A ‘State of the World’ report warns that a third of the world’s wild tree species are threatened with extinction. Agriculture and logging are the main culprits. They were in the ancient world too.
It is hard to overestimate the importance of trees for past societies: they were the only source of fuel for heating, cooking, potting, including tiles and bricks, and smelting (coal came into play only from the 16th century), and of timber for building. The emergence of palace states and the growth of trade during the Bronze Age from c. 3000 bc — bronze, made by smelting tin and copper, was far more durable than copper — increased its use dramatically. During the classical period large navies made heavy demands on timber supplies; so did Roman armies with camps, siege works, bridge and road-building, forest clearances to deny the enemy cover, as did the vast urban centres, with building, rebuilding after fires and fuel (those huge bath complexes!).
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