10/07/2021
School strike week 151.
This Friday we are in a tree plantation in Sápmi, in Northern Europe. This used to be a forest, but after it was cut down forest companies have planted an invasive tree species that grows quicker than the local ones. Cutting down forests - at a time when we need to maximise every possible carbon sink - is not only disastrous for the climate, but also for biodiversity. Not to mention the local indigenous Sami reindeer herders who have lived here and cared for this land for thousands of years. When humans now change and destroy the landscape, they also completely alter the living conditions for the local wildlife, as well as for the reindeer and humans living there. It is not just the forests and carbon sinks that are being eliminated, but also the history, future and traditions of the Sami people.
Forests are not renewable, whatever the ries may say. Trees are renewable, but not forests. In a short term we only switch from one source of carbon to another when we burn biomass. Since we don't have the time it takes for the clear cut to compensate for the carbon debt (to stay below 1,5°C of global heating) it should not be considered "climate neutral". Amid the climate crisis and more frequent and intense extreme weather events (such as heatwaves, floods and wildfires) - these plantations also exacerbate their effects, increasing the devastation and suffering of people and wildlife.
The indigenous Sami people have been historically systematically oppressed, and still are so today. Indigenous peoples make up 5% of the world's population, but take care of 80% of the remaining healthy ecosystems. They are almost always on the frontline of the climate- and ecological crisis, but they are also leading the resistance. We have to listen to the guardians of the land and value their traditional knowledge to get out of this global crisis.
The exploitation of nature, land and people needs to stop.
