Samoa Observer, 29th October 2018
“As we destroy Earth’s forests, reefs, wetlands and other ecosystems, we light a fire to our storm barriers, our air filters, our water towers and our medicine cabinets, all at the same time.”
Those are the words of Conservation International (CI) Global Strategies – senior vice president, Dr. Will Turner.
Have you ever wondered what our planet would look like if we had no trees? Or what the impacts of losing our forests would have on humans and animals?
There’s no denying the economic importance of trees and the reason why many humans look at trees and see dollar signs. Clearing of land for construction, timber, paper, firewood, logs and so on; these are a few reasons we cut trees, but at what cost?
According to Samoa Conservation Society (S.C.S.) Technical Officer, Christine Tuioti, whose past and current work involves much terrestrial/forest conservation, she explains that trees in general holds much more value than just its economical worth, but these values are often overlooked.