December 25, 2016 at 1:49 am

If we start by asking ourselves a very important question. What would happen if there were no trees or wildlife at all? Our beautiful planet with all its varied  life forms and plants will vanish and so will we. Trees are what sustains the planet and its life systems and keep them ticking in a clockwork precision. This has now been severely affected due to the kind of mindless destruction, we humans have been indulging in without even thinking  a bit about the consequences, the alarm bells which have been ringing for quite a number of years are being ignored in the name of development.

We can keep reeling statistics to prove our point but it will fall on deaf years. This is because the number of people who are trying or pretending to be ignorant is large compared to the people who care and tend to or nurture the environment.

Here are a few practical steps which are simple to start off, which is by planting a sapling. But our duty does not end there. We must nurture that little seed, protect if for all the years to come and see it grows into a big tree so that it feeds the herbivores and humans and that in turn will increase the population of the herbivores and will feed the carnivores and omnivores and a variety of other lifeforms which depend on them for their food in the list of food chain.

That shows one thing is clear, forests are necessary for wildlife and they in turn are dependent on wildlife for the purpose of seed dispersal, pollination and other numerous processes. Both of these together help in the sustaining of the ecology which is required for the purpose of good climatic conditions resulting in rains and abundant water to nourish life and for the life cycle to continue.

As we look around and marvel at the variety of wonderful trees, magnificent old, tall oaks to small, exquisite flowering plants, we need to remember that trees have functions well beyond beauty and decoration. They provide shelter, homes and food for birds and other wildlife. The also provide cool resting places from the summer heat for them and for us too. Backyard trees are a joy to watch in our homes. Nowadays not an inch is being left to plant trees in the plots in cities though.

This is the direct result of cities going concrete and faulty construction due to pressure on land. The wetlands nearby the cities are also being reclaimed not allowing place for water to flow resulting in artificial flooding which is a major problem during monsoons. There is no other proper storm water drain system built in the cities and the system is the old one while cities have grown manifold.

Trees are the  principal supplier of oxygen and they rid our air of many pollutants. Tree roots prevent soil erosion. Deep tree roots brings up soil nutrients, leaves and needles provide us mulch to enrich the soil all around  a tree. Trees act as noise barriers, carbon sinks, windbreaks and can also protect our houses during bad weather conditions. The soak up excess water during the rainy season and help solve drainage problems. In the recent years heavy winds have uprooted big trees in cities because the varieties which do not have deep roots have been planted and water storage around them is lacking.

This shows us that trees are important to us as individuals and to animals, birds other life forms and the planet as a whole. Thus it is our duty to protect them because without trees, we are only going to be one big dry planet without any life. Imagine if each one of us plants and takes care of at least one tree in our lifetime and avoid chopping trees at the other end the world will be a more greener, better and safer planet to live.

Some of the ills of not following the above pattern which are visible are, climate change, global warming, loss of green cover and wet lands, wildlife moving out of forests due to imbalance in food chain and disturbance to their corridors as in the case of elephants, tigers, panthers, monkeys and a whole host of other wildlife, reptiles and other aquatic creatures and marine life too getting affected due to wrong fishing methods.

As they say “Charity begins at home”. There will not be a clearer message to create awareness than this. So let’s go for a green and clean world. We owe it to our future generations. Or else we have to be prepared for more dry years consequently with no rainfall. This is not good for anyone of us.