Both Hjarsen Thor & Gerry Hawkes hit the nail right on the head. > >A much more rational and far sighted approach will be to direct activities > >and investments into a Global attempt of reducing the EMISSIONS. This could > >be done by development and introduction of cleaner technology and putting > >constraints on use of products which causes relatively high contribution to > >the atmospheric CO2 pool. > <snip> > > After years of practicing forest management, both in Vermont and internationally and witnessing the mounting damage caused by air pollutants, I came to a very similar conclusion. We must REDUCE EMISSIONS of pollutants and CO2. Not only are the forests incapable of absorbing the huge quantities of CO2 emitted by fossil fuel consumption, but also they are, in many regions, slowing down in growth and suffering increasing mortality due to the adverse effects of pollution toxicity and global warmin > > Our first order of priority is to REDUCE EMISSIONS, then we can get down to the business of restoring and revitalizing our forests. Therefore I have put aside my own forestry practice to develop, patent, manufacture and market several new solutions for reducing emissions. At present we are working to bring together the expertise and investment to make significant changes toward clean transportation technlology. There is no time to waste. Help is welcome. A current practice in many forest plantations and logged over areas is the retention of wood & plant (organic) debris after a felling operation on site. In the past these were burnt, thus generating & introducing a variety of pollutants into the atmosphere. We were discussing this with a Canadian just yesterday, on forest plantation beds preparation. Healthy trees depend on good beds preparation as much as on good soil conditions for good roots formation. On the technological side, this Canadian gentleman was introducing to us a method by which soil & minerals can be mixed with such organic debris to promote healthy root generation. This certainly reduce the impact of mass open burning of useful organic material. In the reduction of carbon & sulphur-based pollutants, this should & will be a long-term objective both regionally & internationally. As consumers ourselves, we are faced with a myraid choice of products. Some are made of wood/timber. Some of metals. Some of plastics. We can only made as wise a decision based on our own personal perception & understanding of a material. But perhaps we should take a hard look at ourselves as a consumer society. What's the impact of our consumption pattern has on the global forests? In terms of energy generation, emission of pollutants, conversion of raw materials into non-biodegradable end products. How many of us here actually have given thoughts to fuel/oil run-offs from our cars which go into the drainage & water-way systems? What are the effects on wetlands & forests downstream? The millions of disposable phone-cards discarded everday. Can one generate a forest plantation in an area saturated with such plastic cards in the soil? Perhaps we should also ask the question: Are we buying what we don't need, to impress people we don't know, with money we don't have? What are we trying to prove? What have we to lose? Some food for thought. God bless. Nelson Wong MTC
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