Tree Quotations

• “The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time is now.”Anonymous
• “Man shapes himself through decisions that shape his environment.”Rene Dubos
• “We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.”Aldo Leopold
• “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”John Muir
• “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”Albert Camus
• “My heart is glad, my heart is highWith sudden ecstasy;I have given back, before I die,Some thanks for every lovely treeThat dead men grew for me.”V.H. Friedlaender
• “October's poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter."”Nova Bair
• “No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of a garden.”Thomas Jefferson
• “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”Albert Einstein
• “If what I say resonates with you, it is merely because we are both branches on the same tree.”W. B. Yeats
• “...every year one day comes, when, although there is no obvious change in the appearance of trees and hedges, the Earth seems to breathe and it is spring.”Elizabeth Clarke, The Darkening Green
• “What did the tree learn from the earth to be able to talk with the sky?”Pablo Neruda
• “The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.”William Blake, 1799, The Letters
• “Though a tree grows so high, the falling leaves return to the root.”Malay proverb
• “Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come.”Chinese proverb
• “I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do.”Willa Cather (1873-1947), O Pioneers 1913
• “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “If a tree dies, plant another in its place.”Linnaeus“A tree which has lost its head will never recover it again, and will survive only as a monument of the ignorance and folly of its Tormentor.”George William Curtis
• “In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.”John Muir“A tree falls the way it leans.”Bulgarian proverb
• “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “Other holidays repose on the past. Arbor Day proposes the future.”J. Sterling Morton
• “I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines.”Henry David Thoreau, 1817 – 1862
• “Do not be afraid to go out on a limb...That's where the fruit is.”Anonymous
• “Of the infinite variety of fruits which spring from the bosom of the earth, the trees of the wood are the greatest in dignity.”Susan Fenimore Cooper
• “People in suburbia see trees differently than foresters do. They cherish every one. It is useless to speak of the probability that a certain tree will die when the tree is in someone's backyard...You are talking about a personal asset, a friend, a monument, not about board feet of lumber.”Roger Swain
• “A seed hidden in the heart of an apple is an orchard invisible.”Welsh proverb
• “And see the peaceful trees extend their myriad leaves in leisured dance—they bear the weight of sky and cloud upon the fountain of their veins.”Kathleen Raine, Envoi
• “Oak trees come out of acorns, no matter how unlikely that seems. An acorn is just a tree's way back into the ground. For another try. Another trip through. One life for another.”Shirley Ann Grau
• “There is, I conceive, scarcely any tree that may not be advantageously used in the various combinations of form and color.”Gilpin
• “Alone with myselfThe trees bend to caress meThe shade hugs my heart”Candy Polgar
• “Whoever loves and understands a garden will find contentment within.”Chinese Proverb

Interesting Facts About Trees

Trees are the longest living organisms on the planet and one of the earth's greatest natural resources. They keep our air supply clean, reduce noise pollution, improve water quality, help prevent erosion, provide food and building materials, create shade, and help make our landscapes look beautiful. Here are some more thought-provoking facts and figures about our oldest citizens and living treasures...trees!
• The shade and wind buffering provided by trees reduces annual heating and cooling costs by 2.1 billion dollars.
• Each average-sized tree provides an estimated $7 savings in annual environmental benefits, including energy conservation and reduced pollution.
• A single tree produces approximately 260 pounds of oxygen per year. That means two mature trees can supply enough oxygen annually to support a family of four!
• One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles.
• Over the course its life, a single tree can absorb one ton of carbon dioxide.
• An average American uses about 750 pounds of paper every year, and 95% of homes are built using wood. That means each person uses the equivalent of one 100 foot tall, 16 inch diameter, tree every year for their paper and wood product needs.
• The average tree in an urban/city area has a life expectancy of only 8 years.

Impact of Human activities on the forests of the world

What is the impact of human activities on the forests of the world?

· The clearing and burning of the forests for agriculture, cattle rearing, and timber extraction result in loss of biodiversity, extinction of species, and soil erosion, resulting in the loss of vital topsoil, and disturbance of the carbon cycle leading to global warming.
· The clear-cutting and conversion of forest land in hilly areas for agriculture, plantations, and housing lead to landslides and floods, which affect people in the forests and on the plains. It also increases the siltation of rivers.
· Many forests have been affected by acid deposition originating from industries.
· The harvesting of old growth forests destroys crucial habitat for endangered species.
· Dams built in forest areas for hydropower and water drowns huge areas, destroying species and depriving people of their lands; they could also induce earth tremors.


Here is a classical case of environmental degradation leading to poverty and deprivation.

It is Kalahandi, once a rich and prosperous district in Orissa(India). The monsoon has rarely failed this area. It gets an average annual rainfall of 1250mm, more than what Punjab receives. The water table in some places is very high. Yet Kalahandi in western orissa is frequently in the news for its extreme poverty and deprivation. Often it is under drought and sometimes it has floods. The people migrate to all parts of India looking for work and survival.

Kalahandi, however, was not always a place of hunger and deprivation. 19th century travelers have talked about a mass of jungles and hills in the region. Just a few decades ago, it was all green here./ the forests provided a livelihood for six months and agriculture for the next six months. With a large diversity of crops, it was one of the richest areas in eastern India. How did things change?


In the past, there was a network of about 30,000 traditional water-harvesting structures in the area. They included ponds, lakes, check-dams, and even tanks within paddy fields. The whole system was designed to suit the topography of the land so that no part of the rainwater went waste. What is more, the system was under the control of the community, which ensured proper maintenance and water sharing through Jal-sabhas (Water Councils).

Many tanks were built with the free labour given by the people. There was also a social system to protect the forests in the catchment areas. About 50% of the cultivated land was irrigated using the water bodies. Failure or rainfall did occur, but there was never any scarcity of water. Came independence and the troubles started. First, the government took over many of the structures, but did not maintain them properly. In other cases, fearing a takeover, the landowners converted the tanks into croplands. The focus shifted to large irrigation projects like the Hirakud Dam, though the canal system often did not suit the local topography.

Concurrently, the forests were being cut down for timber and the resulting erosion of the soil dumped a lot of silt on the catchment areas. River-beds also silted up, leading to floods downstream. A large amount of water was being lost as run-off. From then on, even a slight shortfall in rain brought water scarcity and a large-scale crop failure. Agriculture became a difficult proposition and people started migrating in large numbers, affecting community life and preventing any revival of the water-harvesting system.

Kalahandi thus slid into a vicious circle, from which it has never recovered

Save Our Planet

It is about you, and the future of your family, community, humanity, and this fragile planet.

Mankind had to live in tune with nature, if life was to be peaceful, happy, and satisfied. In the name of scientific development, man started distancing himself from nature and even developed an urge to conquer nature. Our ancestors had known that nature was not subduable and, therefore, had made it an obligation for man to surrender to nature and live in tune with it.

Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

Four mega phenomena or spikes have been occurring, with profound implications for life on earth. The four quantities that have been growing exponentially are:
1. Concentration of carbon-di-oxide gas in the atmosphere.
2. The number of biological species becoming extinct every year.
3. Production and consumption of goods and services.
4. The size of the human population.

There are many factors that limit our awareness of environmental issues. To the millions of poor people, the problems of daily existence are more important than environmental degradation. The more prosperous are afraid that, in the name of the environment, their comforts may be taken away.