This journal is an attempt to bring the traditional knowledge of beneficial plants and trees to the attention of academicians and, in turn, deliver their insights to where they are needed.
All
societies create their own ivory towers—their bastions of learning. It is
imperative to enable a few people to study, explore and contemplate what is
good for the whole community. Common people put in extra labor and toil to
create the necessary surplus of wealth to maintain such monuments of knowledge
and wisdom. They also honor the people who climb to those heights.
Those
who work in these higher institutions gain an element of inner satisfaction.
They are aware of the great potential for good that could be achieved from
their lives’ work. Such knowledge could put an end to poverty, hunger, disease,
war and all ills known to humanity. The promise is limitless.
Need
for more channels of communication
Yet,
the same awareness also creates a sense of frustration, for it seems to take a very
long time for their gained insights to be translated into action. Poverty, hunger,
disease, war and pestilence continue regardless of their studies.
The
Rector of the National Agriculture University in Nicaragua, Francisco Telemaco Talavera Siles, once told me, “We
have all the necessary knowledge to improve the lives of the farmers in our
country. But we do not have the means to take this knowledge to the farmers.”
The head
of a horticulture university in India said to me, “I have the information, but no buyers.” An extension
officer in Guatemala similarly complained, “I wait,
but they do not come.”
On the
other hand, people whose lives could be improved by the research findings are
not even aware such a wealth of information exists in their midst. The
magnificent centers of learning that they help maintain are all but invisible
to them—as if they existed in a different universe.
“We
need to hear from the people,” one scientist told me. “That would help us
adjust and fine tune our research.”
Almost
anyone with experience would agree that many more channels of communication are
needed to increase the exchange between academics and lay people. Such an exchange
can facilitate a higher quality of research, as well as a speedier and more
effective translation of their efforts into practical actions.
Using technology to create a link
The Trees
for Life Journal is an effort to establish one such additional link.
This journal
is an attempt to bring the traditional knowledge of beneficial plants and trees
to the attention of academicians and, in turn, deliver their insights to the
people who need them.
Our
ambition is limited to facilitating and fostering scientific studies of
traditional wisdom of plants and trees. There is a great wealth of information
ready to serve future generations.
The
Trees for Life Journal is being launched in response to the growing need for
practical studies at the grassroots level to complement, support, nurture, and
validate highly controlled, double-blind, peer-reviewed academic studies.
Such a
bold attempt on our part is possible only because of the recent progress in
electronic media. The ease and speed of this technology transcends the barriers
of cost, space and time. Thanks to the worldwide web, it is now possible to
scale the walls that have long divided those who know and those who need the
knowledge.
Acting as a bridge to serve
Regardless
of these advantages, it would still be a daunting task if Trees for Life had
not acquired the art and science of being a bridge.
Trees
for Life has always been a bridge—between East and West, between the rich and
the poor, between know-how and those who toil. Within this wide and ever-growing
circle of friends, there is ample knowledge about plants and trees. Realizing
the value of electronic media, we have also gone out to acquire that know-how.
We combine these valuable assets to serve.
In the Turkish
language, the word for “bridge” means literally “to give.” A bridge allows
others to pass over it without asking anything for itself. In the same spirit,
we at Trees for Life are creating this Journal with one sole purpose: to serve.
And, if you will permit me a personal discretion, “to serve” is also our sole
prayer.
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