Loss of Biodiversity – Art for Planet Earth touring exhibitions 2024/5

ONE PAINTING. ONE STORY.

A GREEN DESERT.

It’s a heart break. Evolution has taken millions of years to create our tropical forests and it is taking human beings five minutes to destroy them. All the animals who live in these forests are totally dependent on this ecosystem: jaguars, tapirs, parrots, toucans, orangutans, golden tamarin monkeys, snakes, frogs, and many more. In this painting the animals are staring at the lumberjack with an axe and chainsaw who’s about to chop down the forest leaving devastation behind, saying to him “What the hell are you doing?”. And there’s an odd googly-eyed creature near the jaguar. I don’t know what it is, perhaps you can tell me? 🙂

The young girl, our future generations, is tugging on the lumberjack’s belt, saying “Stop! Stop!”. All this precious, complex, rich world is being destroyed for the sake of palm oil, cattle grazing and plantation after plantation of eucalyptus trees which are chopped down for paper after three years. No animal can live in this green desert. Tropical forests are in deep trouble and vital to global ecological health and biodiversity conservation. They serve as the “lungs of the Earth”, absorbing vast amounts of carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, which helps mitigate climate change. They are also home to over half of the world’s plant and animal species, many of which are not found anywhere else, making them critical for maintaining genetic diversity.

Tropical forests also play a key role in regulating weather patterns and rainfall, supporting agriculture and fresh water supply far beyond their immediate vicinity. Preserving these forests is essential for maintaining ecological balance, protecting all the forest creatures and ensuring the well-being of our planet for our children and grandchildren. Biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution, melting glaciers, burning fossil fuels and destroying forests are part of an interlinked planetary crisis the world is facing today. And the risk of species extinction increases with every degree of warming.