[Buddha-l] The dying forest

[Gregory Bungo]

Hi Malcolm and list members,

Malcolm Dean <malcolmdean at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>I heard Thanissaro Bikkhu at UCLA this week, talking about the short
>history and very tenuous future of the Forest tradition to which he
>belongs. Long story very short, where monks once used to disappear
>into forest hermitages, they now protect what remains of those forests
>by surrounding their temples with acres and acres of private land. In
>sacrificing its forests to commercial interests, Thailand is also
>sacrificing an aspect of its Buddhist history.

In many parts of the Third World, especially in Asia and Africa, most
of the wood cutting is for fuel rather than for construction materials
or paper.  People need wood so they can cook their food.  See the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization 2003 State of the World's
Forests report, table 4:

http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/DOCREP/005/Y7581E/Y7581E00.HTM

As the world's population grows, and resources become more scarce,
desperate people will do what they need to do to survive.  Human
overpopulation is a devastating problem that is the root of many other
problems.  There won't be any forests in Asia or Africa if the world's
population continues to expand.

Greg Bungo