Timber

After reading 'Timber' by Julia Wall the X-Men collaborated on a Cause and Effect map and summary.

New Zealand’s new Labour government is planning on planting 1,000,000,000 trees over the next ten years. Without trees, the world as we know it wouldn’t exist. Our forests make oxygen, and they absorb greenhouse gases. Trees are also home to countless species, many of which are in danger of becoming extinct. Trees also provide jobs and a boost to the economy through exportation.

New Zealand has a long history of forestry especially the felling and milling of native trees, but at what cost?

The early European traders felled native Kauri to produce masts for ships. In doing this however they robbed the forests of native trees. It would take hundreds of years for native Kauri to regrow to the same level, therefore the solution was to plant fast growing exotic trees, such as pine.

The felling and milling of native trees also meant lots of money was made by exporting timber to Australia, Britain and California. However a consequence of this was that native birds and animals lost their natural habitat

Historical evidence shows Pakeha settlers felled native trees to make way for towns, roads and farms. One possible effect of this was that the ground became unstable due to erosion and less greenhouse gases can be absorbed.

We believe the government’s aim of planting 1,000,000,000 trees will have lots of benefits for New Zealand such as boosting the economy from exporting more trees overseas and help the environment by absorbing more greenhouse gases.