We must all "speak for the trees"

It was about 50 years ago that Dr. Seuss wrote The Lorax to alert us to the impacts of environmental destruction. He created this unforgettable prose in 1972 because the Californian forestry department was cutting down trees everywhere. 

"I’m the Lorax who speaks for the trees which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please. But I’m also in charge of the Brown Bar-ba-loots who played in the shade in their Bar-ba-loot suits and happily lived, eating Truffula fruits.

NOW…thanks to your hacking my trees to the ground, there’s not enough Truffula Fruit to go ‘round. And my poor Bar-ba-loots are all getting the crummies because they have gas, and no food, in their tummies!”  
Dr Seuss, The Lorax

Now just 50 years later we are absolutely certain that the alarming rise of CO2 threatens all life on Earth. Our planet’s ecological equilibrium, which supported human progress for 10,000 years, has reached a tipping point that needs our urgent and total commitment. 

This quote from a former Minister of Agriculture captures the arrogance of some of our leaders and highlights the need to shift the paradigm from profits for individuals to sustainability for all (including the planet itself): 

“I’m sure that trees were put on this earth in the very first instance because they were able to be cut down…” 
Senator Anne Ruston 

We will be sending a copy of The Lorax to the Minister, as well as our new book We Speak For The Trees, which includes articles on David Attenborough about protecting our trees as well as wilderness. Look out for this book in November.