I think I am seeing a pattern here. I have noticed that some folks seem to think that whatever is being done is bad... end of story . not just in this forum, but it seems to be abundant here. I would like to suggest to anyone who witnesses this tendency that they withhold criticism until they feel they can offer a solution. I try to exercise this method with myself, and I suggest it may be helpful to others. You will notice that Keith, for instance, seems to offer solutions. Others can only describe what they feel is wrong with the system. This is not a complete solution to a negative personality, but should go a long way in making life more pleasant for all. I enjoy the constructive criticism and solutions offered here, but am slightly frustrated when folks endlessly tell us that everything in the world is wrong. Wes
Hello Chris > >Trees are renewable and the lumber industry now replants more >trees than it takes.< > >The only problem with repanting trees, period, that i'm shocked no >one has mentioned (unless i missed it), is that the earth in a >particular area can only support 4-5 generations of trees before the >soil is completely exhausted. Trees take more nutrients out of the >soil to grow than just about anything else, and after several >generations they will NOT grow any longer. So yeah, replanting after >clear cutting is nice and all, but after a few times at the the soil >stops growing... anyhting... I don't think there's any basis for this assumption, quite the opposite. Forests can continue indefinitely. Some forests are 30 million years old. What sort of forests are you talking about? Can you provide some references please? >And as far as deforestation goes, i'm more worried about places >outside developed countries where no one really cares if trees are >replanted. A lot of the slash and burn Some, not most. >taking place in the rainforest is regular old people who are trying >to grow food or make money, clearing land for cattle and farms. Mostly they've been marginalised, or they wouldn't need to do it. It's worth checking what marginalised them, for a clearer picture. They're the most widely blamed, though they're probably the least to blame. In tropical forests most of the nutrients are in the trees, with very little in the soil. Slash-and-burn provides some mineral-rich ash which "fertilises" the soil for a couple of years, and then, as the fertility levels sink, pioneer weeds invade, their purpose to begin restoring the fertility reserves. These weeds are generally very tough, very hard to fight, like lalang grass in Southeast Asia. The peasants are forced out, and have to slash-and-burn another site, and use it for another couple of years. There are initiatives to stabilise this cycle, several through agroforestry principles. If the leaves and small branches of the trees that are cut down were composted instead of burnt the poor forest soils could be maintained at much higher fertility levels, with no pioneer weeds invading and no need to move on. >Those people don't replant trees, Quite often they do plant trees. >and they aren't part of a multibnation company with lots of >enviromental regulations to uphold. Or ignore. Best Keith > >_Chris N > >----- Original Message ----- >From: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Joe Street >To: <mailto:Biofuel@sustainablelists.org>Biofuel@sustainablelists.org >Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 11:55 AM >Subject: Re: [Biofuel] How many trees were killed to build your home ? > >Hi Hakan; > >100% in agreement with all of that. Clearcutting IS bad, I thought I >made that distinction. It is also true that clearcutting does not hurt <snip> _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
