Forests not only purify the air, but also regulate humidity, temperature, and wind speed. Also, they provide us with a lot of products such as wood, herbs, and fruits, prevent landslides, and become nesting places for various plants and animals, which makes the ecosystem harmonious.
We’ve found a way to make these important forests healthier. More than 80 scientists from universities and research institutes in 44 countries, including the University of West Virginia, University of Minnesota, and the Ecology Research Center of the Netherlands, have done a research on more than 30 million trees. The research reported that if tree species are reduced by 10%, forests’ productivity is reduced by about 3%; and if it gets reduced by 99%, the productivity falls to about 70%.
It shows that the more species of trees grow in a forest, the denser the forest becomes and its economic value increases. This applied to all the forests in the tropics, the temperate climate, and the polar climate. The very secret to make forest healthy turned out to be its diversity.
In the Bible, people are likened to trees. Just as a forest becomes denser when diverse trees gather together, if we respect each other’s diversity and live together, won’t it be a healthy and prosperous world?