Cutting trees is not really a bad thing. That’s what our friend Dave Deppner, the founder of Trees for the Future, says. Trees, he said, are an important resource for everyone on earth. What is bad is when people cut trees but do not replant them. Trees are cut for many reasons. Valuable wood is needed in construction, furniture making and so many other uses. Wood, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization is the major source of cooking fuel for over half of the world.

For more than 25 years, Trees for the Future, a non-government organization, has been planting trees in more than 50 countries and has been responsible for establishing no less than 90 million trees. What the NGO has been planting are a wide range of multi-purpose fast-growing trees. These include species for timber, fuel wood, forage, erosion control, etc.

What they don’t plant are eucalyptus and pine trees which don’t make for sustainable land management for the long term. Eucalyptus trees are fast growing in a wide range of elevations, soils and climatic conditions. While they produce fuelwood and timber for many uses, eucalyptus do not lend themselves to sustainable land management systems.

Dave cites many communities in Central America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia which are suffering from the long-term damage caused by invasive eucalyptus plantings. The roots are so widespreading, they absorb most of the moisture at the expense of other vegetation. Eucalyptus trees inhibit the growth of other vegetation, exposing soils to erosion, and causing lakes and ground water to disappear with their aggressive roots.

Pine trees, on the other hand, do have some benefits, but like eucalyptus trees, they do not lend themselves to sustainable land management. Pine trees can leave soils in much worse condition than when they were first planted. The blanket of pine needles make the soil acidic and they are a great fuel for forest fires.

Deppner says that in their program at Trees for the Future, they encourage communities to plant multipurpose fast growing trees that not only produce useful products within a short time but also encourage the growth of field crops, vegetables, and other vegetation around them.