Whenever the conversation about environmental protection arises, the first suggestion is often tree-planting schemes. While these are important, they should not overshadow the most critical task of protecting the old trees we already have and preventing their indiscriminate cutting.
Too often, both government and private institutions launch tree-planting campaigns each year. Unfortunately, many of these laudable initiatives suffer setbacks due to poor maintenance. The seedlings are not nurtured, and after a short while, they are forgotten and lost. Tree planting should complement and not replace the urgent need to preserve existing trees. Otherwise, it is like trying to fill a leaking bucket without fixing the hole.
Old trees are cut down for many reasons: fuel for cooking, logging for export, urban development, indiscriminate cutting by utility companies and pressures from population growth. What is often overlooked is that mature trees provide irreplaceable ecological, cultural, and health benefits that newly planted trees cannot yet offer.
The recent viral video of a massive tree being felled in Ghana was heartbreaking. Imagine the ecosystem lost and the carbon absorption gone, the biodiversity destroyed, and the pollution that will follow. The damage may not be immediate, but the long-term impacts could be irreversible. After all, it takes decades for a tree to fully mature.
What Can We Do?
- Education and Awareness: Communities must be taught about the ecological and cultural value of old trees. This is a key step that Quali-Breeze is taking through its new initiatives Cut a Tree, Cut History Initiative, which advocates and educates communities on the importance of protecting mature trees.
- Policy and Enforcement: Stronger laws must be enforced to make it illegal to cut down mature trees without solid justification. Traditional authorities should be empowered to help monitor and safeguard trees in their communities.
- Urban Design: Architects and city planners should be encouraged to design homes and public spaces around large trees instead of replacing them with concrete or artificial landscaping.
- Cultural Protection: Traditional authorities can assign special protection to ancient or culturally significant trees, ensuring they are preserved for future generations.
Planting new trees is vital for the future, but protecting old ones preserves the environmental backbone of today. Mature trees are our natural allies in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. If we only plant without protecting, we risk creating a cycle where trees never reach maturity.
We all know that prevention is better than cure. The real path to a greener future is not just about how many trees we plant, but how many of our majestic, life-sustaining old trees we can keep standing. Because when we cut a tree, we cut history.
For more details about our new initiative, kindly check our website, https://www.qualibreeze.com/ or contact us for more details.
Paul Nwachukwu
Business and Sustainability Professional
Founder, Quali-Breeze – an organization working to improve air quality in African communities
Source: ameyawdebrah.com/
