Travel Note: How Soon Will Humans Destroy the Last Sanctuaries of Ancient Forests?

The other day I managed to visit some remote corners of wild nature; I wanted to reach the untouched tropical forests to explore them. In general, there are fewer and fewer such places left, global development of wild nature is spreading with incredible force! But to understand what we are losing by destroying the living world around us, one can only experience real untamed nature! By personally touching it.

It is strange for me to realize that earlier explorers went to the far corners of the Earth to find untouched lands and bring humanity there! To launch the process of 'global development,' the exploitation of natural resources. Thus, people mastered all the accessible land that exists on our small planet.

Now researchers are searching for the last corners of untouched nature to study their mysteries and find ways to protect them. I meet such people more and more often in my travels; I have managed to meet many researchers and scientists who conduct their scientific work in the depths of wild nature.

Currently, I am exploring remote corners of the planet, writing my new books to protect nature, studying environmental problems and finding ways to solve them. This is a very long job, and through it, I set my main mission - to awaken people's hearts and guide them to Life.

This time, we needed to navigate by maps to reach a remote section of ancient tropical forests, which are located in the most inaccessible place. Moreover, these lands are protected areas; even motorboats are prohibited on local rivers! You can reach remote areas with the permission of the authorities and exclusively on traditional boats, which are paddled.

We hoped to find a guide, but everyone we approached refused to take us there! They say that there are many crocodiles and poisonous snakes in these rivers. We were also warned that large snakes like anacondas and pythons lurk along the shores, among the roots and on the thick branches of trees.

These giant snakes try to avoid humans, but if you intrude on their habitat, they can show aggression! Especially if disturbed during hunting or sleep.

I arranged to rent a traditional boat; we took the paddles and set off into the depths of tropical rivers, in search of ancient forests.

Reaching the desired places and exploring wild nature is actually very difficult. As we paddled along the rivers towards an unknown land, a conversation arose about the destruction of forests worldwide!

We know that forests cover one-third of the Earth's land and are effectively the 'lungs of the planet'. Moreover, the tropical forests I am currently studying provide a habitat for up to 90% of all terrestrial species! Furthermore, these forests are home to an unknown number of dangerous pathogens, which begin to spread worldwide due to global deforestation!

In other words, forests contain many dangerous diseases, and when we destroy forests, we provoke the release of unknown pathogens. I am currently writing a separate book about this.

It is not difficult to suspect how important forests are to all Life on the planet, including ourselves. Yet today, they are being destroyed at an immense speed, and there is no good news so far: the economic model in the world is not changing, and people need more and more resources.

In recent years, wealthy countries have started programs to fund poor countries to preserve their forests and stop deforestation. Sounds beautiful, right? However, I recently studied a research paper by Keichiro Kanemoto and Nguyen Thien Koang published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution. According to their data, all these programs are just window dressing with a facade of concern for our environment, while in reality, these wealthy countries encourage poor countries to increase their annual levels of deforestation.

The scientific paper provides data from 2001 to 2015. Scientists found that major economies influence deforestation in poor countries through dependence on consumer goods. In other words, they don't need the wood itself as much as the products that can only be grown by 'clearing' wild nature from forests.

For instance, according to specialists, 90% of all deforestation provoked by five G7 countries occurred outside their borders, with the vast majority happening in tropical forests. That is, only about 10% of forests were cut down within these countries' territories; economic expansion spread to poor states.

In their study, scientists also emphasize that the situation cannot be measured by the total number of trees destroyed. The fact is that different types of trees play entirely different roles in ecosystems! According to them, the impact of three trees in the Amazon on the environment could be more significant than 14 trees in Norway's boreal forests.

More interestingly, scientists calculated that one resident of G7 countries accounts for the loss of 4 trees worldwide, while residents of China and India (the most populated countries) cause the death of only one tree per person.

This is driven by the economic model: highly developed countries support abundance and excessive consumption, while this is not the case in poor countries. But in poor countries, the population is larger, so the total level of forest destruction is the same everywhere, and everyone is equally guilty of this crime.

Such are the data.

So, according to scientific data, we see a situation where publicly there seem to be international programs to save forests, but in reality, the situation is worsening day by day, leading to increasing deforestation.

I am currently exploring those corners of tropical forests that humans have not yet reached. Here, the level of biodiversity is high, and such areas serve as refuges for wild nature. But I've studied the maps, and protected land is being pressured from all sides by large-scale deforestation, clearing for arable land and palm oil, and the development of recreational hunting.

I touch ancient giant trees, breathe in the untouched tropical forest. Life is all around, birds, rivers full of wild animals.

These are the last patches of true wild nature!

The last sanctuaries.

When humans consume everything around, they will inevitably come here to finally destroy the ancient forest.

The experience I gained during the expedition will be included in my new book, which I am currently working on. I want to return here for a few more days to venture as far as possible and explore this amazing ancient world.

Entering the local forests, it feels like I am in the times of dinosaurs! There are giant ferns above me, millions of lianas, and trees that touch our peaceful Sky.

© PAVEL PASHKOV