Sociology 302: Forest and Culture

Paper 1
October 14, 2003

The common view of the rise and fall of civilizations over the past 5000 years has been very anthropocentric. This results in a perception that such political-economic events such as changing economic structures, invasions by foreign armies, internal corruption, and climate/tectonic shifts are responsible for these cycles.   The book World Ecological Degradation by Chew sets forth a more expansive view, and proposes that the relationship of human society with Nature may play a much larger role in these cycles than previously supposed.  In particular exploitative deforestation, and the multitude of outcomes this brings to the ecosystems supporting the nation/state is suggested as one of the main causes of these cycles. 

        We learn that the cause and impact of deforestation has not changed for over 5,000 years.  Basically these causes are capital accumulation, urbanization, and population growth.  We learn that deforestation was an inevitable result of human activity that followed an almost inevitable cycle of increasing prosperity, trade, population growth, exuberant consumption, mining, pollution, attempts at conservation, and ultimately failure of the civilization due to urbanization overwhelming nature.

The current state of the world’ forests are therefore to a great degree the result of this behavior.  Before discussing a possible human response to these factors, a brief look at how these trends have repeated themselves should prove valuable.

The first recognized cycle of the culture-nature relationship leading to deforestation on a massive scale was during the Third-millennium Bronze Age – Mesopotamia and Harappan.  The heart of this civilization was the region of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, with its fertile lands and ample water.  Initially people lived along the rivers, but later canals were built as population grew increasing agricultural productivity.  This led to more population growth, further extension of the canals and still further agricultural expansion.

Eventually the burgeoning population led to trade with people in the east and southeast of the agricultural area.  Growing manufacturing, in particular copper smelting plus home building required an increasing wood supply.  Agriculture and grazing of sheep needed for textiles required the clearing of even more land..  As a result, the northern forests were quickly cut down. 

The result of all this human activity finally led to the stripping of the topsoil, and the filling of the irrigation canals.  Dissolved salts were also deposited, and the summer heat combined with the flat land made the problem more acute, and soon the land became less productive.  More land was cleared to compensate, which brought more salt laden sediment, and the problem worsened.

        Meanwhile with growing urbanization and the emergence of a hierarchical social structure exuberant living became the order of the day.  Trade relations with the periphery developed and the use of natural resources increased even more.  These core-periphery relations were very degradative to the landscape.

These same patterns described above also applied to the Harappans to the east.  The agricultural practices, social structures, trade with the periphery, and exuberant living led to much of the same results as had happened to the Mesopotamians.  The carrying capacity of the land was pushed to its limits.

At this point both civilizations went into decline.  The reason for this is probably best described by Chew in World Ecological Degradation, where he states “…ecological degradation carried out over many centuries eventually creates an environment that cannot withstand climatological changes, tectonic shifts, civic strife, state rivalry, border incursions …”.  So with many of these factors present, and ecological degradation almost surely severe, the decline of both Mesopotamia and Harappa, and even the periphery makes logical sense.

We turn now to the Second-Millennium Bronze Age, dominated by Crete and the Mycenaean Greeks.  These civilizations rose from the periphery following the demise of Mesopotamia and Harappa, and the process that following had a striking parallel to what happened in those regions.

Crete, strategically located in the Mediterranean became a major trading center.  Again a hierarchical social structure led to a lavish lifestyle by the elite with the construction of some very extensive palace compounds.  An exuberant life style consumed a lot of natural resources.  Being fundamentally a trading nation, to protect the merchants ships a large navy was required.  Both forms of ships consumed prodigious quantities of wood.   When timber supplies were exhausted on Crete, the inhabitants turned to Greece.  Eventually wood became scarce and prices went up.  Eventually wealth began to flow in the other direction, from Crete to Greece, and Crete began to fall into decline.

While what happened to Crete provided a good example of what happens to a civilization when it begins to exhaust its natural resources, the real core of the Second Millennium Bronze age was Mycenaean Greece.  Like Mesopotamia before it, it was blessed with fertile land and long warm summers.  This provided for abundant agriculture, and this bounty of food supported a rapid growth in population.  Again a hierarchical class structure led to the construction of many palaces, and a lavish life style among the elite.

As the region grew more powerful trade increased with the periphery, and bronze, textiles, wine, olive oil, and grains were all exported in great quantity in exchange for raw materials for manufacturing.  However, this manufacturing was very resource intensive and hard on the land, and this eventually led to severe soil erosion with the productivity of the agriculture going down.  Technological attempts were made to arrest this decline using dams and dikes, but eventually they proved insufficient or simply failed.

Deforestation became so severe that finally industries that were totally dependent on firewood such as pottery completely failed.  Again it was a combination of factors that impacted upon a land that was already so severely stressed.  By about 1,500 BC both Crete and Mycenaean Greece were in rapid decline, at a time marked also by tectonic activity, climatic change, and political upheaval that disrupted trade routes.  By this time Mycenaean Greece was dependent on the import of essential metals for manufacturing, as well as food to feed the population.  Unable to do so, there was decay in the cultural aspects of life, a lowering of wealth and living standards, and a reduction of the population began.  De-urbanization began and nature began to recover, and to restore its balance in a period we now call a ‘Dark Age’.

Eventually the land recovered to some degree and the process of urbanization began again.  This era, known as the Age of City-State or Classical Greece led to a rapid increase in population.  The world that evolved looked remarkably similar to the world today, with cities being the center of political and economic life.  Cities were built using a prescribed form with an acropolis in the center, and the city radiating outward like spokes in a wheel.  In the lower part was an agora, or center for social, political, and religious life.  Larger cities had a prytaneion, where government business was carried out.  The city streets crossed at right angles, and there were main business streets and side streets, a pattern that became the blueprint for cities in Asia Minor, Sicily, Italy, and continues even today.

Buildings were made of wood, limestone, and marble, and held together by copper rivets and lime for mortar.  The amount of wood required for these materials was huge; for example a single burn of a limestone kiln required 1,000 mule loads of juniper wood.

By the fifth century BC the city-state of Athens had grown to over 100,000 inhabitants, and was the center of most trading routes in the Mediterranean.  This in turn required a large navy to ensure continued control of the waterways and to deter Persian incursions, and the ships were all made from wood.  Population growth meant many new homes were needed, which further stressed the wood supply.

        Eventually the majority of the wood was gone, prices rose, and supplies had to be located further and further away.  This extended the ecological degradation further and further to areas where the Greeks had colonies and trading relationships.  In addition by this time they had polluted the air and waterways.  The overall impact of this behavior was deforestation on a massive scale, and erosion, climate change, disease, chemical pollution, and species extinction.

The Greeks were not unaware what was happening, and attempted conservation measures to head off disaster.  Homes were designed and oriented to allow for solar heating, private tree farms were established, timber harvests were regulated, agriculture used contour plowing, hills were terraced, and regulations enacted to protect the environment.  Some groves of trees were made sacred, and penalties imposed for illegally cutting trees.

The Roman Empire eventually rose to power in Italy, conquering most of Greece, Asia Minor, and Europe.  The Romans continued the life style and practices of the Greeks, and continued to expand urbanization throughout North Africa, Europe, and the British Isles.  The Romans had every bit as much of the economic trading practices and exuberant life style as the Greeks, and in some respects, such as the killing of animals for sport or theater, was even more exploitive.

The Romans maintained a very large navy that required many wooden ships, and numerous standing armies that cut down trees wherever they marched to deprive their enemies of cover.  This was very destructive of the forests. 

During the peak of the Roman Empire urbanization reached new heights with many large urban centers developed over a wide geographical area.  Rome was the center of everything, and had about one million inhabitants.  These high concentrations of population led to high resource consumption.  In addition air pollution reached unheard of levels.  Baths, drinking vessels, water pipes, and so on were made of lead and lead poisoning became prevalent. 

The net result was that problems of the classical Greek civilization continued under Roman rule, including deforestation, erosion and siltation, disease, and the extinction of species.  The Romans, like the Greeks, attempted the same conservation measures such as solar heating, tree farms, and so on,

While all these conservation measures may have helped to delay the collapse of the empire, the increasing urbanization, territorial expansion, and exuberant lifestyles continued to overwhelm the land.  Eventually the empire came under attack from its enemies on all sides, and with the environment stretched to the breaking point it went into a major decline, population decreased, urbanization was reduced, and a new Dark Age began in about 400 to 500 AD.

One aspect of this Dark Age that is interesting is that many of the excessive and exuberant practices were abandoned.    Pottery became simple and austere, tools became stone instead of metal, clothing and shoes became simple, and even burial practices changed.  There were even changes in society with many of the hierarchical social structures disappearing.  This downscaling provided Nature with an opportunity to restore itself.

The Dark Age lasted a very long time and in Europe the land partially recovered.  But in some areas such as Mesopotamia, Greece, and Asia Minor much of the damage could not be undone and the land and forests have not recovered even today.  The starkness of what was Mesopotamia, now Iraq, was made abundantly clear by photos during the recent Gulf War.  On a trip I made in July to Turkey (Asia Minor), and to Greece covering the region all the way from Athens to Thessalonica, the barren mountains and silt filled valleys stood in testament to how totally humans can destroy the environment.  In both Turkey and Greece there were virtually no forests to be seen and not a lot of crops growing because the land was so devastated.

Beginning about 900 AD civilization began to reestablish itself, and culminated in the 1800’s, including the New World.  The pattern of urbanization and the exploitation of natural resources continued and was made possible by lateral expansion into new territories as resources were depleted in the local area.  At the end of the 20^th century the forces of human activity that have been at work for 5000 years continue unabated.

These forces are population growth, capital accumulation fueled by globalization, and urbanization.  This has led to ecological degradation on an unprecedented scale, with deforestation, pollution, depletion of natural resources, and species extinction reaching new and alarming heights.  In Our Forests Our Future, charts show that overall decline of forests worldwide is very large.

Not only is the overall forest cover being dramatically reduced, but the health of the remaining forest is also deteriorating, much of this due to improper logging practices and pollution.  The decline of forests exists to some degree everywhere on the planet. In the temperate northern zones pollution is big factor.  Europe’s forests are suffering from poor health as well.  The few remaining intact forests in North America are restricted to the far north.  The forests of Asia and Oceania are rapidly disappearing, much of this caused by clearing of land for agriculture to feed a growing population.  The forests of Africa and Latin America have suffered huge losses.  By way of example, three quarters of the original moist tropical forests of West Africa have disappeared in the last 50 years, and in Latin America 60% of the forest has been lost in the same period.  The overall state of the world’s forests is now poor, and is getting rapidly worse.

What can be done about this?  To explore this question, we need to examine the roots of the problem.  In Our Forest Our Future it is argued that these are basic economic concepts, political structures, and social systems.  These forces relate to the use of forest lands and forest resources.  We will briefly examine each of these.

Again, in Our Forest Our Future it is argued that there is a failure to capture the value of the public good aspects of our forests.  Only the timber and agricultural value is considered.  This creates an uneven playing field, where for example the value of the forest for carbon sequestration is not even considered, despite its relation to the expected climatic changes and its huge economic implications.

The political or governance factors relate to the frameworks or institutions that provide for decision making in a society.  While there are many complex forces at work here, a primary one is the inequality of power between the elite and the “common people”, leading to decision-making that benefits the powerful at the expense of the impoverished and powerless lower class.  Increasing fueled by globalization and the increasing power of Transnational Corporations, the life styles of indigenous peoples have basically been ignored, and the land they depend on is being exploited.

What we need is a new sense of ethics to support the reform in all the above areas.  Until we come to grips with the inherent wrongness of excessive concentration of wealth in a privileged few, respect for the value of all living things, rejection of cultural discrimination that devalues the life-styles of those who make a living from the living forest, we will have difficulty in reversing the threat of deforestation and ecological degradation.  As a species we are at great risk, and may have already done irreparable harm.

What is also needed is a serious effort to not only reduce population growth, but also possibly to actually reduce the overall population in order to remove some of the stresses on our global systems.  A move to a less exuberant life-style would also be very desirable, which will require a fundamental change in what is considered a “good life”.  We must find a way to reverse the trend toward vertical polarization that is forcing so many of the world’s people to engage in ecological degradation simply to survive.

Without these bold moves the world’s forests are in deep trouble, and with the resulting threat of global warming, species extinction on a massive scale, and increasing disease, we are almost sure to fall into a decline from which we many not be able to recover, as there is no place left to run.