Generate Optimism And Wellbeing With This One Change To Your Environment
What if our health crisis and the climate crisis have the same cure?
The rapid destruction of the world’s forests over the last couple of decades has undoubtedly contributed to the mess we find ourselves in with climate change, and with our own health.
Global forests have taken a beating. Direct timber harvesting, clearing for industry, agriculture and human settlements, and wildfires have taken apart vast treed areas and turned them into something else. It’s estimated that 9% of the world’s forests were lost between 2001 and 2018 (ref1) - BEFORE the major wildfire crises hit. Six of the largest recorded wildfires in the 21st century have occurred in the last 6 years, taking approximately 284 million ha of forests in those 6 fires alone (ref2).
Damage and destruction to the world’s forests comes back to bite us humans in the ass over and over again. Smoke from wildfires is perhaps the most obvious, but arguably least damaging impact to worry about. You read that right.
Loss of forests leads to changes in water cycles - drought, flooding, landslides - temperature changes - and biodiversity loss - all of which have far longer and deeper impacts to human health than the temporary smoke situation created from wildfires ever will.
But I’m not here to navel gaze about what’s going wrong.
I’m here to offer a ray of optimism in this otherwise doom and gloom situation that can suck the sunshine right out of the sky.
How can we generate optimism - and manifest real change - for our health and wellbeing AND do something about climate change?
Our first step is recognize the resilience that exists all around.
Nature has an unstoppable ability to repair itself.
Given half a chance, the cycle of renewal begins following devastation.
I took the picture below. It shows the incredible tenacity of nature to regrow. This is one year after the devastating Downton wildfire that happened in 2023 in my area. You may have heard about it because it was the first time a wildfire tornado was recorded in a British Columbia wildfire.
The landscape was once a forest that provided an incredible array of habits for wildlife in this area. Trees were reduced to blackened sticks. In some parts of the fire, it was so hot that the entire forest simply evaporated such that not even blackened sticks remain. It is a strange experience to walk through these devastated areas.
But look at that green! In this small area, green life exists one year later. There are willows, spirea, fireweed and some grasses working hard to begin again.
Nature has the capacity to heal itself.
And so do we.
For the most part, we didn’t get into this situation of major global health crises like heart disease, cancer, diabetes, depression and anxiety overnight. Even while an individual diagnosis may seem sudden and out of nowhere, the fact is most of our health issues take months or years to bubble to the surface before we pay attention to them and do something to allow ourselves to start to heal.
Losing contact with the land, losing contact with trees, losing contact with the where and how our food comes to be has far-reaching affects on us all.
We don’t notice the slow changes on a day to day basis. And then suddenly we have a health crisis, We’re handed a pill and told to keep going.
But a health crisis in an invitation to change. A big LOUD invitation because we’ve been ignoring the subtle build up of signs along the way.
Taking a pill to mask the symptoms isn’t healing our bodies and minds.
Taking actions to change our lives for the better creates lasting health.
One action to generate personal and environmental optimism
It can be hard to look at the future with optimism when we are bombarded with so many issues every day, and when we see the damage all around us.
My day to day work (outside of writing) involves creating habitat recovery plans for Mule deer whose winter range has been devastated by recent catastrophic wildfires. Without boring you with too many details, in a nutshell, winter is the most critical window of time for deer survival. In our area, they need old growth fir (>150 years old) to survive. Vast swaths of this specific type of habitat have been wiped out by the wildfires. It will take 150 years to get back what’s been lost - more then one lifetime.
With the help of local First Nations communities, and working from a seven-generation lens of recovery, I am designing corridors and prioritizing re-planting areas to try and speed up recovery wherever we can. It’s a challenging job that will hopefully have a happy ending eventually.
Never have I appreciated trees so much as now, as I see and experience first hand the struggle to rebuild forests devastated by wildfires. Not all areas are recovering fast like parts of the Downton fire. Some remain blackened years later. This is where our efforts to re-forest are felt most sharply and will have the biggest returns.
We can make a difference.
We can plant trees.
This weekend I am (finally) planting my beautiful nut tree yearlings that I purchased from Zero Fox Tree Nursery. I have 5 gorgeous Japanese heartnuts, 3 Shagbark hickories and 1 Hazelnut to plant this weekend.
Nine trees.
The Hazelnut will produce first. Likely within two to three years and it joins 3 other Hazelnuts I planted last year. The heartnuts will take anywhere from 6 to 8 years to start producing. The Shagbarks? Who knows exactly. They are a bit of a wildcard to be honest. In theory there will be a nibble of nuts starting around 10 years (maybe).
Nine trees. Nine times as I dig a deep hole, loosen the soil, place the baby tree in the ground, and carefully wire it off from the hungry deer to give the tree a fighting chance, I get to think about an optimistic future. I imagine how exciting it will be to collect up nuts from my very own nut tree forest.
Long before these trees give food, they will provide shade. They will provide resting and nesting places for birds. They will take in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen.
With each tree planted, I create a more secure future for myself. Trees as a food source are one of the best investments anyone can make. Buy it once, and it will provide food, year after year, for 20 to 100 years depending on the variety. Nothing gives back more than a food-producing tree.
With each tree planted, I imagine my life in 10 years. Where do I hope to be in 2034? What does my life look like? What dreams and milestones have I reached?
Planting trees is about believing in a better future.
Here’s what you can do
I know not everyone lives on a farm that can accommodate 9 new trees! But simply spending time with trees, time in nature, changes us all.
If you have space, I urge you to plant a tree this year. There is still time.
Nurseries clear out their seasonal stock, often leading to some great sales that can make buying a tree affordable. Some communities have special programs where you can purchase a discount tree for your yard (I know Kelowna, BC does this).
Not all trees grow huge. The Hazelnuts grow only to about 8 ft making them useful in a smaller setting. Many fruit trees come on dwarf rootstock to keep them small and manageable. And many flowering ornamental trees and shrubs still provide important habitats and pollinator opportunities, even if they don’t give us human food directly.
But even if you have a patio or balcony, or just one good window in your home, then you have the opportunity to explore living with a tree. I have potted figs, olives and dwarf pomegranates that do double duty - the are outside on my deck for the summer and inside for the winter.
Why trees?
Because the science is clear. Trees, forests, plant life improve our physical and mental health (ref3). They are better than any pill because they create wellbeing without the negative side effects that all drugs carry.
Just the smell of healthy soil changes our mental state.
Having houseplants in our home or office produces measurable health benefits.
We are ancient humans living in a modern world. We still mentally and physically crave the nature world, even if it is simply as an escape from an urban lifestyle.
Planting a tree is something each one of us can do that will improve our health over time, and contribute to reversing climate change.
Each time I look at my little trees, I dream about a better future.
Just imagine if everyone planted a tree in 2024. . . . what would change in our world if 8 billion trees were planted?
Just imagine the optimism created by planning (planting) for a better future.
Can you create space for a tree in your life? Share your thoughts in the comments.