GREENWASHED AND GONE: How Greenwashing Fuels Tree Extinction

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The Critical Role of Trees

Trees are the lifeblood of our planet. They purify the air, absorb carbon emissions, and provide habitats for countless species of birds, insects, and mammals. Thriving, biodiverse forests are critical in combating climate change and halting biodiversity loss. Solutions addressing one crisis often benefit the other, underscoring the urgency of safeguarding the world’s trees. Yet they are disappearing at an alarming rate.

Currently, one-third of the world’s tree species face extinction—a profound ecological crisis. Their loss disrupts ecosystems, triggering cascading biodiversity declines, altering global cycles of carbon, water, and nutrients, and threatening the livelihoods of billions of people who rely on trees for food, shelter, and other resources. According to the latest IUCN Red List, the number of imperiled tree species now surpasses all threatened birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians combined. This stark reality was a focal point at COP16, the UN biodiversity summit (oct 2024), which convened to evaluate progress on a landmark rescue plan for nature.

Trees in Peril

Island trees face particularly acute threats from deforestation, driven by urban development and agriculture, as well as invasive species, and diseases. Climate change compounds the problem, especially in tropical regions, by accelerating sea-level rise and intensifying storms.

Addressing the threats that trees face, habitat protection and restoration, as well as ex situ conservation through seed banks and botanic garden collections are essential to prevent extinctions on islands and worldwide. Without these measures, trees—and the ecosystems they sustain—will continue to vanish.

The Bonaire Perspective

On Bonaire, trees are often treated as expendable, their ecological importance dismissed in favor of development – construction by destruction. Greenery is routinely cleared, leaving land barren and erosion-prone, usualy without proper permits or environmental assessments. Weak enforcement of regulations further enables unpermitted deforestation to continue unchecked, reflecting a broader culture of neglect.

The government plays a contradictory role in this crisis. While it contributes to deforestation— such as during the reconstruction of dams, where mature trees, critical for stabilizing soil and providing habitats, were removed without evaluating their ecological or cultural value —it offsets this with limited replanting efforts, such as planting a few trees along the boulevard and Kaya Grandi. These efforts, though positive, fail to compensate for the widespread removal of mature trees. Newly planted saplings take decades to mature and cannot immediately replace the ecological services—such as erosion prevention, habitat provision, and carbon sequestration—offered by established trees.

This duality perpetuates a narrative of greenwashing. By emphasizing replanting while neglecting enforcement and allowing and contributing to deforestation, the government creates an illusion of progress without tackling the underlying causes of tree loss, thereby exacerbating the deterioration of Bonaire’s fragile ecosystems.

The contradictions of Greenwashing

A striking example of greenwashing occurred during the construction of a shopping center on a plot opposite Van der Tweel. The site, which housed trees and shrubs, including the endangered Wayaká tree (Guaiacum officinale)—protected locally and listed on the IUCN Red List —was entirely cleared before construction.

Despite this, a local expert falsely praised the project as “a positive first-timer!,” claiming that a Wayaká tree and other vegetation had been preserved. In truth, no trees were saved. This misrepresentation exemplifies how greenwashing deceives the public and undermines genuine conservation efforts.

The government’s inconsistent actions—planting trees while allowing and even facilitating deforestation, and failing to adress illegal tree cutting—highlight the need for a cohesive and transparent approach to protecting Bonaire’s fragile ecosystems.

The High Stakes of Tree Loss

The loss of trees on Bonaire is more than an aesthetic issue; it represents an ecological crisis with cascading consequences. Without established trees, erosion worsens, biodiversity declines, coral reefs die and the island’s resilience to climate change diminishes. Genuine conservation requires not only planting trees but, more importantly, protecting existing ones and reevaluating the balance between development and environmental preservation.

Remembering Trees

Cutting down a tree is irreversible. Planting a new tree cannot undo the loss of a mature one, which may have taken decades or centuries to grow. The unique role of each tree in its ecosystem—and the years required for it to mature—cannot simply be replaced.

We must remember how trees enrich and support our lives, as they have throughout human history. Yet these values are increasingly at risk. If we fail to consider the consequences of our actions and change our collective behavior towards trees, we risk losing them – and the benefits they provide – forever.

For centuries, trees have supported our survival. Now they depend on us to secure their future. We already know how to conserve trees and protect the natural world they sustain. The time to act is now before mature trees are nothing more than a memory of a lost world.

HELP US TO SAVE PLANTATION BOLIVIA FROM DESTRUCTION

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Published in The Bonaire Reporter issue 23, 2024 page 5