If only men knew; for every fallen tree, 10 humans lose their oxygen supply for a year. Angels emerged from the soil that sustains us with their breath, but what have we done but take away their souls. Although human beings know the necessity of trees since time immemorial, we often exploit them to benefit us. We have slashed and burned them to the ground mercilessly. It’s high time mankind realised humanity isn’t about just humans but also about every other living thing; but then again isn’t it just about humans considering that we save trees so that we exist? We’re definitely the cruellest creation with free will.

But then it wasn’t always so, centuries ago when we were enveloped in our nativity our bond with mother nature was stronger. Then what is it that changed our life-giver into what she is today? Was it that moment we were enlightened by our discoveries that we established ourselves superior to her? Or was it when we thought we became so independent that we betrayed our sustainer? Whatever the reason was, the void between us and our earth is only stretching across space with the passage of time.

The internet tells us a 100 ways trees are beneficial to humankind but I couldn’t find a single way humankind benefitted the flora. The trees that give our breath of life, provide us with shelter, food, clothing, medication and everything else we require to survive are the greatest martyrs and it’s the right time we acknowledge their significance for our existence.

Pollution is another issue that emerged as we evolved and while it is inevitable in the pacing race of development, trees are the ones that can balance out this equation. Hence their necessity only increases a hundredfold. Although, the depressing thing here is when we speak about conservation of the environment, most people tend to associate it with going around stopping people from exploiting nature or do a “beach clean up” one fine day.

But guess what? Our contribution to this whole situation can be as simple as pushing a seed into the soil. Yes! Believe me or not that’s all it takes to provide life to more people than we imagine. That one sprout might provide our future generations with life sustenance. Those sheets of paper that we so carelessly rip apart and throw in our trash cans can be replaced with the backspace button on our screens with ease! Those acts of kindness towards nature by shutting a running tap that we come across or a switching off your lamp before going to bed. It’s not about changing the world but about changing ourselves.

Conservation of our environment is more vital than we imagine. Therefore we humans must be mindful of the dependence of our fragile lives on these embodiments of our elixir and fuel them with life just like they’ve fueled our lives all this while.