Green corner: Gone up in smoke

Published September 19, 2009

Our beloved country is burning and no one appears to be taking the issue seriously other than a handful of environmentalists who are quite unable to quench the destructive flames of human greed.

Forests are the main victims of uncontrolled, largely un-prosecuted pyromaniacs along with all forms of plant, animal, bird and insect life which inhabit them and, as the trees go up in flames, the gases released add to global warming on a horrific scale and this, ultimately, affects every single person who lives on our increasingly fragile planet.

The nightmare sight of burning animals fleeing a burning forest doesn't impinge on the arsonists' conscious one single bit as their hearts were long since replaced by money signs and cash is what this devastation is all about.

The market for timber, used in the construction industry or as fuel wood, is so lucrative that the thieves happily risk life and limb by felling trees during the dark hours of the night, or even in broad daylight if they have bribed sometimes uncaring forest guards enough to make them look the other way. After large-scale timber theft come the fires aimed at concealing all evidence of the crime and the fires themselves represent yet another form of criminality which, mostly, goes completely unheeded.

Not much use phoning your local police, forestry department, etc., when the telltale smoke begins to rise above the blazing trees after sunset as they are just not interested in taking action and, obviously, fire engines cannot enter the undergrowth so the fire brigade is out of question too.

The construction mafia are known to set fires as well, as they want to clear land of trees, shrubs and undergrowth so that they can start totally illegal construction, maybe by extending an approved plan or simply be grabbing the land from its legitimate owners once it has been thus desecrated in this manner.

Now 'green gang', this is where you come in as pressure must be brought on all our politicians, at all levels in the hierarchy, to stop this menace immediately and you can bring this to their attention by emailing or writing to them demanding they do something to stop this wholesale destruction of our environment on an emergency footing. Plus, write to legal fraternities too requesting them to bring in enforceable laws so that the perpetrators of this heinous act can be sent to jail where they belong.

You are never too young to start taking the environment seriously and, if you can't do any of the previously suggested options, maybe your parents don't approve for example, then maybe you can send letters to the editors of every single newspaper you can think of to draw attention to this crime. Surely we can fight this menace together!

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