“We need the plants more than they need us.”

Carl Sagan, Author, Astronomer

~ 

Trees and Us

There has never been a time in human existence when trees were not supplying us with some sort of material or spiritual comfort. Even people who think trees to be nothing more than ordinary inconspicuous objects are familiar with the benefits that trees provide. Directly and indirectly their presence in our lives is undeniable.
Trees conserve, protect and regenerate soil, and due to their life cycles cleanse the atmosphere to the extent that without them the earth would be barren and lifeless. Tempering the effects of weather, trees monitor Earth’s climate thereby influencing shelter and food for all animals including humans, determining the evolution of every single creature on this planet.

Harnessing the element of fire, no doubt originating in the earliest forests, directed the history of humanity completely. Survival would from that time forward be a little more comfortable, at least for humans. Settlements spawned quite surely around fires prepared with wood from trees. Fire provided a central location to gather for warmth and a place to cook food rather than eating it raw. As civilization advanced until metals were discovered to be invaluable, early cultures used wood for just about everything including clothing from bark which was softened by pounding or chewing the fibers. Purposeful design and invention were borne as we initiated solutions to maintain the fire, obtain, collect and contain food, make work easier, relax, and adorn our bodies.
Yesterdays’ plants and forests are today’s coal — about three hundred million years worth. Wood is highly valued, increasingly so, for the various properties it retains like durability, pliability, carve-ability (soft and hardwoods) grain, knots or not, color, scent, insect resistance, weather resistance and so on. Whole Oak forests in Europe were sacrificed to build the ships that founded New Worlds, and in northern America for centuries if not longer, canoes were the main mode of transportation, using the Birch. A few tribal communities in South America still ceremoniously cut down trees to hollow out as boats and celebrate their appreciation through song while doing so. It was with the same kind of reverence that indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest carved totems as big as the trees themselves, erecting them in front of homes and village entryways as symbols of family, faith and empowerment. An excerpt from an ancient Kwakiutl native prayer to a cedar tree reads, “Look at me friend! I come to ask for your dress, since there is nothing you cannot be used for. I come to beg you for this…”.
Wonder for the earth and its life-forms crosses over boundaries of land and time and there is something at the core of our being that will never cease: a drive to express that wonder…so realistic and stylized symbolic motifs carved in the form of animal, plant and human characteristics have adorned tools, utensils, musical instruments, doors and furniture offering luck, protection, and aesthetic qualities for countless generations everywhere in the world.

Trees continue to lend us material for building, furnishing and flooring our homes, for paper products and currency, food of course, extractions for medicine, rubber for tires, byproducts for flavorings, aromatics, paint dyes, pigments for fabric, and much more. Individuals earn a living and industries generate the economy stemming from, related to, maintained by, and reliant upon every facet of forestry. Logging, milling lumber, paper production, numerous other goods manufactured with wood by-products and transporting those goods, commercial and home landscaping, sustainable forestry like replanting, monitoring, fire control etc., and tourism name a few.

Across every single continent vacations are planned and tours arranged specifically to visit icon forests that are famous for their exclusivity on the planet. Landscapes and cityscapes are softened and character defined by trees. In cities, trees are the veritable heartbeat in parks of every kind, setting the tone of leisure amidst a stressful modern lifestyle for jogging, biking, playing sports, just sitting and watching others, or a contemplative walk. Architecture is enhanced and even predetermined by the sculptural assets that trees bestow. Even the volunteer so-called weed trees are not without their charm.
Evergreens may be the first choice for landscape color year round, but leafless trees also provide winter interest. I’ll go out on a limb saying that most of us have at least one beautiful memory of tree silhouettes against a sky at sunset. Springtime forests seem to glow with a touch of that new green, welcome color against monotones of grays and brown. Late afternoon shadows drift across neighborhood streets during summer, and the drama is reset when red and gold landscapes herald the cooler weather of northern latitudes.

Legends, poetry, and nursery rhymes reflect our age-old and continual enchantment with trees and forests, as do stories of fairies and gnomes that may live amongst them. A few trees still hold symbolic significance: holly, mistletoe, the olive and more. Even our language includes reference to trees. We speak of our roots as set in a particular location we call home. We metaphorically map our genealogies on the branches of a Family Tree, and we say that our body has a trunk with limbs. Ancient philosophies the world over suggest that we adopt flexible attitudes, and like trees “bend in the wind”. An old superstition to knock on wood for good luck is still a casual practice. Streets, urban and rural regions, campgrounds and companies are given names of trees, implying ideals of quality, comfort and familiarity.

Howler Monkey, Dallas World Aquarium, 11 x 11 x 3 inches acrylics on canvas, gallery wrapped sides painted, $550.00

Creativity - Humanity’s contribution - is above all our best resource for finding and maintaining improved solutions with regard to our impact as consumers on the earth.
Caring

Animals and plants are dependent upon each other for survival. From bacteria to whales a precarious balance of events links all life together in matters of survival. Change one factor in the series and everything else changes along with it. These are things we have heard repeatedly because we need to know that the Earth thrives with diverse life forms all exchanging vital carbon dioxide and oxygen (and to a lesser degree other gases). Elements that are waste for some that are food for others.

Without even debating the causes and effects of global warming, the bottom line is that we require trees in order to survive. Whether naturally cyclical or human-caused, the facts are that Earth’s resources are presently being depleted at an alarming rate. Should established forests diminish too greatly in numbers or disappear entirely, the absence of their presence would be undeniable and devastating. When old-growth forests (Intact Forests) are cut in exchange for short term gain or lost to disease or insect infestation, all the interdependent species and surrounding land become vulnerable as well. Even with major tree-planting programs in place, the regeneration of pre-existing plants and creatures are not so quickly restored, if they are at all. New growth forests present entirely new conditions, not ones that enabled the previous sensitive flora and fauna to flourish. Anthropological evidence in the form of fossils confirms that before trees existed here, life forms were few in numbers and diversity. Preserving Intact Forests enables the conservation of undisturbed diversity and the perpetual protection of all life forms, including us.
The ‘Green’ movement can easily be perceived as a fad. It has become common business practice for companies to jump on the bandwagon using sober, real issues as marketing gimmicks, and politicians of every party know how to direct their campaigns accordingly. However, the role we play as humans need not always be presented as negative. While short term, fads do appeal to the masses, and the planet can use the advertising however it occurs.

Environmental groups are organized by very passionate people, many who are extremely frustrated and some, angry. A few groups rally hard demanding radical change immediately, and rightly so. In many cases harsh action like interrupting fishing vessels is the only way to stimulate urgent attention to laws that need changing, like the tragedies of whaling that are unbelievably still taking place in the oceans near Australia and Japan. I can certainly relate to the emotions, but the ‘hard sell’ is not effective for everyone, and can even be detrimental to the cause when it’s individuals that need motivation. Learning the true facts and figures can sometimes leave us feeling that we are helpless as individuals and hopeless as a society, but most of us don’t have lifestyles that enable us to get out there and contribute something loud or large.

During the late 1980’s/ early ’90s I inadvertently became involved in the early “green movement” by designing and manufacturing Earthbags*, selling at Environmental and Art Shows and shipping mail order across Canada, some internationally. Initially the plan was to just use the fabric shopping bags myself, but soon I was selling them while waiting in lineups at the store. One of the main things I learned is that usual formulas for business practices work fine for regular products and ideas that people are already familiar with, but when you’re introducing ideas that attempt to change a complete philosophy and lifestyle; it’s the face to face conversations with individuals that have the most impact.

Habits are very hard to change, but actions need not be radical to make a difference. For long-term, permanent changes to take hold we only need to care. Caring is a simple, easy action for every one of us, and collectively this impacts the larger picture. Nurturing and creativity, some of it spurred on by the energy of anger and frustration can also achieve goals toward conservation and prevention of further harm to the planet.* We only need to choose a place to start. In our busy modern lives we need to find places where we can reconnect with nature. That is why in my opinion, botanical gardens, museums, wildlife parks, national parks, zoos and aquariums are so important. They are a controversial subject for some, but immersion and first-hand experience with wilderness has a direct effect on how much we care about them.
If we think we are only entertained, we really do not leave unscathed by the physical presence of things that we might never otherwise have the privilege of seeing, like elephants, polar bears and beluga whales viewed from behind a safety barrier. It’s the closest most of us will ever come to these creatures. A renewed appreciation for other beings is the source of care, and therefore changes to our habits from the inside out, and permanently.
Recycling programs have been in place in North America since the early 1990’s. I do not know as much about the practices of other countries except to say that Europe and some other countries were ahead of the game with regard to resourcefulness and innovation because of higher populations and limited living spaces. Ideally it’s best to watch how much packaging is purchased in the first place, but in modern society it’s pretty difficult to not purchase packaging, so do recycle it when you can.
Flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs are easily grown in our homes and gardens. Start a small garden of your own, and within one season you will see how rewarding and addictive it can be. There’s something about growing things that reveals the wonder of life in a way nothing else can. All seeds all have a unique design that ensure they are protected until such a time they are ready to drop. They are designed to have the best opportunity and chance to be carried away and to sprout. We learn an appreciation for the intelligence of sentient beings, and start questioning our own role on Earth as individuals and as a human race.

A $10 contribution to the Arbor Day Foundation will buy you ten yearling trees to plant in your own yard, share with friends, or plant in your community. The foundation also offers Trees in Memory and Trees in Celebration where trees planted in a loved one’s honor also help restore national and international forests.  

Awareness is a big deal.

Above: Recycle Bin by the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA

Below:  Humans were here… plastic bag caught on branches, seen Anywhere, Any Continent, Earth

All photography by Artist Nikki Coulombe ~ The Majesty of Trees Collection ~ Copyright 2009

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I welcome any information associated with the subject of trees, forests, conservation and promoting  interest and education about this vast topic. With regard to accuracy, attempts are made to identify tree species, so I really appreciate any corrections, information and advice. There are a few unidentified trees in these photo compilations and I would love to know their names. If you have a relevant website you’d like linked here, please contact me at nikki_coulombe@hotmail.com