Treedom: consume heart-fully AND plant more trees!
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit." -Nelson Henderson
I've been planting trees as a volunteer with Precious Tree Project (PTP), since 2021. PTP, operating since 2010, is a truly vital non-profit initiative aiming to create bio-mimicked patches of forest by planting indigenous and endemic forest trees along the Garden Route. This planting style imitates the biosphere of the mature indigenous forest to effectively reforest in accordance to the nature of the land. Anyone who has visited the Garden Route can see how lush and green with forest the area is, however you might be surprised to know that that much of the lush green you see is comprised of alien invasive trees and the region only has approximately 50% of its natural indigenous forest left – the lungs of our planet!
By now it should be obvious to most that trees provide shelter and food for wildlife and help us to breathe better and pretty much be better – a day spent under a tree or walking through a forest is a day well lived. Taking a step further, understanding the difference between non-indigenous and indigenous forest is imperative in playing our part in keeping and restoring balance to natural lands – where possible of course! I was blessed to walk through a forest in Natures Valley recently. The crossing over between barren farm land (previously indigenous forest) and indigenous forest was palpable. My lungs felt more open and my nervous system relaxed completely as I plunged into total presence. On a practical and planet restoring level, planting indigenous trees boosts soil quality, improving water retention ultimately decreasing soil run-off, which in turn reduces ocean pollution. Indigenous trees planted out endemically also have a better chance of survival – planting something where it wants to grow naturally undeniably makes sense!
Planting Indigenous trees is a gesture of a simultaneous ‘Thank You’ and ‘Sorry’ to the Earth. The act of tree planting with PTP goes beyond meeting up for a couple of hours, planting trees together and then going home. It’s also not an activity to curb your guilt of being human. What it is, is an act that stimulates the psyche to contemplate what it practically means to take care of the environment along with understanding the intricate interconnectivity between the elements that give way for us, in simple terms, to breathe and live. It’s space to honour my inner and outer environment that essentially mirror each other. Planting trees has been a meditative process and an ongoing conversation with the soil to re-learn my own natural rhythms and realise that I don’t need to over-consume anything to be Well.
On the flip-side of my contemplations, during my plant sessions with PTP I have contemplated what the impact of humans getting involved in reforestation in this way will be in the long long run. I’ve had moments where I felt that this is a great thing to do for our planet, while on the other hand wondering if us humans and our egos are trying to control yet another process that's ultimately uncontrollable- perhaps the Earth's innate intelligence will do its own thing no matter what humans do or don’t do. So then what am I doing?
The truth is our descendants will know the bigger impact in 100 years time, so might as well try something different so as not to let history repeat itself. We've been very destructive as a race and our creativity has been rather selfish in terms of over-utilising the Earth’s resources to continuously develop. Earth, whether you call it Mother Nature, Mama Gaia, Pachamama or the World, holds space for our human experience. When we leave our bodies she stays, and so do our descendants. So perhaps it’s rather crucial to be aware of our impact on the environment in a variety of contexts, and to have a break from self-serving through consumption.
Essentially we will keep consuming as a race, but we do have choice and freedom to choose how we do this. Choose to consume heart-fully AND plant more trees. Choose Treedom.
