TREES ON PLANET EARTH THREATENED WITH EXTINCTION

Fernando Alcoforado*

This article aims to inform that more than a third of the trees on planet Earth are threatened with extinction, based on the article entitled “COP16 sur la biodiversité: plus d’un tiers des espèces d’arbres de la planète sont menacées d’extinction”, published on 10/29/2024 by Francetvinfo, available on the website <https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/environnement/biodiversite/cop/cop16-sur-la-biodiversite-en-colombie-plus-d-un-tiers-des-especes-d-arbres-de-la-planete-est-menace-d-extinction-alerte-l-uicn_6866492.html#xtor=CS2-765-%5Bautres%5D->, which reports that more than a third of the planet’s tree species are threatened with extinction and that, in a report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) calls on the countries meeting in Colombia to maintain their commitment to stop the destruction of nature by 2030.

On the occasion of the 16th United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity, COP16, held this year in Cali (Colombia), the International Union for Conservation of Nature carried out a new assessment of the health of the planet’s trees. According to the IUCN report, biodiversity is not only animal, but also plant. More than one in three tree species is in danger of extinction. The total number of tree species is estimated at 58,000. Of the 47,282 species on which scientists have fairly complete information, at least 16,425 are threatened with extinction. In South America, the continent that is home to the greatest diversity of trees in the world, 3,356 of the 13,668 documented species are threatened with extinction, according to the IUCN.

Among the threatened species are the horse chestnut, known in Europe for its medicinal properties, the large-leaf mahogany, a precious mahogany from Latin America used for construction and furniture, and also many species of eucalyptus and magnolia. According to the report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Humanity is the main cause of extinction of the plane’s trees. Deforestation for intensive agriculture or through increased logging, parasites and invasive species, as well as climate change caused by humanity, are among the main threats cited by the IUCN. As a key component of many ecosystems, trees are essential to life on Earth through their role in the carbon, water and nutrient cycles, in soil formation and in regulating the climate, the IUCN recalled.

According to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the disappearance of tree species poses a major threat to thousands of other plants, fungi and animals that share their ecosystems. It also threatens the lives and well-being of humanity, which depends on forests for food, firewood and timber for construction, but also for medicines, air purification and climate regulation through the absorption of greenhouse gases, especially carbon. Global climate change increasingly threatens the survival of trees, especially in the tropics, and contributes to rising sea levels and the occurrence of stronger and more frequent storms, such as those recorded in Brazil in recent times. Due to deforestation or clearing carried out for urban and agricultural development, the report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature also pointed out the occurrence of attacks on trees by invasive species, pests and diseases.

However, the report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature failed to point out those truly responsible for the threat of tree extinction and global climate change, which is the capitalist system, predator of nature. The IUCN report failed to point out the need to build a sustainable society across the planet that, among other objectives, ensures the existence of a restored and stabilized biological base, that land use follows the basic principles of biological stability (nutrient retention, carbon balance, soil protection, water conservation and preservation of species diversity) and that rural areas have greater diversity than they currently have with balanced land management, where there is crop rotation and cultivation of species, and there are no wasted crops.

It is important to emphasize that, in order to build a sustainable society, tropical forests must be preserved, there must be no deforestation for the purpose of obtaining timber and other products, millions of hectares of new trees must be planted in cities and rural areas, efforts to stop desertification must be made to transform degraded areas into productive lands, the exhaustive use of pastures must be eliminated, and the food chain of affluent societies must include less meat and more grains and vegetables. In order to build a sustainable society, the values ​​that emphasize quantity, expansion, competition and domination, which are characteristics of the capitalist mode of production, which emphasizes the blind pursuit of economic growth at all costs, must be abandoned, giving rise to a sustainable economy so that economic growth is less intensive in the consumption of raw materials and energy and more equitable in the distribution of its results to the population. Finally, in order to build a sustainable society, a true political and cultural revolution must be carried out throughout the world so that the current development paradigm is replaced by the sustainable development paradigm.

We are therefore at a critical moment in the history of the Earth and of humanity, a time when we must choose the path to take for our future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, humanity faces both great dangers and great promises for its future. We must recognize that amidst a magnificent diversity of cultures and ways of life, we are one Earth community with a common destiny. In order to build a sustainable society, it is imperative that all of us, the peoples of the Earth, declare our responsibility to each other for the sake of the continuity of life on the planet and for future generations. We must join forces to create a sustainable global society based on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.

* Fernando Alcoforado, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the SBPC- Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science, IPB- Polytechnic Institute of Bahia and of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer from the UFBA Polytechnic School and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, college professor (Engineering, Economics and Administration) and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning, urban planning and energy systems, was Advisor to the Vice President of Engineering and Technology at LIGHT S.A. Electric power distribution company from Rio de Janeiro, Strategic Planning Coordinator of CEPED- Bahia Research and Development Center, Undersecretary of Energy of the State of Bahia, Secretary of Planning of Salvador, is the author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Doctoral thesis. Barcelona University, http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017),  Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019), A humanidade ameaçada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, São Paulo, 2021), A escalada da ciência e da tecnologia e sua contribuição ao progresso e à sobrevivência da humanidade (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2022), a chapter in the book Flood Handbook (CRC Press,  Boca Raton, Florida United States, 2022), How to protect human beings from threats to their existence and avoid the extinction of humanity (Generis Publishing, Europe, Republic of Moldova, Chișinău, 2023), A revolução da educação necessária ao Brasil na era contemporânea (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2023), Como construir um mundo de paz, progresso e felicidade para toda a humanidade (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2024) and How to build a world of peace, progress and happiness for all humanity (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2024).