Already nine billion of the planet's thirty billion acres are desert, leading participants in a United Nations Conference held in Nairobi in 1977 to conclude that unless desertification is halted by the year 2000, it will be out of control. At present, according to the United Nations Environment Program, the world loses 2.5 billion metric tons of topsoil each year to the forces of erosion. Again, we can turn to the words of Micah above, which the International Tree Crops Institute has taken as their motto. Of course, we no longer do battle with swords and spears, but the symbolism of the words still applies. Trees have the ability to grow in hostile environments, and, as they grow, become more and more effective in mitigating the adverse effects of wind, water, sun and man.
Trees can raise the water table and cause moisture to condense out of the air.
They can virtually halt the erosion of soils, whether on steep slopes or open plains. And in the process of making the earth more hospitable, trees offer their gifts of food, fodder, fuel and timber. This country could initiate a worldwide program of tree- planting that might save the ecology of the Caribbean Islands, and reclaim the deserts of India, Africa, and the United States itself. Such projects would provide new hope for the impoverished millions who do not have water, food, fuel or shelter sufficient to sustain not only existence, but also a happy life. If nations were united in a program of tree planting, we could create an atmosphere of cooperation and hope in which war and aggression would have no place.