The Power of a Few Good Trees

I have a hunch: that you can measure the economic and physical health of a people by the health of the land around them. In America , this truth is harder to see. In our affluence, we have often been shielded from the consequences of our harmful environmental decisions. For example, if water is scarce or contaminated, we can pay to pipe it across the country to purify it. If soil is degraded, we buy fertilizers and nutrients. Because we are buffered from the consequences, we tend to forget that the environment is our life-support system.

Conversely, the poor experience the immediate impact of environmental degradation in the form of poor crop yields, drought, chronic diarrhea from contaminated water, and malaria epidemics that are exacerbated by deforestation.

From what I have observed, it is a vicious cycle. Desperate to provide food for their families, poor farmers use slash-and-burn agriculture to clear the land for farming. Without trees, the topsoil erodes many times faster than before and the rainwater runs off the slopes without replenishing the water table. Streams dry up, wells give out, and families consequentially leave their villages in search of a better life.

The connections between deforestation and poverty are stunning. Any response to the needs of the poor, in order to be sustainable, must also consider environmental concerns. Trees are one of the ultimate solutions: they nurture the soil, filter the water and combat global warming.

Of course, reforestation cannot stand alone as the sole means for restoring the rural poor’s circumstances. At Floresta, for example, our small business loans and agricultural training programs come into play. We use sustainable agriculture, reforestation and micro-credit together to restore lives and the land, putting the emphasis on helping people help themselves.

For conservation efforts to be sustainable among developing countries, those efforts must consider the needs of the poor. Human life and creation, all part of the same system, are intimately connected. The solution is a sound one, and there are a lot of places in the world that could solve their problems with this same solution. Never underestimate the power of a few good trees.

About Scott Sabin

Scott Sabin is the Executive Director of Floresta USA , (www.floresta.org) an international Christian organization that reverses deforestation and poverty by transforming the lives of the rural poor in Mexico , Haiti , Dominican Republic , Burundi , Tanzania and Thailand . Scott has held this position for 12 years, and has worked with Floresta for 16 years, after beginning as a volunteer.

During his tenure, Scott has played an integral role in crafting the evangelical ethic of creation care in developing countries. His leadership and vision have resulted in the transformation of the economic, environmental and spiritual needs of impoverished farmers. To date, Floresta has made a significant impact by planting 4 million trees, revitalizing thousands of small farms, and making over 6,000 small business loans.