When I was around 10 or 12 years old - I forget exactly now of course - my school was taken on a day trip to The Dunkeld Forestry in Perthshire, Scotland, which had mostly been recently cut down. The aim was to raise awareness of deforestation, and to encourage youngsters to plant trees. We were all given one sapling of fast growing Scots pine to plant in the devastated forest for re-generation, and one to take home and plant where we wished to do so. That forest is now lush and green, and a wonder for all to admire as they explore that region - but for how long?! - My personal sapling was planted in my parents front garden, but sadly a local dog took a liking to it as a prime spot for urination - poor little thing didnt last long! On a recent trip to The Storr on The Isle of Skye in Scotland, the terrible, ugly reality of deforestation was shoved down my throat as I witnessed one of Scotlands most famous beauty spots forest - planted around the same time as Dunkelds - devastated by deforestation. Nowhere it would seem is safe! Here is what is said about this landmark spot in Wikipedia: A well constructed path, used by many sightseers, leaves the A855 just north of Loch Leathan. It heads up through an area of forestry, with glimpses of the scenery beyond. After about 1.6 kilometres (1.0 mi) the walker emerges from the trees, into a spectacular, almost lunar, landscape. As you can tell from these images, an update it would seem is required!! What angered me more than this though, was the ignorance of some locals. And even worse, that they were spreading this ignorance! I became engaged in conversation with a couple of tourists from the US in a local photographers shop in Portree, - the main town on the island - he sells prints and canvases of beauty spots on The Isle of Skye. The tourists were asking, Whats with all the cutting down of all the trees here!? I questioned her, Well, how many wood-based products do you have in your home? Which I dont believe the lady asking actually took-in at all! But frustratingly what she did take-in was the completely ignorant and incompetent answer from the photographer, which she seemed to be satisfied and complacent with. They were ready to be cut down because they are on a 200 year cycle, he said! I had to bite my tongue and walk away for fear of making a scene. These trees were barely 30 years old, cut down for cheap, knotty pine furniture and paper! It would seem that if people are told that things are due and there has been a longevity involved, then its accepted and thats ok! But the key point here is that they were not 200 years old, far, far from it; and even if they were, do we really need to cut them down for furniture, house building and paper!? These trees take 30 years of growing just to be big enough to make paper! Im confidant in our current state of technology it would take a lot less than that to come-up with a synthetic, eco friendly alternative. Yet there are already many eco friendly alternatives to be used anyway. Like the fact that I am publishing this here and not in a paper magazine or newspaper. The trees we use to make guitars have to be hundreds of years old. I have a massive respect for the wood I use and the trees it all came from, and therefore I have always encouraged, promoted and used, naturally fallen timbers, recycled timbers and FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) approved timbers - which all together accounts for 90% of what I use. I would encourage, no, implore you to either buy guitars made from these sources, or use timbers of the same nature for guitar making. It simply has to be the way forward. And the next time you go to buy wood, or a wood based product; think about how it just might spoil that beauty spot you love and adore! Or someone elses! The earth has taken millions of year to stabilise enough for us to live on it. We have taken only 50 years to almost bring it to the brink of the next mass extinction! Think about it! Thanks for reading, and have a great week everyone!
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 11:33:25 +0000