Sea-faring peoples of the South Pacific were the first to navigate by the stars, and their ancient skill is still passed down from generation to generation in places like Micronesia to this day. It is my life’s work to study the voyages undertaken by those who set out to sea in canoes, without maps or compasses, unable to even see the distant islands they were aiming for.
Without large and sturdy trees, the canoes that transported people across oceans could never have been made. Such trees were the products of dynamic and healthy forest systems, fed by rainwater that was absorbed in the Earth and flowed back to the sea in rivers. The sea, in turn, served as a bridge to other lands, and the canoes carried their navigators to new forests, from which new vessels were made.
The innumerable islands of the South Pacific were once heavily forested, and there was no shortage of giant trees for sea-fearing canoes. Sadly, reckless and short-sighted logging practices have led to the devastation of woodland areas, and as a result islanders are only making traditional canoes when large pieces of driftwood happen to wash ashore. As is evidenced by the dying art of canoe-making, the loss of the South Pacific’s island forests threatens an exceptional cultural inheritance.
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