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Human civilization and forest cover

Extracts from literature

Inturn, as long ago as 2500 B.C.,the effects of deforestationshaped human civilizations. Theancient Sumerian empires alongthe lower Tigris and EuphratesRivers were seriously affected bysiltation and salinization causedby extensive cutting of theforests in their headwaters. Asharp decrease in agriculturalyields lead to the decline ofSumer by 2000 B.C.

Human civilizations have been shaping (and shaped by) the forests for thousands of

years. Photo Credit Corel Photo Clipart CD.

Forests all over the world have been converted into pastures for animals and fields for crops. Photo credit Corel Photo Clipart CD.

Afterthe decline of Sumer, theMediterranean island of Crete became atrading power and prosperous civilizationdue largely to the presence of its forests.The wood was shipped to other places inthe Near East in boats made from localtimber. The forests of Crete also providedfuel for working bronze and makingpottery. But by 1500-1450 B.C. the forestshad been heavily cut and local builderswere forced to use as little wood aspossible. The size and quality of theshipping fleet also declined.

WhenCrete declined as a power, it was takenover by the Mycenaeans, who still hadextensive forests of their own. But as theMycenaean population increased, more andmore of those forests were converted toagricultural uses, especially pasture for grazingsheep. Woodcutters had to go further andfurther inland and potteries had to be

relocated to more remote forested areas.Eventually, with timber supplies scarce andexpensive, the Mycenaean population dwindled,and people were forced to pursue a moresubsistence-level existence.

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Bythe late Bronze Age, deforestationled to serious erosion that left manyslopes bare and rocky. Nowadays we

consider this typical of the landssurrounding the Mediterranean. Some

areas have been deforested severaltimes over thousands of years, and the

degraded soils that remain cannot retainmoisture.

Between1300 B.C. and 1200 B.C. Cyprusbecame a center of copper smelting due todemand from other states in the easternMediterranean. To make a 60 pound block ofcopper required six tons of charcoal for fuel,made from about 120 pine trees covering nearly

four acres of land. The smelting of copper alonecaused the deforestation of four or five squaremiles of trees each year, and the island ofCyprus is not very large.

The same patterns of forest use and, in many cases, forest destruction, have continued right intorecent times. As populations became even greater, more and more wood was used, and the

problems associated with forest use also expanded. In Europe and North America, more and morepeople were trying to make use of fewer and fewer trees.

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Afterseveral centuries, fuel became so expensive that copper smelting ceased.About 90% of the settlements on the island were abandoned as the population andeconomy declined. The resulting shortage of bronze caused a shortage of all sorts oftools and weapons, and disrupted many economies in the eastern Mediterraneanregion.

Throughoutthe easternMediterranean, between1500 B.C. and A.D. 200,many coastal cities wereaffected by siltationcaused by erosion due to

deforestation. Quite a fewcities that had once beenon the coast actuallyended up inland asharbors and river deltassilted up and debrisaccumulated in shallowwaters.

C

oastal erosion is caused by deforestation. Photo credit Corel Photo Clipart CD.

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Thecondition of theforests played a majorrole in the story of Greeceduring the fifth centuryB.C. The wooden ships ofAthens enabled the defeat

of the Persians between480-470 B.C. Then Athensbegan a major re-buildingeffort. To finance thisbuilding boom requiredsilver, mined not far fromAthens. Smelting thesilver ore required lots ofcharcoal--made fromtrees. T

he ancient ruins we can still see today are made from stone, but wood was essential in the creation ofthese buildings. Photo credit Corel Photo Clipart CD.

Afterthe war between Sparta and Athens ground to a halt, Macedonia became the majorpower in the area because of its plentiful forests. Quantities of timber were so valuable theywere used as bribes and bargaining chips in the political maneuvers of ancient empires.When Rome conquered Macedonia in 167 B.C. it recognized the strategic value of timberand prevented the Macedonians from cutting their forests further.

Thepopulation of Athens also boomed, and reached a peak about 450 B.C. Wood becamemore scarce and more expensive. One option was for Athens to try and get more timber byconquest. The Peloponnesian War, fought between Athens and Sparta, was largely aboutcontrol of timber supplies. Both city states needed huge amounts of wood to build theirfleets of war ships and forge weapons. In fact, when Sparta invaded, they cut down theforests of Attica and struck a crippling blow to Athens.

From ancient times to the present day, wood has been used for water

transportation. Photo credit Corel Photo Clipart CD.

Likeearly Greece, Rome and parts ofItaly were once covered with thick forests.As elsewhere, the Romans depleted theforests--particularly along the TiberRiver--as Rome grew larger. More andmore land was converted to intensiveagriculture. As wood became scarce andmore expensive, Rome also tried toincrease its wood supply by conquest.Over time, Rome was forced to seek fueland food supplies from as far away asNorth Africa, France, Spain, and England.

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FromSpain also came the silver that Rome use to finance its expansion. As theproduction of silver gradually used more and more of the Spanish forests for fuel, theRomans had to decrease the content of silver in their coins. Eventually the coins wereconsidered almost worthless, and barter of goods became common.