Is there anyone among us who still question the importance of trees? They are literally the biggest supporter of life, because they have various uses too many to be mentioned in just one mere online article like this.
One of the most important functions is bringing back ecosystem to life, which means the presence of trees can spark life by itself. But what’s interesting about trees is, they do the job differently between one place to another.
The magic of trees remains even though they have to show it differently between one place to another because different place has different problems. Thus, to know more about how trees bring life back to an area, we will show some examples of it.
Here are how trees bring life, according to the places they live in. All of this is based on U.N. declaration of decade of ecosystem restoration.
Forest Area
There are a lot of it growing in the forest, and even children know that. But how do they actually give its presence to the community (of trees)? The answer lies on their daily activities, which is pretty similar to our activities during coronavirus lockdown: stay quiet and cook a lot of foods.
By staying quiet, trees can provide housings and easily accessible resources for creatures living in the forest. It can also give protection to the creatures that need it the most, like bird chicks and baby animals by providing cover or height.
In addition to that, trees are also the chef of the forest, because they are responsible for the food chain of the whole forest. Almost every single food chain in the forest includes the presence of part of trees in it, whether it is the leaf, fruit, bark, trunk, or root.
To make the view more global, the presence of trees in the forest is also important for us human being living away from the forest. Trees are known to be the best carbon absorber and temperature mitigator in this planet.
Therefore, trees will not only bring life to its near surrounding, but even place thousand miles away. Unfortunately, trees in the forest are now facing more and more problem as deforestation rate is increasing and wildfire is getting wilder thanks to climate change.
Farmlands
Trees can also give life to farmland, or at least it can make life in farmland better than without its presence. They give off oxygen for free every single minute, while oxygen is the gas that every single living being breathes.
The presence of trees can also help farmlands develop into a better condition. It can provide shades and shelter for the livestock, so they can grow happier. Furthermore, the presence of trees makes the temperature of the environment friendlier.
Not only that, trees can also manage water in the area. The roots of the trees can absorb water from down below and above the surface, to then store it in its surrounding area for better absorption in the future. By this, trees can also help us to prevent drought or flood.
In one of our articles, we have also mentioned about how silvopasture can be a good alternative to improve not only the quality of the final product, but also the well-being of the farmer. It is because there is something called symbiosis between living organisms, so that their lives are connected to each other.
“The fruit and nuts will provide the food for the pigs, chickens, cows and other animals who graze there,” Alfredo Cunhal, an agricultural scientist and the owner of Herdade do Freixo do Meio farm said to The Guardian. “It offers resilience against fires and global heating and it soaks up the carbon.”
Trees in Populated Area
Now, let’s move closer to where we live in populated areas. In one of our articles, we have mentioned that urban forests are actually equipped with some superpowers that are actually useful for the residents. Trees are natural mitigators for rainfall runoff because they can absorb excessive amount of rainwater falling to the cities.
Not only that, we have learned since we were so young that urban forests can reduce the carbon emissions from vehicles and other activities. So, environmentally, planting trees is the simplest flood-prevention and pollution reduction method with the highest success rate.
“Trees in urban areas help ward off pollution, providing a long list of benefits for people and the planet. This news proves once again that we need to prioritize adding more green spaces to our cities,” said Rolf Skar, the forest campaign director of Greenpeace USA.
A study discovered that urban forests can also reduce the heat, even trees can also help you reduce the energy consumption rate by decreasing the need for air conditioning up to 30% and heating system by half the usual rate.
The ecosystem that trees build around us is incredibly natural and enjoyable. If only we want to try living with the trees around us, we would have better understanding about how supportive trees are to life on this planet.
Trees in Coastal Area
It is now the time to talk about mangrove forest. Mangrove forests are considered as ones of the most productive ecosystem. They provide shelter to various living creatures which cannot be found in other areas, they provide timber and plant products, they protect the coastal area, and recently people start to consider mangrove forest as a tourist attraction.
Mangrove trees alone also serve humans with its numerous benefits. It can give us timber and plant products because of its famous feature that cannot rot and resistant to insects. People in coastal area often use the woods for construction material or as fuel for fire.
The mangrove leaves may also be used as animal fodder which then increases its value. Most importantly, it protects us from the danger of erosion. Its dense roots, stabbed firmly into the earth, can prevent the erosion by filtering sediments from flowing into the larger water bodies.
Looking on the benefits of mangrove forest, maybe we should give more attention to them. They protect us from the danger of erosion, they give shelter to little creatures around, they give timber and plant products to people, they even help us to fight our biggest problem: global warming.
Sources:
https://www.decadeonrestoration.org
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/
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