Okay, I'm sure somebody is going to go out and call me a tree hugger, and I really couldn't give two ****s. DIAF, GFAK, and throw yourself off a high cliff.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...033101287.html

The article deals with the horrendous amount of illegal logging that is occurring in Southeast Asian countries (namely, Burma (Myanmar) and Indonesia) and the environmental travesties that are occurring every day. I think the picture (2001 vs. 2005) at the top of the article shows it best. Chinese loggers (pushed out by China, who has put strict restrictions on logging) have moved into these countries, relying on bribes and governmental corruption and destroyed entire ecosystems by clear-cutting massive amounts of forest. Many endangered species are threatened by these actions, and poverty stricken villagers are being pushed from their homelands in order to produce furniture for American and other western customers. The article mainly highlights Ikea (I know, its Swedish, but they sell a lot in America) and tears down their facade of "environmental friendly" furniture.

What angers me the most, is the fact that people seem to not care about this. The destruction of millions of acres of rainforest is not some remote problem for some "goddamned Asians". Even if you don't believe in Global Warming, you should still realize that the more trees the better for everyone. Secondly, tree farm/plantations are very profitable: why don't these countries push tree farms, rather than destroying their own environmental resources, so that my neighbor can have his new teak patio furniture? Of course it takes time to get such a farm started, but in the end it is a renewable resources and a continually profitable business.

Beyond that, building a home with lumber forested in an ecologically friendly manner is only ever so slightly more expensive. Wood is a renewable resource! If logging is simply conducted with the future in mind, either in the context of standing dead trees or tree farms, it can be a resource we can use for many years to come!

I am traveling to Burma for a week and a half this coming June (which is why this article peaked my interest), and am going to be very interested to see if I can get into these areas where the logging has been so intense. Maybe its some "wacko environmentalists" having a hissy fit over nothing, but the pictures and amount of info out there about this makes me think otherwise.
-Jeff

 

The key to that statement is that it takes responsible forestry management and sustainable practices, otherwise wood becomes non-renewable when microclimates get changed and forests stop growing back.

In the couple of thousand years that mankind has been keeping records, you might think that this fact would have registered someplace, but deforested landscapes all over the world are testement to the fact that short term profits have always been more important than long term sustainablility.