Trees Grow on Money

A recent article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (US)suggests that forest cover world wide, while still declining, will begin growing within the next few years. It is already growing in 22 of the 50 most forested nations, including Canada.

The principle is simple: as nations develop, and their people become richer, they stop cutting down as much timber. The turning point is a GDP of $4,600 per person per year.

This means, of course, that efforts to stop deforestation by limiting development are entirely counter-productive for trees--in addition to the human misery they cause.

BBC has the story.