Article: Tree Change

Make your mark.

It seems to be one of the strongest drivers in human nature. The desire to leave the world changed in some way, as a result of our presence. By making a change in our surroundings, maybe it makes us feel like at least a part of us is going to live on, a kind of immortality.

And there are a number of ways that we leave our mark. In the hearts and minds of people we love, we leave behind us every emotion they feel, every memory of us that they have. By the works we create – be they music, art, literature or things that we build, like houses or furniture – we are attempting to leave the world a more interesting or attractive place than it was before we came along.

But what mark do we make that will last much, much longer than all of those things? What mark are we going to leave behind after we are gone that is going to make an impact, not only on our children and grandchildren, but on all living things that might inhabit the world long into the future?

Answer?

Our environment. Or the lack of it.

I’m not sure if anyone else has noticed an odd example of human behaviour. It happens when a new home owner moves onto his (and I’ll use the masculine here, because they seem to do it more than women) property. First order of business is to unpack those pesky cardboard boxes, hammer in a few picture hooks and make sure the fridge is well stocked. This is closely followed by what I call‘The Clear’. The Clear involves the new home owner, desperate to make a mark that will claim his territory, rushing out into the yard and immediately hacking into the nearest tree or shrub, savaging the foliage and leaving behind a large gap for the neighbours to look through. The homeowner then experiences a rush of well-being, satisfied that a mark has well and truly been made on his surroundings. He stands back and smiles with pleasure for a few minutes. But soon, he begins to scratch his head and wonder why the joy is starting to wear off. He looks around him and spies a second tree that is just … not quite right.

This same phenomenon is occurring on a much grander scale, all over the world, as developers bulldoze thousands of hectares of valuable habitat in order to make their (admittedly more impressive) mark on the land.

But let’s consider the other more creative, less lazy alternative. What if every time we moved onto a new slice of land, we planted a dozen trees rather than removing them? Sure, it would take around a year before that rush of well-being would be experienced, a delay that the new homeowner would have to be brave and endure. But what a payoff at the end of that year! The happy resident would be able to look out the window and see the wildlife enjoying their new homes. He would experience the warm, satisfying feeling of having left the property just that little bit more capable of sustaining its future human residents. And he would bask in the immense satisfaction of having contributed, in a small way, to the worldwide effort to save the planet from almost sure desolation.

And now imagine what would happen if that scenario were repeated around the world, if every new home owner planted a dozen or more trees. And then imagine what will happen if they don’t.

The word of the month – Desertification. Look it up. Then look around you, and perhaps you might feel, as I do, a little inspired to get out in the dirt, dig a hole and put a lovely native Australian tree in it.

A tree change without trees is just a change. But with them, it might just save us.