From Urban Centers to the Beach, Tree Planting is Catching on in Costa Rica.

Yesterday one hundred people from the province of Alajuela gathered together and planted 3 trees each. Fruit trees, ornamental and timber trees found a new place in the Madre Verde Reserve of Palmares, in Alajuela. This activity, part of the Naturally Green (Naturalmente Verde) campaign was financed by Business Group M. The company is planning to sponsor two of the 40 hectares of Costa Rica Land that was chosen eight years ago to be used for the protection of the area’s water tables.

Such an activity is splendid in a country like Costa Rica where conservation plays such a big role in maintaining its ecological value and where development has begun to show some adverse effects. It is not an isolated case either. Tree planting is all over the news ever since the country announced its goal to plant 7 million trees in 2008, thus one-upping its achievement of planting 5 million trees last year. Everyone seems to be getting in on the fun, from elementary schools to surfers to large companies like Group M.

The word is spreading internationally as well. A program set in Ethiopia last year showed how some African women set a campaign and gathered hundreds of people so that they could all plant 11 trees each; research showed that a human being, throughout his lifetime, uses the equivalent amount of oxygen that is produced by approximately 11 trees. This is talking about the life of an African person. What we, in the modern world, consume with our cars and frequent flights, is another story!

Trees help us breath by taking carbon dioxide out of the air and producing oxygen. Carbon dioxide, produced from burning fossil fuels, is the greenhouse gas most blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere and linked to global climate change, which is one of the greatest problems faced by humanity today. In a modern urban zone, one acre of trees eliminates as much carbon dioxide from the air as is produced from driving a car for about 40,000 km and produces enough oxygen for 18 people to breathe each day. Trees also help trap and remove dust and soot from the air that can cause damage to our lungs. Even deeper, literally, the roots of the trees act as filters and produce clean water!

Another tragic outcome of development and the cutting of trees is erosion; We have all seen the massive landslides in areas where hundreds of trees have been cut down, creating that perfect ocean view property at the edge of a cliff. The presence of trees also prevents the soil from turning into silt, which is fatal for aquatic life in general.

When too many trees are cut, the greenhouse effect is created, which lends a hand to the problem global warming. As massive consumers, we would need to plant 30 trees to reverse the effects we have caused on the planet. While this seems like a lot, is it really, how long does it really take to plant 30 trees, throughout a whole lifetime? Few people realize that the shade created from planing as little as 3 trees in a backyard can even save dollars on air conditioning, indeed, the cooling effect of the trees could save the world millions of dollars in energy!

Trees also reduce noise. They are the homes of many birds and small mammals. Trees are our best friends, there is no other way to look at it. They also look wonderful; they are beautiful and majestic. Imagine the world without them! So, lets not just talk about it, lets all plant trees, even if we do not make it to 30, any effort is worthwhile; isn’t it indeed easier to plant a tree, than to cut one?

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on August 28th, 2008