Global warming, even if you choose not to believe in it, isn't the only thing threatening our life on earth. The rainforests are being destroyed at an amazing rate, and as well as massively reducing biodiversity (which is really bad, but you probably only panic if you're a biologist like me) it's taking out the source of 40% of the world's oxygen - try breathing without it for a minute to see just how distressing that can be.
Second Chance Trees offers a unique opportunity to do something about this. There are 10 types of rainforest trees you can buy for L$300 each, and plant on the island - mine's on the right of the picture. So what? Well for each pixel-and-prim tree you plant, Plant-It 2020 will plant one, matching your chosen species, in an appropriate part of the real Earth.
The sim offers you the chance to find out more about rainforesets, their contributions to our lives and so on. Given my background Azadirachta indica was an easy choice. Why? Well as the blurb says:
NEEM TREE Also called a margosa tree, the Neem tree is a fast-growing broad-leaved evergreen, Azadirachta indica, native to India and Myanmar. Its extracts have been used for centuries in Asia as pesticides, toothpaste, medicines, and health tonics. The tree itself is used in reforestation projects in hot, dry regions. In this century, knowledge of the neem tree has spread to the West, where it has been hailed as a "wonder plant." Neem-based pesticides have been developed, and the potential health uses of chemicals extracted from the tree are being studied.
1. Thanks for posting about this, it sounds like a great idea. It's one of the easiest ways I've heard of that we can give back to the real world and I hope that this program enjoys great success!
Posted at 11:39AM on Apr 21st 2007 by Peppermint Raymaker