As far back as the 1950s, Frédéric Back was depicting the ravages of overlogging in Quebec in his paintings. In 1969, alarmed at the increasingly rapid depletion of the world’s forests, he joined the Société pour Vaincre la Pollution (SVP), an environmental group that advocates strip-cutting or block-cutting and promotes reforestation alongside roads, fields, rivers and lakes to prevent shoreline
erosion and water pollution. Frédéric Back has personally planted over 30,000 trees and encouraged hundreds of other people to do the same to help reforest bare lands and favour the survival of birds and other wildlife and diverse vegetation. However, the massive devastation caused by an overdeveloped and unsustainable forest industry has continued apace! Logging is going on at a terrible rate, with no thought of the long-term impact on the climate and populations. The resulting desertification leads to the permanent extinction of vital animal and plant species and even threatens the survival of our exploding human population. Frédéric Back therefore urges you to take three immediate actions:
1. Plant at least one tree a year; this can be done by everyone, young or old.
2. Actively support an environmental association that protects the forests and water which are essential to life, such as L’Action boréale, SOS Water Coalition Eau Secours ! or the Carbone Boréal Offset Program launched by Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQÀC).
3. Join The Man Who Planted Trees Society and send us news about forest issues and photos of actions you have taken. We want this to be a source of information and a force for mobilizing people to care about trees.
“There are countless places where trees would be beneficial. Your action will have a positive impact for the future and for yourself, helping you to rediscover the miracle of life, which we all can – and must – help to preserve.”
-Frédéric Back
Caring together!
