Striking a balance

Most people believe planting trees is good for the environment, but in some cases, it can be a threat. At the exhibition “Paradise Lost”, a video interview with botanist Assoc Prof Kitichate Sridith helps visitors understand that forests cannot be built.

“Assoc Prof Kitichate says that people are part of the ecosystem. A forest cannot be built since it has its own evolution. What people grow is man-made and not natural. For example, some people grow plants in a mudflat in a mangrove where scallops and cockles live but these plants destroy the ecosystem. A forest must have a diverse range of trees. Thus, when people plant a pine forest, birds do not make their nests there and when there is a wildfire in a pine-dominated forest, it is difficult to…