Forest fires rage where sustainable forestry lacks.

Log it, or watch it burn.

It seems counter-productive; cutting down trees to prevent them from burning naturally.

Why not just let as many trees grow in one place as possible?

These are really valid points and they are worth unpacking in order that we get a deeper understanding of the way sustainable forestry works.

Each year, fires burn millions of hectares of forest worldwide. Fires are a part of nature but degraded forests are particularly vulnerable. These include heavily logged rainforests which have been pillaged in pursuit of oil, farm land, mining and unsustainable logging. Another example of a degraded forest is where forest fires have been suppressed for years allowing unnatural accumulation of vegetation that makes the fire burn more intensely.

When trees aren't sustainably logged, natural combustion takes place due to the lack of air-flow and the accumulation of heat (especially due to global warming).

There is an important link between wildfire frequency and intensity, and varying forest management practices. The danger comes when there are small spaces of land, saturated with trees, rather than larger spaces where the trees are more distributed. Proper management that increases overall forest health, including reducing fuel loads and invasive species, can decrease the likelihood of damage from catastrophic fire. Forest managers are experts in practices such as selective harvesting, thinning treatments, prescribed burning or brush removal to counteract the cumulative impact of years of fire suppression activity.

The only solution seems to be the carefully thinning the forests to allow for new growth and to prevent the catastrophic damage of wildfires.

Our role - managing the forest - minimising devastation - promoting growth & biodiversity

Now is the time for leaders to emphasise sustainable forest management as a key mitigation tool in the fight against catastrophic wildfires. The benefits will do more than just reduce fire risk. We’ll see an increase in carbon storage and other benefits as well. And we’ll all be assured that our forests will support our quality of life now and for a long time into the future.

Here at POA we would call ourselves Tree-Lovers before Tree-Huggers, and this is because we understand the importance of filling the earth with more trees. We wish to see gardens, work spaces, urban areas, farmlands, national parks, etc. to be filled with more trees and less concrete. By understanding and supporting the role sustainable companies play in enriching the world as we know it, you too will play a part in the bigger picture, of saving our forest and the world we love.