I posted this Baobab tree photograph on my facebook which I found on the internet and I entitled the post ‘Mr and Mrs Baobab’. One of the responses to this post was that the picture must have been photo-shopped to which I started to write a reply to explain that the title was merely a product of my imaginative humour upon seeing the picture, however, my reply touched on so many other related topics that I wanted to put it in a post of all of it’s own…

‘Mr and Mrs Baobab’

This photograph from the Baobab.com site is unlikely to be photo-shopped as it has © 2004 J.F. Broekhuis clearly written at the bottom. Here is the Baobab Tree photo as it appears in the article (http://www.baobab.com/baobab-baomix-pulp-fruit-antioxidant-tree-superfruit-flower-madagascar-pictures-superfood-juice-african/legends-of-the-baobab-tree/) and you can see that there is no reference to, or any mention of a ‘Mr. and Mrs.’ partnership or label, and so in seeing that the photograph is indeed real, one can then observe that there is in fact male and female in everything, even within ‘The Self’ (just like the yin yang symbol), and in embracing this concept it is not so hard to embrace it in one’s perspective of the World.

My Baobab Tree Poem (1998 ): http://ipoem.co.uk/1998/05/28/baobab-tree/

Indeed the duality of male and female energy is evident in all of Nature and it is the co-joining and dove tailing of these energies which procures the procreational sustainment of everything that is alive today. Perhaps in order to acknowledge this duality in other life forms more fully it must first be embraced within oneself, as a natural being.

Hunab Ku – Mayan version of the Yin-Yang

The Native American Indian Peoples considered trees to have the status of ‘standing people’. I myself indeed consider them to be ‘Towers of Wisdom’ in my 1997 poem ‘Forest’: http://ipoem.co.uk/1997/07/05/forest/

For apart from being natural objects of beauty they the are also the keepers of our atmosphere, purifiers of oxygen (digesting more than 50% of our CO2 emissions), the lungs of the planet, the provider of fruits, seeds, nourishment, healing, blossoms, fragrance, building materials, paper, home for countless forms of wildlife and they provide healthy soil for agriculture so therefore as a living, breathing entity, trees deserve a much greater respect for the role they play.

Ultimately by destroying the planet’s Forestation we destroy ourselves too, with ten football stadiums worth of forest disappearing daily and now in Brazil with the proposed size of the entire UK to be flooded to build the third largest hydroelectric plant in the world. Unfortunately the petition had little effect and is now closed but one can still verbalise ones displeasure here: http://action.wwf.de/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=1726&ea.campaign.id=12987.

Evidence of 15 ft diameter tree stumps left by loggers in British Columbia, Canada :: http://utopiaphoto.ca/blog/?p=343

Trees are key not only to human survival but also to planetary survival. No wonder the chief of the Kayapo tribe broke down in tears when he heard that the new president of Brazil, Dilma, had approved plans to build this huge hydroelectric plant which will flood over 400,000 hectares of forest. For Little Brother knoweth not the consequences of his actions in the bigger scheme of things, such is the disconnection between Westernised peoples and the Land which supports them.

More than 40,000 tribes people will be made homeless plus the willful destruction of the natural habitat, wildlife, deforestation and the disappearance of many species to boot.

Nigeria has already admitted to losing 400,000 Hectares of Forest in this recent news article: ‘Nigeria Loses 400,000 Hectares of Forest Land to Deforestation’: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/-nigeria-loses-400-000-hectares-of-forest-land-to-deforestation-/103781/

Balkans sound alarm over disappearing forests (Article: Friday 21 May 2010): http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/balkans-sound-alarm-over-disappearing-forests-1979367.html

Mountain pine beetles are destroying huge amounts of forest in the USA and Canada due to the rise in winter temperatures. Some estimates predict that by 2013, 80% of the North American forests could be gone. In addition, we are losing forests that otherwise provide a carbon sink for our production of greenhouse gases, and as the trees die, they emit more Carbon Dioxide back into the atmosphere. Nothing, except very cold winter weather, will stop the beetles. http://www.wildvisions.net

The Kogi tribe tried to warn ‘little brother’ in 1989 about acid rain and other ecological related problems by inviting the BBC to film a documentary with Alan Ereira about what was happening to their coastal mountain region:

“Up to now we have ignored the Younger Brother. We have not deigned even to give him a slap. But now we can no longer look after the world alone. The Younger Brother is doing too much damage. He must see, and understand, and assume responsibility. Now we will have to work together. Otherwise, the world will die.” Kogi Mama

This documentary had no effect and so now more than twenty years later a second warning has been filmed also with Alan Ereira about the imminent demise that they can foresee.

More about the Kogi People (Bard of Ely – blog)

Tairona Heritage Trust for indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

I believe that this second documentary will also have little effect as the changes which need to be made must be implemented by the government, (and not just our government but all governments all around the world), the problem being that governments are only concerned with the growth of the economy and not at all concerned with the conservation of the environment, recently pushing through proposed plans for a £32bn high speed train line that cuts straight across ‘areas of outstanding natural beauty’ and private land: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16017413 despite protests to the contrary whilst at the same time making sweeping cuts to the most vulnerable sectors of the public.

No government leader has ever experienced what it is like to have been homeless, without family, disabled, dependent upon benefits, dependent upon social care, has had no life threatening, changing or challenging experiences and so therefore, is not qualified to put themself in the shoes of the population of Britain, half of whom are women, who are still even now under represented as are most indigenous peoples.