A Young Man Who Plants Trees
On our fourth wedding anniversary my wife, knowing of my love for nature and forests, gave me a copy of a book by Jean Giono titled, "The Man Who Planted Trees". With this story, first published in Vogue magazine in 1954 as "The Man Who Planted Hope and Grew Happiness", Giono tells of an aging shepherd named Elzeard Bouffier who takes it upon himself to replant a desert-like portion of Southern France with trees.
This fictional work is set during the early 20th century between World War I and World War II. During this time of world political turmoil, Mr. Bouffier quietly and patiently plants countless thousands of trees from seed. He painstakingly goes about his task with the peacefulness and self-assuredness of a person who knows they are doing what is right yet he does so without seeking recognition or publicity.
The result of his noble effort is that after years of planting these seeds he single-handedly manages to change both the natural and human environment of the Provence section of France. In the end, where barren useless land once stood thick thriving forests complete with gurgling brooks and rivers predominate. A place where the few human inhabitants were hard, joyless peasants becomes a sought-after pleasant destination for young families. And best of all, the government of France without questioning the origins of such a turn around, decides to protect the forest as a national treasure.
It is a great tale about the difference that one individual with the courage and conviction to act positively can make on the world. It is a beautiful story and in today's world it is all too easy for us to pass it off as just that - a story. Too often you hear people quoted as saying the world has changed and there is nothing anyone can do about it. When faced with the reality of such social issues as man's destruction of the environment, poverty, our ever increasing crime rates, or our overcrowded cities people often shrug their shoulders and say, "That is just the world we live in."
It is a refreshing and even inspiring change when we learn of someone who sees a social problem and takes action to improve that situation. On Feb. 14, 2004, I learned of a modern day Elzeard Bouffier. On that day, I picked up a copy of our local newspaper, "The Charlotte Observer" and on the front page found an article about 17 year-old Matthew Rich. At the age of 16 Matthew had become concerned with the amount of forest cover lost to residential and commercial construction in the county where he lives (Cabarrus County, NC). Matthew came up with the idea to plant 1,000 new hardwoods in Cabarrus County in order to at least make a dent in the number of trees lost to development and to just make the community a more enjoyable place to live for both wildlife and people.
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