The Forest Breath

In the still darkness the heavy perfume of pine lingers in the air and a lone lark gives a sleepy chirrup from the eternal canopy above. The rest of his kind ruffle their chilled feathers and indignantly ignore the greying eastern sky, while in the growing half-light the blackness begins to show some form; lines pointing heavenwards. A small dark form moves silently over the soft aromatic needles nearby, the martin all the slower from a fine nights foraging and halting at times to sniff, discerning whether danger lies in wait shrouded by the rich scent that envelopes the woods. As he furtively disappears into the dim void, the horizon begins to glow, the celestial fire driving the obscurity from neighbouring lands and lifting the hearts of the daylight creatures. The ethereal chorus of the dawn flows like a spring tide into the forest, arriving to accompany the first shaft of light as it baptises the crown of the greatest Douglas fir. The rays gradually ease down the fingerprint detail of the bark, the growing illumination harmonising the growing choir; trills, warbles, chatters, pips, screeches and hoots all creating a pleasing dissonance amongst the pillars of nature’s cathedral. But the deeper song is more deeply hidden. As the trees draw their mighty daily breath, some say it is possible to feel this soundless bass melody.

Plants and trees have played and continue to play an integral role in our world: they provided our ape-like ancestors with an arboreal home before we took to the savannas; they first colonised the land and, by taking in carbon dioxide and pumping out oxygen, trees radically changed the atmospheric balance into one sympathetic to animal life. Now they not only continue maintaining this delicate carbon balance but also provide humanity with a plethora of other services. These ‘ecosystem services’ include the creation of clean water, the prevention of flooding, the hosting of plant and animal biodiversity (the source of most pharmaceuticals), the provision of harvestable forest produce for indigenous people, and many other aesthetic, spiritual and educational benefits.

In short, forests are essential for the existence of human beings. Whereas this fundamental paradigm is one that has been seemingly overlooked during the growth of economies and populations, it is a centrepiece of the current UN negotiations on climate change in Copenhagen. Deforestation of pristine woodlands continues at a global rate of over 130,000km2 per year, an area roughly the size of England, and makes up about one fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions. As a reference, over the next five years the emissions from deforestation will contribute more to atmospheric pollution than the entire history of air travel since the Wright brothers invented the aeroplane. Tree felling occurs primarily to clear land for agriculture and plantations, while also feeding the international timber trade. The tropical and sub-tropical rainforests, predominantly found in developing countries, are the current front line for deforestation, and the UN parties are at this moment shaping a mechanism by which the affluent developed countries can pay emerging countries to conserve their forests, a mechanism called REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation). It is one of the few elements to these negotiations that many people expect to be successful, though without accompanying agreements on emissions reductions and finance, this colourful proposal for global forest preservation is likely to fade.