Green Gold
BY ADMIN PUBLISHED August 26, 2022, UPDATED January 13, 2023
Franklin D. Roosevelt rightly said, “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” Trees are indispensable for life. Man can’t live without trees.
Let me ask you a question: Can we live without oxygen? The answer here is very obvious, no. It is impossible as you all know. We may hold our breaths for as long as a minute but we need oxygen to survive. Without oxygen, the animal world will die away. Trees make the oxygen and spread it in the air. While inhaling air we take the oxygen as the major component, with various other gases in smaller amounts, which is why today we all are hear live in stereo hearing to the ones giving speeches. From childhood, we have heard that trees are our best friend but in practical life, we didn’t see anyone who treats trees as their friends although they are the most valuable life source on the earth. They benefit every life form in a direct or indirect way.
However, the present condition of forests in the world, especially developing countries is pitiable and miserable. Forests are the source of life. They are the living angels. They give man oxygen, rains, wood, fruit, make the world look so beautiful, yet the sinister man kills them. Cutting of forests ultimately endangers its own existence.
Trees nourish, protect us and also give us many other benefits in many ways. They keep our environment green and clean. So, it becomes our responsibility to repay them for the things they do for us by saving them. Besides, large trees are more beneficial than small ones because they capture more carbon, capture more water, combat the heat, filter greenhouse gases, In summer, they bear the scorching rays of the sun and give us cool shade under them, etc. So, it can be said that we depend on them more rather than they on us. We get fruit, flowers, fuel and timbers. Trees make own land fertile by their fallen leaves and their fallen leaves they make new soil for us. Absentee of trees will cause a lot of harm to us and to our life. So the number of trees should be multiplied by the tree-plantation by us.
The human has become aware and serious about this issue and started doing the best they can do to save trees. The forest departments and government have banned the illegal cutting of trees and they are going digital so that they can save paper which will reduce the number of trees cut down for making paper. Apart from that, the forest area after cutting of trees should be replanted with new ones. The least that we can do is to plant some pots in our home rooftops or garden and ask our neighbor to do the same. Besides, they are the source of water and fresh oxygen on earth. Cutting trees means destroying life on earth. Also we need to do plantation in cities or urban areas. Most of these areas lack trees and plants. Besides, tree plantation makes these areas worth living for. Also, it makes the atmosphere of the city more tolerable. So, the time has come that we to be responsible for the action we have done till now. And start finding ways to save this Green Gold. Moreover, with the arrival of social media, it has become a massive platform to promote these causes. Also, they are helpful in spreading knowledge about the importance of tree plantation.
I’d like to end this by delivering a flabbergasting fact that Trees are the longest living organisms on Earth, and never die of old age. Methuselah, from California’s White Mountains, comes in at over 4,800 years old.
Swar Vohra
Grade 11 Science
