Tree Warrior
Standing For Trees
I stand for trees. I stand for trees in a world where caring for your natural world makes you ‘soft’ and too ‘feminine’.
Those who recognise the importance and the need to conserve natural places are ridiculed as being ‘tree huggers’ and ‘greenies’.
It is time to tear down these stereotypes. It is time to realise that we are as much fighting for our lives as we are for every living being on this planet.
This fight doesn’t need to be a violent struggle. Instead through awareness and education we can shift our current paradigm.
Natural ‘Resources’
Ancient and indigenous cultures have worshiped and revered trees understanding their importance for creating life-giving balance to our Earth and every living being that inhabits it. They saw all living and non-living things as connected. Western culture has created this ‘human hyperseperation from the natural world’.[1]
We see trees as passive, inanimate natural ‘resources’ to be exploited for our human needs.
Breakthroughs in science are ‘discovering’ what ancient and indigenous cultures have always known – that plants and trees are ‘relational, intelligent beings who are the appropriate recipients of care and respect and possess many of the capacities of sentience and mentality traditionally denied them.’ [2]
Rights of Nature
A worldwide movement has started that recognises and defends the rights of nature. The Rights of Nature.org on their website declares:
Rather than treating nature as property under the law, rights of nature acknowledges that nature in all its life forms has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles. And we – the people – have the legal authority and responsibility to enforce these rights on behalf of ecosystems. [3]
The notion that an ecosystem itself can be named as a rights bearing subject with standing in a court of law is something Ecuador has taken seriously, being the first country to recognize Rights of Nature in its Constitution.
In 2012, a river in New Zealand, including the plants and other organisms contained within its boundaries, was legally declared a person with standing (via guardians) to bring legal actions to protect its interests. [4]
Plant Rights & Giving Trees Standing
Governments are taking notice that trees need to be considered in our decisions.
The Swiss Constitution contains a provision requiring “account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms”, and the Swiss government has conducted ethical studies pertaining to how the dignity of plants is to be protected. [5]
Tree Warrior
I see my goal is to be part of this movement of recognition to bring about a paradigm shift in how we see our natural world and particularly our relationships with trees.
I see my role as a pioneer for Tree Consciousness.
To give a voice to our silent sentient beings.
To rediscover the sacredness that ancient cultures had for trees.
To disrupt Western thoughts of trees as merely resources to be exploited.
To bring awareness for the need to conserve the natural places where trees live, to halt deforestation and to reforest or allow lands to naturally recover.
Tree Warriors Creed
Bibligraphy:
1. & 2. Plants as Persons: A Philosophical Botany by Matthew Hall
3. The Rights of Nature: http://therightsofnature.org/
4. & 5. Plant Rights: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_rights
