There is a place that gives us so much that we have taken it for granted and treat it as if it mattered not. Have you ever considered living your life in a forest? In this article I am going to introduce you to the concept of making a home in the forest and the immense beauty that lurks therein. We are all familiar with the dangers we face as a result of climate change and the on-going effort to avert this danger. Currently, some are participants while many are still onlookers. The climate change is a direct result of human activities and interference with the natural trend of events. Climate change brings about extreme weather conditions and unexpected natural disasters. These disasters come in various formats – earthquake, tsunamis, hurricane, extreme heat, and so on.
We depend a lot on the forest for sustenance. It is almost impossible to contemplate life without the forest. Take a few minutes to think of all the products that you use daily that is sourced from the forest. Let us start from the house we live in. We see beautiful wood construction, lovely furniture, and polished hard wood floors of all grades. Now let us consider our food menu and try to eliminate those food items that have nothing to do with the forest. You can post me your findings when you complete this exercise. Virtually, all the food that we eat comes from the forest. In our workplaces we use a lot of paper which is derived from wood. Office furniture is made of wood that comes from the forest. The forest has served us efficiently and effectively over the years. There is no one who can claim that the benefits of the forest have not knocked on his or her door.
With the advent of computers there were a lot of postulations about paperless offices. Many years later these postulations have remained nothing but wishful thinking. Meanwhile, normal businesses of the day continue and the demand for forest products continues to rise unabated. In order for us to continue to benefit from the forest resources there is need to re-examine our relationship with the goose that lays the golden egg. The goose is the forest and we are the beneficiaries of the forest benevolence. However, we stand to lose all these if we continue to exploit the forest resources as if there will be no tomorrow. The danger lurks in the corner and the only way to escape is to exploit the forest resources in a sustainable way.
This article is about developing an unconditional mutual love for the forest. Naturally, in our daily relationships with each other we do not hurt or destroy the people we love dearly. We cherish them and lavish our attention on them. We hold them in high esteem and cater for their well- being. This attitude should be extended to our everyday dealing with the forest.
I was at a friend’s wedding a couple of weeks ago. As I looked around, I saw an overwhelming evidence of the beautiful forest all around. Starting from the décor, lovely flowers adorned all the tables. Even the scent that the beautiful ladies wore betrayed an uncanny alliance with the roses of the wild. This is a loyalty that can never be mistaken. The menu was filled with items which were undoubtedly harvested from the forest. It was difficult to isolate items that could not be linked to the forest. Maybe, that lovely marching song ‘Oh when the saints…’ did not come from the forest. I shudder to believe that the singers could have done so well if their bellies were not stuffed with the goodies from the wild.
Sometimes we are so engrossed in the admiration and acquisition of finished products that we pay little or no attention to their origin. It is our nature to search for an escape route from the negative repercussions of our activities. More often than not we steer clear from the monster we created for fear we may be incriminated. It takes years to grow a forest but it takes seconds to destroy it. A forest is where you can listen to the birds sing. It is a place that you can hear the lion roar. It is a place that you can silently listen to the brooks and springs sing and lap as they rustle through the gentle forest slope. It is a place where the python glides by as the morning sun penetrates the forest canopies. Our future is tied to the fate of the forest and we owe our future generations a duty to keep our forest safe.
We are aware that the earth is heating up despite what the naysayers believe. We feel very uncomfortable when the sun is at full blast and the surrounding heated air is not cooling enough. We feel breathless when we are alerted to the smog that hangs over our cities. At such times we feel like running away from the hustle and bustle of city life. If so, take a step, go into the forest and befriend the wild. Take a walk through the forest during the blistering hot days. You will experience the stark difference between the cool and soothing temperature below the forest canopies and the heat that marks the periphery of the open land. You will experience the healing touch of the cool breeze blowing across the forest space. You will appreciate the healing touch of the dews that drop from the leaves above.
There are lots of interesting things to see in the forest - the beautiful flowers, the lovely creatures that scurry by, the colorful birds and their tantalizing songs, and the tiny insects that chirp at every turn. They are all there to give you peace. Why not pack your bags and head for the forest. At the end of the day you will be happy that the forest is there to serve mankind.
It will be a tragedy if we lose the forest through our actions. Sustainable exploitation of forest resources will ensure that we leave something for generations to come. Our forest is beautiful and it is a gift that we dare not joke with. The beauty of the forest is for the admiration of all. Let us preserve it together for posterity.
We depend a lot on the forest for sustenance. It is almost impossible to contemplate life without the forest. Take a few minutes to think of all the products that you use daily that is sourced from the forest. Let us start from the house we live in. We see beautiful wood construction, lovely furniture, and polished hard wood floors of all grades. Now let us consider our food menu and try to eliminate those food items that have nothing to do with the forest. You can post me your findings when you complete this exercise. Virtually, all the food that we eat comes from the forest. In our workplaces we use a lot of paper which is derived from wood. Office furniture is made of wood that comes from the forest. The forest has served us efficiently and effectively over the years. There is no one who can claim that the benefits of the forest have not knocked on his or her door.
With the advent of computers there were a lot of postulations about paperless offices. Many years later these postulations have remained nothing but wishful thinking. Meanwhile, normal businesses of the day continue and the demand for forest products continues to rise unabated. In order for us to continue to benefit from the forest resources there is need to re-examine our relationship with the goose that lays the golden egg. The goose is the forest and we are the beneficiaries of the forest benevolence. However, we stand to lose all these if we continue to exploit the forest resources as if there will be no tomorrow. The danger lurks in the corner and the only way to escape is to exploit the forest resources in a sustainable way.
This article is about developing an unconditional mutual love for the forest. Naturally, in our daily relationships with each other we do not hurt or destroy the people we love dearly. We cherish them and lavish our attention on them. We hold them in high esteem and cater for their well- being. This attitude should be extended to our everyday dealing with the forest.
I was at a friend’s wedding a couple of weeks ago. As I looked around, I saw an overwhelming evidence of the beautiful forest all around. Starting from the décor, lovely flowers adorned all the tables. Even the scent that the beautiful ladies wore betrayed an uncanny alliance with the roses of the wild. This is a loyalty that can never be mistaken. The menu was filled with items which were undoubtedly harvested from the forest. It was difficult to isolate items that could not be linked to the forest. Maybe, that lovely marching song ‘Oh when the saints…’ did not come from the forest. I shudder to believe that the singers could have done so well if their bellies were not stuffed with the goodies from the wild.
Sometimes we are so engrossed in the admiration and acquisition of finished products that we pay little or no attention to their origin. It is our nature to search for an escape route from the negative repercussions of our activities. More often than not we steer clear from the monster we created for fear we may be incriminated. It takes years to grow a forest but it takes seconds to destroy it. A forest is where you can listen to the birds sing. It is a place that you can hear the lion roar. It is a place that you can silently listen to the brooks and springs sing and lap as they rustle through the gentle forest slope. It is a place where the python glides by as the morning sun penetrates the forest canopies. Our future is tied to the fate of the forest and we owe our future generations a duty to keep our forest safe.
We are aware that the earth is heating up despite what the naysayers believe. We feel very uncomfortable when the sun is at full blast and the surrounding heated air is not cooling enough. We feel breathless when we are alerted to the smog that hangs over our cities. At such times we feel like running away from the hustle and bustle of city life. If so, take a step, go into the forest and befriend the wild. Take a walk through the forest during the blistering hot days. You will experience the stark difference between the cool and soothing temperature below the forest canopies and the heat that marks the periphery of the open land. You will experience the healing touch of the cool breeze blowing across the forest space. You will appreciate the healing touch of the dews that drop from the leaves above.
There are lots of interesting things to see in the forest - the beautiful flowers, the lovely creatures that scurry by, the colorful birds and their tantalizing songs, and the tiny insects that chirp at every turn. They are all there to give you peace. Why not pack your bags and head for the forest. At the end of the day you will be happy that the forest is there to serve mankind.
It will be a tragedy if we lose the forest through our actions. Sustainable exploitation of forest resources will ensure that we leave something for generations to come. Our forest is beautiful and it is a gift that we dare not joke with. The beauty of the forest is for the admiration of all. Let us preserve it together for posterity.