Deforestation is a growing global concern which satellite images of the earth have proven every year. The quotes below highlight a problem that is rapidly catching up the quality of human life.
Earth's land surface accounts for over 30% of forests, which are the major contributors of food and medicinal supplies for billions of people globally. Deforestation alone contributes to the 15% of carbon dioxide emissions which is more than what trucks and vehicles may emit.
According to Merriam-Webster, the term deforestation was first used in 1874. With over 7 billion people on Earth as of 2022, deforestation is increasing at an alarming rate. It has become a global issue addressed by scientists worldwide.
Find some interesting deforestation quotes from famous personalities like Martin O'Malley, Jay Griffiths, and John Muir to better understand this global issue and get insights on the part you can play for a greener future.
Short Deforestation Quotes
Cutting down forests create climate change, whereas preserving them can help reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide. Forests are a key component of fighting the climate crisis.
"We need to promote development that does not destroy our environment."
- Wangare Maathai.
"Humanity is cutting down its forests, apparently oblivious to the fact that we may not live without them."
- Issac Asimov.
"In many places where coffee is grown, deforestation is a major issue."
- Howard D. Schultz.
"Deforestation will continue as long as cutting down and burning trees is more economic than preserving them."
- Johan Eliasch.
"We need to save the forests. I have a big warehouse we can store them in."
- Bauvard.
"Forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them."
- François-René de Chateaubriand.
"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness."
- John Muir.
"The evolution of human mentality has put us all in vitro now, behind the glass wall of our own ingenuity."
- John Fowles.
"Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky."
- Kahlil Gibran.
"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
- Abraham Lincoln.
"Eighty per cent of global warming comes from livestock and deforestation."
- Heather Mills.
"Trees, how many of 'em do we need to look at?"
- Ronald Reagan.
"Learn character from trees, values from roots and change from leaves."
- Tasneem Hameed.
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything."
- Albert Einstein.
Stop Deforestation Quotes
(These deforestation quotes will inspire you to save forests, humans and other living beings.)
The largest and most biodiverse forest among all the world's forests, the Amazon rainforest, has experienced a high level of deforestation. Explore these deforestation quotes to understand why we need to plant trees.
"When the productive lands lose their essence, our productive lives shall least have essence!"
- Ernest Agyemang Yeboah.
"At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity."
- Chico Mendes.
"Worldwide, we have now destroyed over half of the forest that once flourished on our planet. Not only are we losing the animals that once lived on them, we're also changing the climate of the entire globe."
- David Attenborough.
"One thing leads to the other. Deforestation leads to climate change, which leads to ecosystem losses, which negatively impacts our livelihoods - it's a vicious cycle."
- Gisele Bundchen.
"Industrialization, pollution, deforestation--basically all human activity--has lessened the amount of magic left in the world."
- Lindsey Leavitt.
"Only after the last tree has been cut down. Only after the last river has been poisoned. Only after the last fish has been caught. Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."
- Cree Indian Prophecy.
"If you have forest, if you have green forest, the water table goes up. What happens with deforestation is the water level goes down and we all know how much importance drinking water has."
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
"The silencing of the rainforests is a double deforestation, not only of trees but a deforestation of the mind's music, medicine and knowledge."
- Jay Griffiths.
"The trees are man's best friends; but man has treated them as his worst enemies."
- Nathaniel H. Egleston.
"Humanity is cutting down its forests, apparently oblivious to the fact that we may not be able to live without them."
- Isaac Asimov.
"It's like seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and the tunnel has leaves on it. About rain forest destruction and species extinction."
- Daniel Anthony Perasa.
"If we tackle deforestation in the right way, the benefits will be far-reaching - greater food security, improved livelihoods for millions of small farmers and indigenous people, more prosperous rural economies, and above all, a more stable climate."
- Paul Polman.
"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
- Albert Einstein.
"Adopt the pace of nature. Her secret is patience."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson.
"He who plants a tree. Plants a hope."
- Lucy Larcom.
Deforestation Quotes By Famous People
Many naturalists and scientists have warned global citizens about deforestation, including Martin O'Malley and John Muir. John Muir was named 'John Of The Mountains' and 'Father Of The National Parks'. Read these amazing quotes from famous people on how tropical forests and coral reefs are faring these days.
"Reversing Deforestation Is Complicated; Planting a Tree Is Simple."
- Martin O'Malley.
"What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another."
- Mahatma Gandhi.
"Destroying rainforest for economic gain is like burning a Renaissance painting to cook a meal."
- E.O. Wilson.
"Deforestation is changing our climate, harming people and the natural world. We must, and can reverse this trend."
- Jane Goodall.
"By destroying the animals, the air, and the trees, we are destroying ourselves."
- Thích Nhãt Hanh.
"The forest is not a resource for us, it is life itself. It is the only place for us to live."
- Evaristo Nugkuag Ikanan.
"Every time I have some moment on a seashore, or in the mountains, or sometimes in a quiet forest, I think this is why the environment has to be preserved."
- Bill Bradley.
"We need to save the forests. I have We need to save the forests. I have a big warehouse we can store them in."
- Bauvard.
"Every other civilized nation in the world has been compelled to care for its forests, and so must we if waste and destruction are not to go on to the bitter end, leaving America as barren as Palestine or Spain."
- John Muir.
"Forests are the world's air-conditioning system – the lungs of the planet – and we are on the verge of switching it off."
- Charles, the Prince of Wales.
"We are consuming our forests three times faster than they are being reproduced. Some of the richest timber lands of this continent have already been destroyed, and not replaced, and other vast areas are on the verge of destruction.
Yet forests, unlike mines, can be handled so as to yield the best results of use, without exhaustion, just like grain fields."
- Theodore Roosevelt.
"Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it."
- Henry David Thoreau.
"A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt.
"The axe and saw are insanely busy, chips are flying thick as snowflakes, and every summer thousands of acres of priceless forests, with their underbrush, soil, springs, climate, scenery, and religion, are vanishing away in clouds of smoke, while, except in the national parks, not one forest guard is employed."
- John Muir.
"Trees face many difficulties, what with deforestation and pollution, but that didn't stop me from wanting to be one - to just stop feeling and live."
- Emma Gonzalez.
Deforestation And Climate Change Quotes
Forests bring rain; hence saving the forests from being destroyed can reduce the risk global water shortage and climate change, like these famous people attest in their quotes.
"Most floods are caused by man, not weather; deforestation, levee construction, erosion, and overgrazing all result in the loss of ecosystem services."
- Paul Hawken.
"When the well is dry, we know the worth of water."
- Benjamin Franklin.
"Pollution and climate change by excessive burning of fossil fuels are real threats, not the people who warn that we must take these threats seriously."
- David Suzuki.
"I want to find more ways of planting trees and helping fight against deforestation."
- Alison Sudol.
"The less we do to address climate change now, the more regulation we will have in the future."
- Bill Nye.
"Let's double down on solar energy, let's be more energy-efficient, let's weatherize our homes. We can build a better, healthier economy based on good-paying, clean energy jobs."
- Ian Somerhalder.
"Climate change is a terrible problem, and it absolutely needs to be solved. It deserves to be a huge priority."
- Bill Gates.
"For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver."
- Martin Luther.
"Climate change is real. It is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species and we need to work collectively together and stop procrastinating."
- Leonardo Di Caprio.
"By polluting the oceans, not mitigating CO2 emissions and destroying our biodiversity, we are killing our planet. Let us face it, there is no planet B."
- Emmanuel Macron.
"We are in danger of destroying ourselves by our greed and stupidity. We cannot remain looking inwards at ourselves on a small and increasingly polluted and overcrowded planet."
- Stephen Hawking.
"We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it."
- Barack Obama.
"Climate change is the greatest threat to our existence in our short history on this planet. Nobody's going to buy their way out of its effects."
- Mark Ruffalo.
"Climate change is a huge challenge, but it can be brought in line if governments, businesses and individuals work together."
- Sir Richard Branson.
