Forests (original) (raw)

Nature takes fallen trees gently to her bosom — at rest from storms. They seem to have called home out of the sky to sleep now. ~ John Muir

Forests (also referred to as a wood or the woods) are communities of living organisms characterized by the presence of trees that have symbiotic relationships with each other and the physical environment. The trees of a forest constitute the larger part of their biomass. Different cultures have varying definitions of what a forest may be, in terms of size and of what the forest is composed of. Forests also contain roughly 90 percent of the world's terrestrial biodiversity. Forests play a crucial role in maintaining the ecological balance and providing numerous benefits to both the environment and human society. Firstly, they act as vital carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and helping to mitigate climate change. This process not only reduces greenhouse gas levels but also improves air quality by filtering pollutants. Secondly, forests are essential for biodiversity, serving as habitats for a vast array of plant and animal species, many of which are yet to be discovered. Moreover, they help prevent soil erosion by stabilizing the ground with their root systems, protecting waterways from sedimentation and pollution. In addition to their environmental advantages, forests offer economic benefits such as timber, medicinal resources, and non-timber forest products that support local communities and economies. Recreational opportunities provided by forests, including hiking, birdwatching, and ecotourism, also promote mental well-being and help foster a connection with nature. Ultimately, the preservation and sustainable management of forests are vital for maintaining the health of our planet and ensuring a harmonious existence for future generations.

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Quotes are arranged alphabetically by author

Life on earth is inconceivable without trees. The forests condition the climate, the climate influences the character of the people, and so on and so forth... - Anton Pavlovich Chekhov.

Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my mind, none exceed in sublimity the primeval forests undefaced by the hand of man;... -Charles Darwin.

Redwood Forest - This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island,
From the Redwood Forest, to the Gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me. -Woody Guthrie.

I am above the forest region, amongst grand rocks & such a torrent as you see in Salvator Rosa's paintings vegetation all a scrub of rhodods with Pines below me as thick & bad to get through as our Fuegian Fagi on the hill tops,... - Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker.

From Kurseong a very steep zig zag leads up to the mountains [Himalayas in Bengal] through a magnificent forest of chestnut, walnut, Oaks and laurels. It is difficult to conceive a grander mass of vegetation:—the straight shafts of the timber-trees shooting aloft, some naked and clean, with grey, pale, or brown bark; others literally clothed for yards with a continuous garment of epiphytes,... - Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker.

When you talk about plants, or an ecological system or forest, things are very easy if you decide that bad people ruined it. But that's not what humans have been doing. It's not bad people who are destroying forests. ~ Hayao Miyazaki

You can shoot...the animals...in the forest...but you cannot shoot the forest. ~ Alan Moore

It was strangely like war. They attacked the forest as if it were an enemy to be pushed back from the beachheads, driven into the hills, broken into patches, and wiped out. Many operators thought they were not only making lumber but liberating the land from the trees. - Murray Morgan.

...Few that fell trees plant them; nor would planting avail much towards getting back anything like the noble primeval forests. During a man's life only saplings can be grown, in the place of the old trees—tens of centuries old—that have been destroyed. -John Muir.

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness. The living and dead look well together in woods. Trees receive a most beautiful burial. Nature takes fallen trees gently to her bosom — at rest from storms. They seem to have called home out of the sky to sleep now. -John Muir.

Harvey Bullock: I think we can chip the bark a little.

For a stone, when it is examined, will be found a mountain in miniature. The fineness of Nature's work is so great, that, into a single block, a foot or two in diameter, she can compress as many changes of form and structure, on a small scale, as she needs for her mountains on a large one; and, taking moss for forests, … - John Ruskin.

Forests and trees make significant direct contributions to the nutrition of poor households … [as] rural communities in Central Africa obtained a critical portion of protein and fat in their diets through hunting wildlife from in and around forests... ~ Frances Seymour

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanates from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit. ~ Robert Louis Stevenson.

Felling and deforestation

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Present needs and present gains was the rule of action — which seems to be a sort of transmitted quality which we in our now enlightened time have not wholly outgrown, for even now a few men can be found who seem willing to destroy the last tree, the last fish and the last game bird and animal, and leave nothing for posterity, if thereby some money can be made. ~ "Biennial Report of the State Fish and Game Commissioner to the Governor of North Dakota from March 17, 1893 to December 1, 1894"

Now when you cut a forest, an ancient forest in particular, you are not just removing a lot of big trees and a few birds fluttering around in the canopy. You are drastically imperiling a vast array of species within a few square miles of you. The number of these species may go to tens of thousands. Many of them are still unknown to science, and science has not yet discovered the key role undoubtedly played in the maintenance of that ecosystem, as in the case of fungi, microorganisms, and many of the insects. ~ Edward O. Wilson

When the last tree is cut, the last river poisoned, and the last fish dead, we will discover that we can’t eat money.

The article of the Quote Investigator states similar expressions had also been used by others around 1972, and the earliest incident found of somewhat similar expressions of the importance of conserving natural resources occurred in the "Biennial Report of the State Fish and Game Commissioner to the Governor of North Dakota from March 17, 1893 to December 1, 1894":

Present needs and present gains was the rule of action — which seems to be a sort of transmitted quality which we in our now enlightened time have not wholly outgrown, for even now a few men can be found who seem willing to destroy the last tree, the last fish and the last game bird and animal, and leave nothing for posterity, if thereby some money can be made.

Wikipedia

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