Why trees are so important

As many may already know, here at Madera Outdoor we plant two trees for every hammock we sell. We plant two instead of one because it takes two trees to set up a hammock, that’s true, but also because we think that it is always more important to repopulate forests and areas where deforestation happened, causing incredible damage to the ecosystem and local communities.

But let’s start from the beginning and let’s discover together why planting trees is so important and what difference trees make in the ecosystem.

Why trees are so important

The importance of trees extends to different levels. Let’s explore them all.

Ecological and Environmental value of trees

Trees are a fundamental part of the ecosystem. Even though every single living and non-living being that exists in nature covers a very important role, trees are particularly crucial. Indeed, without them, life couldn’t be possible on Planet Earth.

This is because, first of all, trees are the lungs of the world. They produce oxygen and eliminate carbon dioxide. So not only the provide “breathing material”, but they also purify air from polluting elements. 

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How much air can a tree clean? Well, one tree can clean 330 pounds of air, which is pretty much the amount of oxygen that a whole family consumes in a year.

Generally speaking, according to the US Department of Agriculture one acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and releases four tons of oxygen, providing for the annual needs of 18 people. However, carbon dioxide is not the only pollutant that trees help to eliminate. They also help to reduce the levels of carbon monixide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

Rain will then help trees to wash these particles to the ground and stay strong and healthy to keep purifying the air.

Needless is to say that if trees decrease while carbon monoxide emissions increase, the level of pollution in the air will increase too, and there will always be more poisonous substances released into the atmosphere.

However, as much paramount as it may be, oxygen is not the only reason why trees are important for this Planet.

Trees help to reduce air temperature, which nowadays, with climate change dooming on Planet Earth, it’s an as much important function as producing oxygen. And this is exactly why deforestation is a direct cause of environmental issues.

Trees are also home to a lot of different wildlife, depending on the place where they are. Whether it’s a jungle, a wood or an orchard, trees host many different kinds of animals and insects. Also, they feed them and they become nourishment for the soil once they are dead. In a way, a tree never dies and keeps accomplishing its role century after century, possibly becoming a new tree rising from its own remains.

Last but not least, trees keep soil together. When trees and their roots get taken away from the ground, the risk of landslides and floods increases drastically, causing an incredible number of catastrophes and natural disasters. Erosion increases too, changing the actual shape of the land.

Social and community value of trees

Trees increase the quality of life in cities and urban sites in general. That’s why to create green areas where to find peace and get in contact with nature is so important in a city. This is true also to provide shade and, as we said, cool down the air, helping to reduce costs when it comes to air conditioning by deflecting the sunlight from the ground and decreasing the heat island effect caused by concrete and artificial grounds.

Psychological value of trees

Green environments help to calm down and regain the natural equilibrium that we are supposed to carry within us and that urban environments and nowadays society destabilize.

Scientific studies prove that trees create very powerful energy fields that can decrease stress and improve cardiovascular activities.

In general, trees have such a great and important role in nature that getting in contact with them and having them around acts positively on both our body and our mind, helping us to purify ourselves from toxins of all kinds.

Also, secular trees have a great community value: many plant trees in order to have them grow together with a specific person, or to symbolize the life of something on this Earth. Ever since the beginning of mankind, trees have always covered a very important role and have always been seen as a metaphor for life, thriving and resilience.

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Commercial and practical value of trees

Last but not least, trees play a crucial role in our economy and in our everyday activities. Thanks to wood and food products, trees have been sustaining men ever since humans started to appear on this planet.

Indeed, wood was the very first fuel, as well as one of the first building materials, for both buildings and tools. Still nowadays, wood is used in many communities for exactly the same reason, proving its inestimable preciousness for mankind and the Planet in general.

Moreover, the substances contained in the bark and the inner bark of trees, such as cork, latex and many other substances, are used to produce chemicals, medicines and rubber.

When it comes to increasing the value of something, such as a property, trees play a very important role. Indeed, the property values of homes with a well-maintained landscape can be up to 20% higher than other properties.

Also, the presence of trees helps to reduce bills, helping in both cooling down and warming up a place. According to the USDA Forest Service, trees that are properly placed around buildings (i.e. south and west side) can reduce conditioning needs by 30% and save 20-50 percent in energy used for heating.

Madera Outdoor’s mission

Needless is to say that when trees are missing from entire areas or States, then the aftermath can be incredibly dangerous, both in terms of environmental issues and community issues.

This is why Madera Outdoor’s mission is to ultimately plant trees where they are most needed. Indeed, being trees a truly holistic rehabilitation to both the environment and the people, Madera partnered with Trees for the Future to improve the livelihoods of impoverished farmers in Africa.

Indeed, with 10,255 trees planted already, Madera and Trees for the Future helped many families to break out from poverty and improve their lifestyle and health.

Working in states such as Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, Madera intends to plant back trees in Sub-Saharan areas where entire forests have been cut down in order to use the wood for mass construction, or to allow drilling and mining. The results have been a drastic impoverishment of the area and of the population, both in terms of natural resources, food and health, but also in terms of floods and environmental destruction.

By developing new garden forests, Madera provides farming families with sustainable resources of food, livestock fodder, fuel and products in general that can be consumed or sold at nearby markets, recovering from poverty and gaining a new chance for an honorable life.

So as we can see, the actual importance of trees becomes even more fundamental when it comes to areas where people struggle to survive. A tree can bring health, nourishment, safety and work. One tree can bring many people together and can remind us that we are all connected. That we can have an impact on the rest of the planet through every single choice we make, such as buying a hammock, or choosing products that foster sustainability and lower our footprint on the Planet.

By empowering other people we empower ourselves. Indeed, climate change and third-world countries demonstrate us every day that we are all connected and that one little choice made in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, can change the lives of hundreds of people from all over the world.

Camp, plant trees, change lives. This is our motto and this is what we believe in. Hammock campers know how much trees matter and should always do their best to protect the environment while the adventure in the beautiful wilderness of forests and nature.

Protecting nature and protecting trees is absolutely fundamental to keep on adventuring, but also to keep on living. In times like this, we all matter a great deal and every single choice we make matters more than we can imagine.