THE one theme that echoes in the book again and again is what Chilean Nobel laureate Gabriela Mistral once said, “We are guilty of many errors and crimes. But our worst crime, nay blunder, is sacrificing the trees, neglecting the fountain of life. Many of our grandiose plans can wait. But felling of trees must stop. Forests must be protected and conserved. We cannot wait and answer tomorrow. The answer is today. The answer is now.”
Very few among us may know that a few thousand years ago, the oxygen content in the air was about 44 per cent and today it is only 19 per cent – the mighty fall casting a negative impact on our respiratory systems. This book not only poses a challenge to foresters, planners and the land mafia about how the very survival of our planet Earth is being threatened due to our wanton greed for wood by plundering Nature but is leading to a disastrous climate change. It also emphasises the protection and propagation of greenery by people’s participation in establishing linkages between the natural elements and trees, from carbon sequestration to impact on our cardio-pulmonary system, from quantifying the benefits that accrue to unscrupulous forest exploiters in felling trees, from inane platitudes to concerted action. It stresses on the imperative for people to be educated about trees and the environment. “Only a people’s movement enforcing a strong ‘political will’ can bring the change”, concludes the author.
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