“Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

Trees play a vital part in the eco-system of our home planet earth. The existence of life is dependent on their continual presence.

Trees are of most importance in our environment because they are one of the agents in nature that purify our atmosphere, and there are many ways in which they do so. Most importantly, trees and all other green plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂), a poisonous gas that is released by animals, burning fires, and the common exhaust of the engines found in automobiles, aeroplanes, and marine vessels.

By removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, trees also by so doing, reduce the greenhouse effect, commonly spoken of today, thereby keeping the atmospheric temperature cool and habitable. However, as trees absorb this, what might seem otherwise useless, gas, combined with water and minerals in the presence of sunlight and the green pigment chlorophyll, they produce sugars by a process known as photosynthesis. Some of the newly formed sugar is used by the leaf cells for energy while the rest is transported to other parts of the tree for storage growth and development. During this process, oxygen is produced as a by-product and is released from the leaves into the air, which human beings as well as all animals need to breathe. Not only does oxygen purify the air in this way, but also being itself a very cold gas, it further helps in the cooling down process when it replaces carbon dioxide.

In addition to the absorption of carbon-dioxide, trees also filters the air by absorbing other harmful gasses and by trapping dust, fly ash, sulphur-dioxide, ozone, ammonia and other polluting nitrogen compounds, in the very fine hairs which most leaves posses. A number of scientific studies have demonstrated these properties to be of particular importance to people with respiratory ailments.

By the process of photosynthesis, not only do trees clean the atmosphere and produce food for themselves, but for human beings and some animals as well. Some trees provide food in the forms of; fruits, berries, nuts, vegetables, and the sap from some of the barks, trunks, and roots are used to produce syrups and juices. One example of such tree is the Maple, the sap from which is produced the well-known Maple syrup. While human beings may derive their foods from all plant sources, other animals such as birds, insects, elephants, and giraffes depend mostly on the food trees produce. Fruits and berries are rich in vitamins and mineral and are essential to good health, while the sugar produced in them are needed to supply the energy we need each day. Nuts are a good source of proteins and minerals, which are also essential to life.

Besides producing a source of healthy food for us, trees play an important part in the curative health of mankind. For millennia, our ancestors have been using the leaves, barks, trunks, roots, and even fungi found on the barks of trees, to treat the maladies of diseases. These have been used by many cultures and traditions as a dominant source of medicine. Many of the medicines used in modern pharmacology are derived from trees. From the cinchona bark, we get quinine a bitter substance used in the treatment of malaria and headaches. The bark of the yew tree is the source of Taxol, which, in 1992, was approved for the treatment of ovarian cancer. The Eucalyptus tree is of great blessings to humanity. Among its many medicinal benefits is its use as an antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal treatment. It is also used today in many over-the-counter cough and cold preparations, and in ointments and creams for the relief of joint and muscle pains. Tree medicine is still widely used today as most people are still not within the reach and means of modern medicines and pharmacological drugs, yet, even among those who have access to these drugs, are many who believe that tree medicine is the better alternative.

While the trees of rich medicinal values have had a great impact the physical health of mankind, they also graciously affect our spiritual, adding great visual amenity value, by significantly enhancing the appearance of our environs. They add beauty by providing a contrast of size, colour, shape, texture, and height, to the landscapes, and in some seasonal climates, they reflect the changing seasons in the colour of their leaves. They are sometimes used to hide unpleasant structures and environs and often provide some amount of privacy. Some trees blossom and their flowers, besides adding fragrance to the air, help to bring about a change of scenery in their own seasons.

In addition to all the beauty and splendour of trees are their contribution to the prevention of soil erosion due to wind and rain. This geological benefit, though often unnoticed, is one of the most important links in the chain of all life cycles of the planet earth. Trees are natural windbreakers and thus prevent the acceleration of wind, which would otherwise blow away the looser top soil. In addition, the roots of trees help to bind and hold the soil together thus preventing further erosion. In the rainy seasons, trees slow down the run off water by holding and absorbing it. By this, the trees solidify the soil in times of heavy rain, preventing the erosion of topsoil.

Another important aspect that trees play in the control and prevention of erosion is in the salinity of the soil affected by the water table level. By absorbing the excess water, keeping it at a desirable level, the sub-soil salt is kept below the top soil where it would otherwise destroy all but the very salt resistant vegetation. By the way, other vegetations also help in the prevention of topsoil erosion, by the presence of their fibrous roots.

As you can see, trees are not only the largest plants that inhabit the earth, but they are also among the longest living organism on the earth and are a vital link in the eco-systems and much of life on earth owes its existence to them. So the next time you see a tree, take a good look, and think of it as part of your very existence.

“For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.”
Martin Luther