Here at Emerald we are passionate about saving the forest because there are just so many reasons to do so. This blog is the second of a three part series of why we need to preserve one of our planet’s most precious resources, the rain forests.
In this post we’d like to examine some compelling social reasons to keep the world’s forests standing.
1. Indigenous Lifestyles
Many indigenous people, such as the Dayak’s of Borneo, have been practicing their unique way of life for centuries. They depend on intact and health forests to fish, forage, hunt, and medicate. Without these resources they cannot survive.
2. Fragile Cultures
The vast majority of indigenous cultures pass on their traditions and knowledge base via word of mouth. Therefore, when just one generation is lost, the entire culture is lost with it. It is said that when a tribe’s medicine man dies without transferring his knowledge to another person, it’s like burning down a library. Furthermore, when many of these tribes are first introduced to western culture, they are in awe of it and are quick to try and emulate it without actually understanding what they must give up to become “westernized”.
3. Communicable Diseases
As history has shown us, most native people are not immune to the same diseases as western people. They are extremely vulnerable to diseases such as small pox and influenza and just coming into contact with outside people can prove to be fatal. Therefore, it is very important that we leave uncontacted tribes alone.
4. Atrocities against indigenous people
Unfortunately, when forests are exploited they tend be developed in a way that is very unethical. Take for instance the plight of Papuan natives. The people of West Papua have been subjected to gross human rights abuse since Indonesia gained control of the territory in 1962. Many of the tribes in West Papua had never been contacted by outsiders before and had no idea what the intensions of Indonesian forces where. Since that point, the rights of West Papuan’s have been ignored in lieu of the vast oil, mineral, and timber resources of the region. The West Papuan’s have suffered genocide at the hands of the Indonesian military for the sole purpose of exploiting their land.
5. Existence Value
Existence value is the term used to describe how people value knowing that something exists even if they have no intention of ever visiting it in person. Clearly, with the incredible amount of biodiversity, mystery, and adventure that forests offer, there is a large amount of existence value associated with them. Every child grows up in wonder of at least some part of the forest, whether it be a specific animal like the jaguar or an interesting culture like the Dayak’s.
All of these reasons explain why it is morally incomprehensible to destroy our forests. Will you make a stand? You can help protect the forests through buying environmentally responsible products such as paper made from agricultural residue, post consumer recycled content, or FSC certified wood fiber. You can also use alternative building materials such as Trex, Resysta or Bamboo which displace the use of tropical hardwood trees. Lastly, think about donating some time or funds to a nonprofit organization like Conservatree, Canopy, Rainforest Alliance, or Rainforest Action Network which are dedicated to protecting forests all over the world!
Want to learn more? Go to:
http://wpik.org/Src/genocide.html
http://www.rainforest-alliance.org/
