Tree's a Crowd

In many areas of life, arguably most, people tend to feel helpless to make a difference in major areas that face society.  The environment is one of those areas.  Sort of, “Why in the world should I recycle my trash?  What possible difference could that make in solving pollution?  Why should I unplug my toaster when not in use.  I’m going to save energy to help the world with that??”

Consider, too, that since 1990, the amount of forestland that’s been lost from deforestation is the size of Africa.  And of course, it hasn't stopped there.  Every year an area is lost from deforestation that's the size of Panama.  Among the many problematic results of this is that 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions comes from deforestation.    And it’s not that this loss is a significant cause of pollution, but it also is a critical issue to destroying natural habitats for plants and animals.

So, seriously, it's beyond understandable when individuals feel helpless against such world forces.  International measures, like the Paris Accord, are one thing -- though even they have their limits -- but, in truth, what can one person possibly do when churning inside at the forceful tide of civilization causing such devastation?

Well, imagine instead if the question was not “one person” but…two.

Because that brings us to two people.  Award-winning Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado and his wife Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado.

Back in the 1990s, after traveling the world and spending years photographing the Rwandan genocide, emotionally devastated he returned home to Brazil, where he found the once-lush rainforest was now barren of forest trees and wildlife.

“The land was as sick as I was – everything was destroyed,” Salgado said in 2015. “Only about 0.5% of the land was covered in trees. Then my wife had a fabulous idea to replant this forest. And when we began to do that, then all the insects and birds and fish returned and, thanks to this increase of the trees I, too, was reborn – this was the most important moment.”

Not long after returning from Rwanda, the couple founded Instituto Terra in 1998.  And in the intervening years, the small organization has planted 4 million saplings “Perhaps we have a solution,” Salgado said in that 2015 interview. “There is a single being which can transform CO2 into oxygen, which is the tree. We need to start tree planting on a massive scale. You need forest with native trees, and you need to gather the seeds in the same region you plant them or the serpents, and the termites won’t come.”

Of course, reality has its say in such matters, no matter how noble the cause.  And so, how did this two-person, David vs. Goliath dream work out?

After all, this is the area around when they started their uphill effort in 2001.

And here it is today, 24 years later.​

I believe that the appropriate response is, indeed, "Oh.  My.  God."

If you want to see more photos documenting the work, and read a bit more about the actions started by just these two people, you can read about it here.

The article includes many social media posts from people who read about the reforestation effort.  My favorite among them was this:

"Reminds me of an old Chinese proverb -- 'The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is today.''