Trees
By Ruth Jarman
October is the time of Harvest Festivals, apples and falling leaves.
It's my morning treat to walk under a neighbour's maple tree on the way to school, admiring the brightly coloured artwork of leaves on the pavement below our feet.
Trees are not only beautiful, they are essential to our planet's ecosystems in so many ways – they absorb carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen, and they provide food and shelter for many species, including us!
Our destruction of the world's forests to satisfy our hunger for wood, paper, meat, bio-fuels and palm oil, annually accounts for 18% of global warming gases. The “low hanging fruit” solution to climate change could be to plant fruit trees!
Here's a couple of great gift ideas to keep carbon where it belongs:
- Wells for India , a Winchester based charity, will plant a tree as a gift to someone that will make a real difference to the lives of the poorest people in Rajasthan. Just send them £10 for a tree or £40 for an orchard (cheques payable to ‘Wells for India') with your address and the name of the recipient to Wells for India, The Winchester Centre, 68, St.George's Street, Winchester SO23 8A, phone 01962 848 043 or www.wellsforindia.org .
- Give a bit of rainforest! Go to www.coolearth.org and secure someone half an acre of threatened rainforest (and 130 tonnes of CO2 and hundreds of unique species) for £35.
