Forrest Burning

I really would like to know everyone's thoughts on beautiful forests being burned to the ground for the purpose to build shopping malls and high rise hotels...

It angers me when the AL mighty dollar goes into greedy pockets, and in the end, they burn and destroy forests for the sake of making ... more money...

Some businessmen will say that, to "grow and expand" you need to make room for more...what they need to say in "truth" is.... for their pockets to grow and expand...

We have enough... we need to preserve and protect our forests... how I feel...

Most of you know, I'm a nature person... always have been.. I just want to know everyone's thoughts on this subject... thank you.

What they burn them down? Don't take them away for other uses...like furniture....even firewood? Now that would really piss me off...trees provide oxygen without it we die...so...I'm figuring we're probably about 85% there already. I have a lot of trees surrounding me....some...when they get too close to the house (branches overhanging) I have to remove them....regulations here but....they are next year's firewood.

Only when the last tree has been cut down; Only when the last river has been poisoned; Only when the last fish has been caught; Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten..some NAI trivbe quoted this...could it have bee the Cree Indians...not sure Andrea but...figure you will know :)

I'm very happy you posted that quote Hellon, because it goes with my post to a tee!

You are correct, its the Cree Indian Prophecy-

I've seen them bull doze them down... toss the beautiful trees in a pile and burn them... :-(

I agree, if they take them to be used in another form than fine, however, why do it at all? WE HAVE enough of fancy stuff... the forests should be off limits... and the Cree Prohicy will hold true in the end.... :-(

I have that quote and one by John Lennon...Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans..written in a book I carry around with me all the time....it's battered and torn but....it has everything I really need in it...addresses/phone numbers/birthdays etc... This is like my sacred book if you know what I mean....I get new ones given to me for Christmas/birthdays and....I do update the info into them but.....I just can't part with this one....I have lots of other stuff glued into it....just shit but....guess it was important at some point in my life :)

Anyway ...back to the forest....now if they burn off...the trees will eventually come back so....I'm assuming they dig everything up afterwards....why even bother burning them now that I think of it?

Edit...sorry I thing you added something to your post but....we're still both on the same page....

Hey, Andrea!

That's a cool subject to talk about.

I think that we are contributing to the unbalance in nature by all pollution factors, deforestation, etc...

Lebanon was 87% green over 10452 km squared.

In the past 6 years, this percentage decreased from 87% to 7%.

Imagine that. It is really scary!!!

This decrease is due to massive fires that used to happen in the last three years; everything green was eaten.

Such fires took more than 5 days to be extinguished!!

Two years ago, immigrants and citizens contributed via money to buy trees and plant Lebanon again. Also, there were fund raising to buy 3 helicopters specialized to carry water from the sea (since the helicopters that were used before are military). I don't know if the % increased beyond 7, but if it did, I don't imagine it exceeded 10%.

Of course this decrease isn't just caused by forest fires... We don'y have strict environmental laws, so cutting trees is widespread here... no censorship... at all!! They cut trees, they destroy whole mountains just to extract building material... it's really devastating!

Is this an actual incident or just in general?

There are two sides to every story. Shopping centres and high-rise hotels bring employment to people who may not otherwise have jobs, boost the local economy, etc. 50, 100 years ago there were probably lots more forests, if you went back long enough, the site of your home, town, holiday destination etc. would have been covered in forest. Population is increasing all the time.

But I do agree that forest preservation is important. I know some places they plant two trees for every one they cut down when developing on a site. And there should be close monitoring of forests via planning permissions, designating protected areas etc. so that it isn't too easy to come and destroy them.

What we have been doing in the name of the so called progress is sad.May The Goddess have mercy on us.
Nature has been angry and we are paying the price all over the world.Progress brings money and boosts economy but it robs us of the sacredness of life. It seems to me that we all have forgotten our connection with Mother Earth and I am afraid of the future when I think of the destruction/ devastation in Amazon. When I think of our Indians and of wildlife. Flamboyants are almost extinct here. I love them.
I hope the new generation can have an Earth-Based education. I am sure things will change more.We need an Earth-Based Ethic for humanity urgently.Otherwise we will condemn the future of our planet forever.

Most of the deforestation taking place in the world, such as the current blight of the rainforest is caused by the debts those countries carry to other wealthier countries. They can't pay, so they start to sell off their natural resources. Their oil, forests, minerals. The people become dependant on the jobs created to facilitate the harvesting of those resources and once that happens there is nothing that can stop it.

Too many people, not enough resources. If folks would stop churning out babies without a care in the world we'd be able to manage this situation but no politician in the world who wants to stay in power will ever bring up over population.

We are screwed and we can't admit it.

That's true Kevin. Poverty makes us dependable.

"Most tropical rainforests are found in developing countries where money is indisputably needed. The average price of a hectare of trees is about $20,000 in foreign exchange, with a large demand for money in developing countries saving the trees comes second to feeding the family. Two main reasons for deforestation are poverty and the need for foreign exchange (Waste.org, 1994). This results in most of the trees cut down to be exported to more economically developed countries, such as America. "Ironically, developing nations pay almost half of their total earnings from tropical hardwood exports for paper pulp, as they buy their wood chips back as pulp. Almost two- thirds of paper pulp produced is manufactured into packaging material, tissues, and convenience products such as paper cups and plates" (Waste.org, 1994)."

Source:http://kanat.jsc.vsc.edu/student/callahan/mainpage.htm
Rainforest Deforestation

We currently have about 6.5 billion people on this planet, and that is growing by 76 million per year. As I recall, ideally our planet has the resources to safety support about 2.4 billion people.

So even if we stopped cutting down forests and recycled at our optimum, we'll still totally screw the planet up because the demand will keep increasing.

Honestly, people need to be forced to just stop having babies all over the place. One child per couple for a few generations would give us some breathing room.

Kevin secretly works for Durex.

He makes good points though. The population in 1900 was something like 1.5 million, the growth we are having is unsustainable.

"Kevin secretly works for Durex."

HAH.
Kev, how would you sterlize people to limit one child per family/couple/group etc?

Kevin's idea would never be accepted in Catholic countries.

Oh I don't personally agree with it, I'm just trying to understand all sides.

Kev, how would you sterlize people to limit one child per family/couple/group etc?
^^

Not saying its right/good system but don't they have a one-child policy in China?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-child_policy

Yes, I can't see a state telling people in a democracy that they can only have one child as being a popular idea. Not anytime soon anyway. People living longer is keeping the population up too, is there a solution to this fact, not sure, so its a hard one to solve.

'We don't inherit the Earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children.'

Wikipedia is blocked from work, so I can't see that. :( What I know of the Chinese policy is like getting a bit of information from the telephone game.. I have no clue what reality is there. lol

My brother in law has stated he's wishing for something like the plague to knock off over half the population to help sustain the Earth.

I totally agree with Kevin.

1 Child per family is super helping for nature & its resources.

It's fine if you are Bill Gates, imo, to bring as many children as you like... But I really pity those poor/average-waged people who hatch children every 2 years!!!

I'd give a beggar with multi chilren a condom or a mini-pill instead of giving him/her money!

Condoms and birth control pills aren't always 100% effective, so that doesn't always work.

I don't get why the uber rich should be able to have as many kids as they would like. I agree, people who can't afford kids shouldn't always have them, but we shouldn't be able to say that people who have millions can have infinite amount of babies, but people who have family wage jobs can only have 1.

That is class warfare, has nothing to do with resources.

I chose those contraceptive methods because they're the most practical.... you can't get beggars for IUDs or surgeries.. :P

My point is, children nowadays need A LOT of attention.... expensive gadgets... leisure.... expensive education.... everything's expensive!

So you can raise one or two kids only while offering them the best you can!! not get 5 children and prevent them from lots of stuff they wish to have.

That's why I said the rich have the right... they have the money to raise kids and nurture them well!

My point is, children nowadays need A LOT of attention.... expensive gadgets... leisure.... expensive education.... everything's expensive!"

Children have always needed a lot of attention, but they don't NEED expensive gadgets, expensive education etc. To go into my field and get licensed in insurance, it costs about $500. My boss makes upwards of $300k a year, on a slow year. That's a pretty darn good investment. We've forgotten that trades are a great thing to go into. Everyone has to have an expensive university degree, but they don't get that you can be successful and make great money in a trade, for much cheaper.

You don't have to have expensive gadgets. I didn't have them growing up, nor did the generations before me, and I feel they all survived.. It's a matter of want or need.

You can raise kids and not make millions of dollars. Combined my parents raised my sister and I off of roughly 50k a year, if my mom worked (she usually didn't, she was a stay at home mom until I went into school, then worked part time). My point is, is I didn't have EVERYTHING, but I had an amazing childhood - we always had a roof/food etc.

I would pissed if someone told me I couldn't have two kids because I don't make a million dollars a year. We make good money and could afford to give kids a great life and a lot of attention and love, I don't have to be a millionaire to do that.

Again, this was supposed to be about resources and clearly I've gotten off topic lol

I understand you.. Maybe I was just talking from a personal view. I have 2 other siblings, and we all sleep in one room.... You could imagine.....

I just wish sometimes I was the only kid, or at least not born lol... It's so annoying to have a small house with 3 children (we were 4 children, but a sister of mine died one hour after birth), and it really affects you emotional wise. You don't feel secure.

Probably that's why I think like that... less money = less children!

Everything above comes down to one word;

Educate

Teach children the importance of recycling, the rain forests (lungs of the earth) natural resources.
Birth control,

Here in England we have two problems which pushes our own population up.

firstly we have mass immagration, more people to house means more of our green areas are swallowed up, (schools have sold off playing fields so houses can be built on them)

The second is the benefits culture, you can earn just as much by spitting out 5 kids as you can working 50 hours a week, in fact some young couples CHOOSE this as a lifestyle. More kids equals more houses needing to be built which equals more trees and fields gone.

If we could educate our next generation to have pride in making their own money and that the benefits culture was as bad a lifestyle choice as the 'new romantics' in the 80's

then we could have some hope, because this generation is full of screw ups.

I've read all the posts and I want to thank many of you for giving me a few other angles to look at... Karla your post made me tear up...

Kevin: I'm so passionate about nature and the forests, that I actually read your posts 3 times and then read them to my husband ... he actually agreed with you on the over population... and after we talked some I do see how it affects the problems we have today....

Darren I agree on education as well... however, each generation has screw ups...