Trees and Health | Nature

As the subject of his Chadwick Public Lecture on October 23, Mr. R. St. Barbe Baker discussed “The Contribution of Trees to National Health and Efficiency”. He commenced by tracing the

history of trees on the globe, showing that in early times trees of certain species were regarded as sacred, a superstition of man if indeed it were a superstition which survives to the

present day, since many jungle races still worship the forests, or trees in the forests. Mr. Baker correctly states that man has been a destroyer of trees and the forest for a long period in

his history. This destruction in the early days of man was justified to enable him to obtain space for pasturing his flocks and raising crops; with the increase in numbers, however, the

destruction and wasteful utilisation of the forest proceeded apace, resulting in the disappearance of ancient civilisations owing to the former prosperous lands becoming a desert. As Mr.

Baker shows, this wanton waste of the resources of the earth is continuing at an increased pace, owing to the greater demands being made upon the lands for agriculture and other purposes by

an increasing population at the expense of the forest. Mr. Baker's remarks on the subject of the French and British in West Africa concerning the forests and the advance of the Sahara are

somewhat misleading. The French are in fact carrying out forestry work of considerable importance and high technique in West Africa. In Nigeria a very considerable recognition exists of the

problems connected with agricultural methods, forests, the increasing desiccation, and so forth.

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: