It's Time To Pay Our Debt To Trees

It is time to pay our debt… with interest.
Photo: TJ Watt

Many researchers believe that if it weren't for the amazing versatility of wood, civilization as we know it would never have developed.

"Wood is humanity's oldest natural resource. We have no older or deeper debt."

- Hugh Johnson, author of The World of Trees

It is time to show our gratitude and respect for our global tree community, and pay our debts... with interest. 

If that is even possible, considering tree's immense contribution to our well-being since the dawn of humanity.

I suggest that we at least try before it is too late.

The Gifts Of Trees

Happy Holidays from everyone at VIBT

What would a Christmas celebration be without a tree?


The UN International Year Of Forests is drawing to a close. Now is as good a time as any to give thanks for the many, many gifts given to us by our trees and forests. In their generosity and bounty, trees have paved the way for much of civilization as we know it.


We would not have come as far, or as fast, without the ample gifts of trees. Perhaps this coming year we can consider everything trees have done for us, and then consider what we can do for them in return.

Forests everywhere desperately need us.

Seasons Greetings to all tree lovers and forest defenders.

10 Ways Trees Are Better Than People

Society knows the price of trees, but very little of their value. Indeed, it is hard to overestimate the value of trees.

There are some that believe that the end of trees and forests means the end of civilization. But still some people insist on continuing the deforestation of our planet for short term gain. I often wonder what is wrong with them.

This leads me to believe that in some ways trees are better than people. There is a lot to be learned from the wisdom of trees if only we took the time to observe and learn.

10 Ways Trees Are Better Than People

1. Trees stay put in one place and do no harm.
2. Trees support each other in cooperative communities (forests).
3. Trees withstand centuries of harsh conditions without complaining.
4. Trees don't take more than they need to survive.
5. Trees are patient. Very, very patient.
6. Trees improve the environment in which they live.
7. Trees don't do crazy things to impress other trees.
8. Trees don't get messed up and kill others of their kind.
9. Trees give, and give with no expectation of reciprocity. 
10. Trees are frequently harmed by humans, but rarely are humans harmed by trees.

We would be wise to emulate trees. If we did the world would be a better place for trees and people alike. Visit a tree near you and spend some quiet time with it. It will, over time, pass on what lies deep in its heart(wood). You will be a better person for it.

"Because they are primeval, because they outlive us, because they are fixed, trees seem to emanate a sense of permanence.  And though rooted in earth, they seem to touch the sky.  For these reasons it is natural to feel we might learn wisdom from them, to haunt about them with the idea that if we could only read their silent riddle rightly we should learn some secret vital to our own lives." - Kim Taplin

Every Day Is Arbor Day

“A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under which they will never sit."

- Greek proverb

I noticed a mention of Arbor Day recently and was reminded to pay homage to this vitally important, but underappreciated day of planting and celebrating all things dendro. Here at VIBT we are celebrating the trees 24/7, not only because they are amazing in their own right, but also because of their contribution to our lives.

Lester Brown, founder of WorldWatch Institute, said, "protecting the earth’s nearly 4 billion hectares of remaining forests and replanting those already lost are both essential for restoring the earth’s health, an important foundation for the new economy. Reducing rainfall runoff and the associated flooding and soil erosion, recycling rainfall inland, and restoring aquifer recharge depend on simultaneously reducing pressure on forests and on reforestation."

He proposes we use our forest resources more wisely as civilization as we know it may depend on it. It has been fairly well established that trees are necessary for civilization to take place. No trees, no civilization. Many a collapse has been precipitated by cutting the last trees in a particular region.

"Productive orchards of olive trees meant that a foundation of the great empires of Greece and Rome had arisen and developed into complex economic and political forces. It is interesting to note that the historical decline of these empires corresponded to the destruction of their olive tree orchards that reduced the available supplies of olives, olive oil, olive wood, and olive soap." From: Explore Crete

Trees don't just keep human civilization humming along, they also provide habitat for thousands of other life forms. Trees are the lungs of the planet, and they are also just darn beautiful. I know I am not alone, not only because people are accessing VIBT daily in their quest to learn about trees, but also because of the existence of Arbor Day globally.

Canada's Forested Regions

Arbor Day is not celebrated at the same time of the year even within the same country. Take Canada for example - its national Arbor Day is called "Maple Leaf Day" and takes place on the last Wednesday in September, during National Forest Week. Tree-covered British Columbia does not have an Arbor Day celebration of its own, and Ontario celebrates not on one day, but over a whole week which is observed from the last Friday of April to Mother's Day.

So don't wait for any particular day before you plant, honour, and thank the trees. Do it today, and imagine what your life might be like without trees. More than likely it would be short and a lot less diverse.

Trees Critical For Civilization

Trees and forests have always been critical to human civilization. Shown above is the huarango tree, native to Peru. It has the deepest roots of any tree, deeper than most trees are tall, and lives 1000 years.

When the Nazca people cut their huarango forests to make way for increased agriculture around 400 AD, they experienced a few short years of benefits, then the people disappeared for all time.

When the trees go, so go the people.