EBOLA: Forests hold an answer

Scientists have said for years that there is a commonality between deforestation in Africa and the Ebola virus. The Guinea Rainforest has been ravaged by clear cuts and has shrunk to less than one-fifth of its original size. In Liberia, more than half of the forests have been sold off to logging companies.

The disease first appeared in 1994 when it was associated with drastic changes in forest ecosystems in that country. Deforestation tends to push humans and animals into closer contact with each other creating a breeding ground for rare disease strains and viruses. This is the worst case of Ebola in Africa — but again, it has never reached the decimation of its forests like it has today.

With the highest rate of forest annihilation in the world, Africa appears to have reached the tipping point through man’s insatiable greed to destroy the very thing that gives him shade, oxygen and a balanced ecosystem that nourishes all animals, human beings and life.

We casually and without question buy into “forest management” and “clear cutting” when the truth is, you can hardly burn an old growth forest. We sell our souls to China while ignorantly repeating the ways of Africa. This can be compared to the life of a free ranging cow before it has to live in a feed lot. More people, less animal habitat…aggressive over cutting (some clear cuts are even poisoned) of our forests with no oversight… This will affect all of our lives in the future.

BONNIE BROWN

Plummer