Trees & Plants


The Earth is green and beautiful, and Allah has appointed you his stewards over it. The whole earth has been created a place of worship, pure and clean. Whoever plants a tree and diligently looks after it until it matures and bears fruit is rewarded. If a Muslim plants a tree or sows a field and humans and beasts and birds eat from it, all of it is love on his part. Hadith

The rainforest is described as the 'lungs of the world' as they give out 20% of the world's oxygen and absorb about 20% of the world's carbon dioxide emitted from man-made activities such as fossil fuel power stations and transport. In essence a healthy forest protects our planet from global climate change. Trees and plants not only play an important role in the survival of man in providing air, clean water, and food, but also support the eco system which is a community of plants, animals birds and fish that depend on one another to survive.

However, over time, the chopping down of trees to make land for the growing population and demands to produce man-made products such as furnitures and paper has had a detrimental, effect on survival of man, animals and the planet. In essence, life would not exist without trees, forest, and the plant kingdom.


Effect of deforestation

- Chopping down of trees and destruction of the rainforst can affect the biodiversity; deprive wild life of habitat and be vulnerable to predators.

- The destruction of the forest will affect the eco-system and will also affect the air, water and soil which is part of the life cycle for the living things. Any disruption to the balance of the eco-system will have a disastrous outcome for all living organisms and in threat of extinction or being endangered.

- The degradation of rainforest will contribute to global climate change - lands will be dryer as there will be less plants to absorb and retain water


Solutions - how to protect and preserve nature

- Plant trees to absorb greenhouse gases

- Plant of new forests

- Reduce demands for timber

- Preserve land for nature and not for building



References

Air pollution (1998) Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions UK
Air pollution and acid rain (1998) Cresswell, Twigg and Buchalahl
Annual Review London, FOE (1999) Friends of the Earth
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Greenhouse effect (1989) P Neal
Green Peace Guide (1999) Green Peace
How we can save the planet (2004) M Hillman
How to live a low carbon life: The individual's guide to stopping climate change (2007) C Goodall
National society for cleaner air and environment protection (1995) Motor Vehicle Pollution
Pollution causes, effects and control (1990) RM Harrison
The rough guide to ethical living (2006) D Clark
The rough guide to climate change: symptoms, science and solutions (2008) R Henson
The discovery of global warming (2004) S Weart
Water and life (1990) P Parker
What a load of rubbish (1990) S Skidmore
Working together for cleaner air (2000) Department of the Environment Transport and the Regions UK