Who cannot love old-growth groves where enormous trees soar skyward like turrets and flying buttresses. Shafts of golden light angle down to a dusky forest floor that is rich with sword ferns, moss-covered logs and witch’s hair dangling from branches. When I am amongst these gentle giants I feel a spirituality, a deep closeness with nature.
But last week a tear welled in my eye as I gazed at the largest stump I’ve ever seen. About 45 feet in circumference and about a thousand years old, the noble red cedar had been cut only recently. The thud as this old matriarch hit the forest floor should have reverberated throughout the land. Instead there was silence. The surrounding clear-cut, located near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, contained many large stumps, several rivalling this one in size. Photos of the clear-cut can be seen at: http://utopiaphoto.ca/blog/?p=343
This ancient grove should never have been logged. That such rare old-growth trees, which form only a tiny and diminishing fraction of the forest, continue to be felled highlights serous shortcomings in the BC government and the logging industry.
Looking deeper, this sea of stumps also sends a message about the world’s population. There are so many people now that to provide shelter, clothes, food and modern conveniences, we must lay waste the resources that nature has provided. Shameful practices are found in the fisheries, oil and gas, fresh water and elsewhere. The days when resources were harvested sustainably are far behind.
The murder of a grand old-growth matriarch, leaving behind only a stump, is a sure sign that our society is failing. Can we not turn it around?
6 comments:
Yes, our societies are failing, my friend. It's almost already failed.
I just saw a documentary called Earthlings and I recommend it to the whole humankind.
The United Nations Millennium Development Goals are wonderful. I am for realizing each and every one of them. Needless to say, there is not nearly enough being done now to accomplish what has been set out to be accomplished by the family of humanity in the next five years. Since the establishment of the MDGs, the actual work of fulfilling commitments to these worldwide goals could be described as woefully inadequate at best.
Please note, however, if the human family was to meet all of the MDGs set by the United Nations, each of these successes could be counted as no more than Pyrrhic victories because the “mother” of all human-induced global challenges looming before humankind is being dishonestly and deceitfully denied. While the ‘elephant in the living room’ of humanity’s planetary home is growing ever larger and more like a leviathan, its colossal presence is being willfully ignored.
Please assist me by examining research of the population dynamics of the human species. The human family could end up winning great victories by achieving the MDGs but losing the much more critical struggle of preserving Earth and protecting its environs as a fit place for the children to inhabit.
Indeed its a very tragic period for the society. !
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i've often wondered if the peak of population looms
and our time is bright but short just like a fleeting flower blooms
and maybe there's no going back the tipping point's been crossed
'cause we're all of us the most we'll be - peak people
http://thepeakoilpoet.blogspot.com/2011/08/peak-people.html
I am amazed that in this day and age old growth trees like the one you showed aren't protected. They serve a valuable role in the eco-system that cannot be replaced by new growth trees. Breaks my heart.
Dani @ ONNO Organic Clothing
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