When I first moved to James Bay, I often awoke to the sound of robins warbling in the trees, the chatter of sparrows and the sight of swallows elegantly swooping in between buildings.
Sadly, this is no more. There is a strange silence in my neighbourhood. The reason? The loss of mature trees, including in the once-wooded park abutting Laurel Point Inn as well as along the inn’s driveway and the destruction of the one tree at the intersection of Government and Humboldt Streets, the latter the subject of much protest.
The story quotes an environmentalist who blames the loss of bird life in our city on the abuse of pesticides, climate change and loss of insects. However, the major cause is loss of habitat. And that means trees.
Trees not only provide birds with a perch upon which to rest and sing and a home upon which to sleep and nest and nurture their chicks, they also provide essentials of life with oxygen, shade, protective canopies and also a calming influence.
Indeed, people have adopted the pursuit of “forest bathing” whereby they venture into the woods to calm themselves, lower blood pressure and release oxytocin.
The more we destroy these beloved trees, the more we are the authors of our own destruction.
And the birds.
Margot Todd
Victoria