09 December 2003 04:08
OH CHRISTMAS TREE, HOW ARE THY LEAVES SO VERDANT?
PARIS, Dec 9 (ONASA - AFP) - Europe each year sacrifices 50 million fir trees to Christmas. A chainsaw massacre?
Hardly, as for years now the trees have been grown in nurseries, just like flowers. There are in fact a host of good
reasons to continue sacrificing trees across the European continent in the name of tradition. The most important one of
them is that Europe's forests are not endangered. Apart from a few exceptions (in Russia), there are no natural
forests left in Europe, merely forests fashioned by man across the centuries. Europe's forests moreover are
spreading as farmers stop farming, with French woodland for example twice as extensive nowadays as in the mid 19th
century. So Christmas revelers can buy a coniferous tree for the season without remorse. Buying natural is better too
than purchasing an artificial Christmas tree. The man-made variety is more expensive and more harmful to the
environment, as the trees are manufactured using plastics and fuels that emit greenhouse gases responsible for climate
warming. Artificial trees generally last up to three years, either because their design falls out of fashion or because
they become clogged with dust. In France, the professional horticultural association (ONIFLHOR) said that one out of
every six trees bought for Christmas was an artificial one, but that the percentage was on the wane. The most popular
tree with buyers currently is a Nordmann pine, a fine-looking tree with sturdy needles. The Nordmann's market share
in France has rocketed, from 25 percent of trees sold in 1998 to almost 50 percent today. The traditional spruce also
has its strong points, almost twice as cheap and with an attractive smell. Also available on the Christmas market but
harder to find are the Nobilis (or Douglas with blueish needles), the blue pine (Picea pugens or Colorado spruce) and
the Omorika (or Serbian spruce). Denmark is the top producer of the Nordmann, while Germany, Britain and France are the
continent's three biggest buyers of Christmas trees. The world cradle of the Christmas tree is said to be the
eastern French region of Alsace, straddling Germany, where a decorated Christmas tree was mentioned in writing for the
first time in 1521. The idea of a decorated tree was introduced to the French by Princess Helene de Mecklembourg who
brought it to Paris in 1837 after marrying the Duke of Orleans. It was already common in the 18th century in Germany and
in Austria. In the Victorian era of the late 19th century a Christmas tree in any respectable home had six tiers of
branches and was always set on a table covered with a white damask cloth. After settling on a variety of tree, however,
buyers need to decide on whether the tree comes with its roots in a pot, or with its roots sawn off. Pots often look
nice but are deceptive -- if you look below the surface roots will have been cut and little good soil left, meaning the
tree will have little chance of surviving as a real tree at the bottom of the garden after having spent three weeks in a
warm living room over Christmas. People who really do want an extra pine tree in the garden should buy one grown
directly in a pot, rather than one nurtured in the ground then transferred to a pot. And once Christmas is over, instead
of dumping it on the street with the other dead trees and party leftovers, why not help others by placing it into a
special bag sold by a humanitarian organization to raise funds, or even take it back to the shop. Ikea, for example,
partially reimburses French clients who bring the remains of the tree back and then helps fund planting projects by the
National Forestry office. Such gestures are not 100 percent environmentally correct, however. Planting trees may be good
for the environment, but driving for miles (kilometers) to buy a tree and bring it back is not.
[CEIW] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
