Tree Campaign

PROTECTED CONTENT

If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.

Username

Password

Login

Lost your password?

Username and Password Help

Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.

Email

Submit

← Back

The Bible and the Headlines: News You Can Use

By David Bachelor, PhD

It is election season, so headlines about failing campaigns are to be expected. It is also a time of war, and in war, many campaigns do not accomplish their objective. What is noteworthy about this week’s failing campaign is the alliance at its heart. The two confederates are at the top of their kingdoms, yet victory appears to elude them. Who are these collaborators failing to take their objective? They are “humans” and a member of the Plantae kingdom, more commonly called “trees.”

From the Oregon front, the Tillamook Headlight Herald on August 8th reported, “How Tree Planting Works In The Climate Change Fight.” The article examines the effectiveness of tree planting campaigns. The research comes from an Oregon State University scientist and seven other researchers who looked at “… data from thousands of reforestation sites in 130 countries and found that roughly half the time it’s better just to let nature take its course.” Success rates depended on location.

The web site Technology Networks on August 9th featured, “Urban Tree Planting May Not Cool Cities as Expected During Heatwaves.” The research in this article comes from the Sydney campus of the University of New South Wales. Acknowledging the common use of trees to combat the heat generated by asphalt and cement, the researchers observed, “Trees take precautions under heat stress to maintain moisture and avoid dryness by holding onto their sap. This reduces transpiration flow and thus their ability to cool.” In other words, trees look out for themselves in this battle.

From Germany, on August 11 the English language edition of DW carried the story, “Why Do Most Tree Planting Campaigns Fail?” The research for this article comes from  the environmental journal Nature Sustainability. This research states, “Many tree planting campaigns falter because they plant the wrong trees at the wrong time in the wrong place.” The other reason for failure is a planting campaign also needs a long term strategy to water and nurture the trees.

The Bible contains numerous verses about the alliance between humans and trees.  For example, in the campaign to conquer the Holy Land God has Moses instruct the people, “When you lay siege to a city for a long time … do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit. Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them? (Deu 20:19).

Another campaign where trees and people work together is the battle for eternal life. At the start of human existence Adam and Eve made an unholy alliance with the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When they ate from this tree it condemned all their offspring to death (Gen 2:17 and Gen 3:22-23). The damage was undone by a different alliance between trees and people. In full disclosure, it was the alliance of one tree and one person. The Bible says, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written: Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed” (Deu 21:23, Gal 3:13). Jesus made the cross the tree of life for those who believe.

This campaign ends with both the human kingdom and the Plantae kingdom celebrating. Believers are told, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands (Isa 55:12).