It’s so troubling to keep hearing that Korea is still looking at palm oil as a good substitute for petroleum. The environmental destruction caused by the production of palm oil far outweighs its benefits.

The industrialized (and rapidly developing) nations of Northern Asia– namely Japan, Korea and China– need to curb their demand for palm oil and old growth hardwoods. Otherwise the forests will be gone, the animals will be extinct and the air will no longer be breathable. Why are the policy makers of these countries in such denial??

My perspective is that of a conservationist dedicated to protecting wild orangutans from senseless slaughter and preserving their rainforest home in Borneo and Sumatra. I invite you and your readers to visit the Orangutan Outreach website to learn more about the horrific effects palm oil is having on these gentle red apes.

Thanks,

Richard Zimmerman
Director, Orangutan Outreach
http://redapes.org
Reach out and save the orangutans!

There are several commendable organizations I know of / have volunteered with that plant trees in cities. One is Friends of the Urban Forest, which is almost single-handedly to thank for San Francisco’s trees. Another is Tree People, which has planted over a million trees in LA and also works on water initiatives. If anyone lives in these cities, volunteering with these organizations is absolutely the best way to spend a morning and get to know the city intimately. It’s also very rewarding.

I am most fascinated by the amount of co2 that can be absorbed by the planting of trees. I was just thinking of this recently and how much difference it would make if a huge global initiative of tree planting were undertaken. We have plenty of space for more trees and other vegetation all through towns and cities as well as large areas of open countryside. When I think of places like the Scottish Highlands, or the mountain ranges of Andalucia in Southern Spain that were once covered in treelife that was felled to build ships and other things. The Spanish are subsidizing farmers who plant trees on their land but it’s not enough and not fast enough. I think it has to be a global undertaking with everyone taking some responsibility. Just imagine the armies of the world on a mass tree planting expedition, planting fields, not killing fields.