The Forest Cover Conundrum
We need forests for survival and at the same time we need to cut down trees for various needs. How do we strike a balance?
When the young executives started to plan a city on the imaginary island created by them, Zemora Tourista, they decided to make retention of tree cover a priority.
How does one build a city without cutting down trees?
Building a city means deforestation. The young executives brainstormed to find out reasons that lead to deforestation and listed the following:
Cultivation of food.
Creating space for residential and workspaces.
Construction activities
Firewood,
Manufacturing Paper,
Mining,
Furniture
Illegal logging for extremely profitable ventures
Building a new city is exciting and it is very easy to get ambitious about it and expand without any limits. There will always be new needs for what one may call comfortable life. But should that be allowed? Can we simply cut down trees that have taken years to grow to clear space for our exciting expansion plans?
Every action as an equal and opposite reaction
Cutting down trees today to satisfy our hunger for space could have long lasting implications. “Don’t cut trees!” say environmentalists and this message gets conveyed in a number of ways and yet it happens. Curtailing deforestation on this island would first have to begin with a good understanding of why a tree cover is essential for our own survival on this planet. It is not just about making space for our daily activities and comfort. It is about our comfort and well being in the long run. To gain an understanding of what the implications of this are, the young executives brainstormed, researched and came up with the following:
balancing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere- Forest cover helps in absorbing huge amounts of carbon dioxide and hence helps in reducing global warming. On the contrary, cutting down trees releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere thus aggravating the problem.
helps bring more rain,
ensures lesser soil erosion,
maintains biodiversity etc.
The conundrum
We need space for our modern day comforts- transport, open recreation spaces, walking spaces, industries, factories, fancy homes etc. That space gets created only by cutting down trees. But all of that is useless if we do not have forest covers that help cleanse air, prevent soil erosion, help bring rain, ensure biodiversity thus maintaining ecological balance and so on.
Forests can survive without humankind, but we need them for our survival. Hence the need for a certain balance and restraint in our course of actions. Humankind through out history has shown as that mistakes happen. We learn from them and become better. Zemora Tourista, the city that is being built by the young executives gives them a chance to ponder about the challenges involved and making responsible decisions in this imaginary scenario.
Making responsible decisions
Ever since the decision to resurrect the uninhabited imaginary land that was previously evacuated on account of a volcanic eruption, the young executives have made it their priority to build a modern and environment friendly city. Below are some of the ideas that they suggested in their recent meetings:
Housing and offices - multi storeyed buildings thus reducing space requirement on the ground.
Vertical farming- having greenhouses as an integral part of buildings.
Agroforestry
Permaculture
Create reserved areas - Fortified walls around the forest restricting entry- perhaps have two rounds of fences- one electric fence to prevent human beings from entering the forest area and within that fence another to prevent animals coming in contact with the electric fence. Keeping the entry/exit gate hidden.
Alternatives to cultivate food - A few suggestions came up- vertical plantation within the city, combine tree cover and food plantation with artificial sunlight?
Stringent laws to penalise unlawful entry and logging of wood.
Coming up next week is the list of laws that the young executives want to establish so that people can live in harmony with one another on Zemora Tourista and ensure that the environment is taken care of.
Stories have a way having lasting impact on people’s actions. Keeping that in mind, some of the young executives chose to write ‘folktales’. These will be available read in the coming weeks. Read, contemplate and enjoy!:)