‘I’m not surprised that the forest cover of the Philippines, which was so lush in the 1900s, is now almost gone. And where there are more people, there are far fewer trees.’
OVER the weekend, my thoughts have been all about trees. And in my head, Joyce Kilmer’s words played over and over again, reminding me of the declaration contests I joined when I was a student at UP’s Elementary school.
How many trees have had to be cut to sustain the 62 years I’ve lived? Forget the flooring for our houses or the wood panels and desks and tables for our schools, since so many others have used them as well. But I think of the sheets and sheets and sheets of paper – bond, onion skin, Manila paper, even cartolinas – and, of course, the pad paper with red and blue lines that are either full sheets, half sheets, one half lengthwise or one half crosswise and one fourth as well.
And that was for elementary school alone. When we got to UP High School, the paper had become white; by law school, it was yellow.
And more bond paper of various sizes, especially those used for the Xerox machines. And reports. And case studies. And term papers.
How many trees have had to be cut just to satisfy my needs in my lifetime, which thankfully isn’t over yet? A thousand, let’s say? Now multiply that by a million-fold for those born the year I was born, millions more for those born the years before I was born, and millions more for those born the years after I was born.
I’m not surprised that the forest cover of the Philippines, which was so lush in the 1900s, is now almost gone. And where there are more people, there are far fewer trees. Urbanization and agriculture have encroached on our forests and we have hardly shrugged our shoulders about that. But we turn radical when someone speaks that a mining operation is “deforesting” a natural park – even if 1) the mining operation is operating with all permits outside a national park and 2) the mining footprint is so small – in an operation in Palawan which I am intimately related to it’s been mining in 20 hectares per year – twice the size of the UP Sunken Garden in provinces with over one million hectares in land area.
Oh, and beyond that, arguably small, a dual footprint, they are even required by law to replant from 50 to 100 trees for every one they have to move or uproot.
Because I exist, because you exist, because your children exist (I don’t have any!), trees will have to be felled and minerals will have to be mined. That’s a fact of life.
So yes, hug a tree today. Its skin has done so much for you and me and for our elders, and many, many more will sacrifice themselves for your youngsters.
But better yet, do as the miners do: plant 50. Plant 100. Because you and I must be conscious that the simple fact of our being alive, yes, just by our being alive, we endanger this planet we all love.
