h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have tried to consider this subject matter but the only conclusion which i can draw, is that there are too few trees on this planet.
My solution is simple. Everything is miniaturised, so why not the tree. If we were all to take a leaf (no pun intended) out of the Japanese book of life we could use the art of Bonsai to create vast amounts of small trees. If the woods were to be stacked on multiple tears, the world could then have vast amounts of trees per square meter. Would this idea not therefore solve the problem with air pollution. I think you would agree a great stride forward for mother nature and the earth....

The rate of attrition against our native trees is increasing at an alarming rate. Hardly a month goes by that does not include my witness of the destruction of yet another mature specimen. Each tree lost often represents many tens or hundreds of years of growth, yet these are seldom replaced, even by a sapling that would be pathetic in comparison.

Trees provide us with essential oxygen and shade from the burning rays of the sun. They also provide a habitat for an essential ecology that we still do not fully comprehend.

It may sometimes be understandable to destroy, when a large tree is close to a house and perhaps is affecting foundations, or even in a few cases may be simply obstructing light or that grand view.

However, some effort must be made to replace the vast investment that nature has made on our behalf. In order for the balance to be maintained the replacement must also match the loss both in kind and in weight.

This means the removal of slow growing native trees must be counteracted by the planting of trees of similar, and preferably the same, species. The numbers of trees to be planted must be adjusted to match the weight of the tree that was destroyed. This way the delicate balance of nature will be maintained.

Every tree we destroy is another step towards ecological oblivion.

The replacements would not need to be in the same place as the one that has been killed. Indeed, it may be better to plant where saplings may be cared for and nurtured, and where they will not again be at the mercy of vandalism of any kind.

However , too often we see the felling of a mature tree in a park, and there the excuse may be that there is a small amount of disease. Those trees are not usually replaced. If they are replaced, it is seldom to an adequate degree.

Where local councils make a fine for destruction of a protected tree, the fine is often inadequate to even discourage the deed, and are therefore a waste of time.

Forget the fines, insist that a like for like planting donation is always made to a sensible and caring organisation such as the woodland Trust.

Let us see a change where trees are replaced adequately and where the ecology is considered to be as important as the money lining the pockets of the developer of that new housing estate.