearing forests causes the extinction of 50,000 plant, insect and animal species. We are losing our birthright, our bio diversity at an alarming rate. The end result is that we Homo sapiens will also become extinct. We will have bought about our own ruin through the use of our supposed 'sapience' to make money instead of studying and protecting nature.
It seems very apparent that the culture of money, of economics and of consumerism is at logger heads with the culture of the forest. The Amazonian indigenous people have learnt to live with the forest and to derive many of the benefits of the forest. 500 years ago there were 10 million Indians in the Amazon. Now there are 200,000. We are killing the forest and the people of the forest.
This website is designed as a resource for all those concerned with these larger issues of protecting the environment. It is about suggesting ways to limit our negative impact on the environment and how we can help forests as well as oceans and other ecosystems to recover from the damage done mainly by man.
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The idea of offsetting is one of the most important concepts to emerge over the last few years. In the complex and interdependent world that we live in it is unrealistic for everyone to return to an agrarian style of existence in order to cut carbon emissions. We have to find new ways to maintain the technological benefits of modern consumer society while at the same time reigning in emissions that are threatening to cause environmental catastrophe. We can start to do this by taking a comprehensive audit of the carbon count of various economic, social and other activities and find ways to balance the damage done with actions that reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere.
The main consumer event in the Western World is Christmas. It is the time when the shops do most of their business and when people are apt to consume more natural resources than at any other time. It therefore makes very good sense from an environmental point of view to find ways of offsetting the extra carbon emissions that Christmas entails.
One way to do this is to travel less. Since people are on holiday they don’t have to commute to work. They should seek to keep their mileage lower during the Christmas period. This can be done by doing the Christmas shopping in as few trips as possible. Buying gifts from online retailers that ship in bulk can also help offset carbon expenditure at Christmas.
People like to go to the pub during the Christmas time. Not only is it against the law to drink and drive but it is also bad for carbon emissions. Try to walk to the pub or share a ride with other people.
Perhaps one of the best ways to offset Christmas is to give something back to nature. By planting several trees a person is increasing the amount of carbon that can be recycled into oxygen. Planting trees and plants also helps to reduce pollution.
Another option is to adopt a tree in the neighborhood. It is a sad fact that the average lifespan for urban trees in America is just 8 years. Find out how to take action to change this.
If a home has a flat roof a great idea is to set up a green roof. There is plenty of literature on this topic. Green roofs lower both heating and cooling costs of a building and increase bio diversity in a town or city.
Finally, if a household does not recycle bottles, paper and aluminum cans then Christmas is a great time to start. By taking material to recycling points a person is reducing the emissions involved in mining and also helping to stop deforestation.
Taking positive action to try and balance the extra consumption that Christmas entails is the right thing to do. As the situation of the environment becomes more critical the ethics involved in how we treat nature will become nearly as important as the ethics concerned with how we treat each other.
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