Big Tree Art: Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival, Evan Wakelin

I enjoy doing big tree research on line because you never know what kind of good stuff you might come across. I am always on the lookout for great big tree art.

While studying the coast Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) recently, I came across Gothic Revival by Evan Wakelin. It is a surreal image that links together, for me, the importance of trees to the development of civilization and religion.

Old groves of trees are the original cathedrals. Trees were very important to the ancient Celts and Druids. Many of their religious sites were graced with Yew trees, Britain's oldest growing conifer, and one of the longest-living trees on earth. These trees represented birth, death, immortality and the cycles of life to ancient peoples.

Christian churches and cathedrals in places like Britain were often built on the religious hot spots of the Celts and Druids. Today, sacred Yew trees are still associated with these Christianized sites.

Large majestic trees have always stirred something in humans, and still do judging by how many people visit the remaining impressive groves of the world, whether a place like the incredible Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island, or smaller local groves of trees in parks everywhere.

It is interesting that the artist chose Douglas-fir and not Yew as the tree to match up with the Gothic cathedral. This might be because the Yew is a fairly short tree, whereas the Douglas-fir is potentially the tallest tree species in the world.

It is not entirely inappropriate since the Douglas-fir, according to many a logger, is the most important commercial tree on the planet. No other tree perhaps, has contributed as much to the development of our modern world.

Because of this we should treat the Douglas-fir - indeed, all trees and sacred groves - as the special entities that they are. These, the tallest of living things, are worthy of our worship and appreciation. We should be saving nature's last sacred cathedrals.

Natural Capital: Save A Forest, Fight Climate Change, Get Paid

"Canadians are coming to understand that the national environmental agenda can no longer be separated from the national economic agenda. Sustainable development, therefore, demands that we integrate social, economic and environmental considerations into decision-making in a way that enhances productivity and prosperity without compromising the integrity of the environment." - Natural Resources Canada

Intact, pristine, natural systems contribute over $33 trillion dollars of 'value' to our economy every year, as calculated in 1997. Traditional economics does not take these contributions into account, even though all life (and the economy) depends on them. The current biodiversity crisis, rapid deforestation, and global climate change is beginning to change that.

'Natural capital' is increasingly being acknowledged and  taken into account, and conservation, restoration, and sustainability are concepts that we are likely to hear a lot more about in the near future. This bodes well for all our forest lands including the precious, and dwindling, old growth.

Forests are one of the Earth's great atmospheric regulators, and they store more carbon than any other biome on the planet. In most cases our forests, especially pristine, untouched areas, are more valuable standing than cut for lumber or other uses.

Forest carbon projects recognize the value of the carbon-storage capacity of forests, and pay out credits to keep trees growing and sequestering to help mitigate industrial greenhouse gases.

The largest  to date in North America, and the first deal of its kind in Canada, was launched recently in Vancouver, BC. The Nature Conservancy Of Canada (NCC) signed a deal that saw them receive carbon credits worth $4 million dollars that mitigates 700,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.

A forest is worth far more standing than it is when cut down to make stuff

The NCC is receiving the cash for its 55,000-hectare piece of land known as Darkwoods. The area, which has extensive virgin forest including trees over 500 years old, is on Kootenay Lake near Nelson, BC. The deal represents the beginning of a process that promises great benefits for the environment, biodiversity, trees, and forests.

The concept of natural capital is just beginning to take off, and there will be bumps in the road as it progresses. One complaint is that it is difficult to measure the value of nature's systems without some agreement on methods of valuating and auditing at least the global forms of natural capital (e.g. value of air, water, soil). We have not yet arrived at such agreement.

But we are moving in the right direction as we change how we think about, and value, nature. It may very well save what is left of our once vast forests, and reclaim and restore degraded forest lands so they may thrive again.