Are Paulownia crops the same as Monsanto GM corn?

By now you all must know that I have a problem with the continued planting and sale of invasive plants, which destroy native habitat and reduce wildlife biodiversity. I tend to rant a little (understatement, of course) because if we stopped the sale of these plants and stopped putting them in our gardens, we would stand a chance of being able to restore native habitat for wildlife (yes I do continue to hope).

I just found the following comment in my spam folder. (Sorry Sam, I have no idea how long it was there). It came as a result of a Most Hated Plant rant about Paulownia trees, which are highly invasive and dangerous to native wildlife habitat. I realized my reponse to this would be quite long, so please indulge me while we discuss it in full here in annotated form.

To those thinking non-native Paulownia is invasive, I am a plantation grower.

So you’re growing Paulownia trees as a crop, like a farmer.

I will agree that a truly natural forest provides the very best habitat for wild life, but as far as plantations go just look in your back yard. You will find millions of acres of pine trees in plantation settings. Thus where have all of the native trees gone?

Yes, that is a wonderful question, where HAVE all of the native trees gone?

You can’t drive down a country mile without seeing pine groves. The pine is the most planted tree in America.

At the very least, some of those pines are native and do support some wildlife.

And for good reason, we require housing, furniture and even paper. We are the invasive species. As such we require more and more from the earth.

Yes, I agree. We are the invasive species, and as our population spirals ever upward there will come a time when we will outgrow the Earth’s ability to support us. But it isn’t polite to talk about that, is it?

I am a proponent of saving what we can. We have done things like slow down and even stop timber harvesting in the Adirondacks. We have saved some of the Redwood forest (not enough).

I am thrilled that you are a proponent of saving what we can, but usually profits win out over saving anything. We could all be doing much more. In fact I say we aren’t doing nearly enough.

But when it comes to the destruction of the forest, this is climbing at an alarming rate. For instance; the energy business is in the early stages of totally destroying the remaining forest. i.e.; Panicle pellet Co. of Vancouver Canada recently brought on line their 5th pellet plant. This newest one will work 24/7/365 making wood pellets for the energy business. They will require in the range of 16,000 acres each year to accomplish this. It takes up to 10 years before they can re-cut the first 16,000 acres. So in 10 years they will eat over 160,000 acres of timber. More and more pellet companies are being built and commercial wood based ethanol has come on line just this year. This is all due to our need to overcome dependence on fossil fuels. Again we are the invasive ones.

Yes, until we have the courage to address our own consumption individually and as a country, we will continue on our path of destruction. Do any of us really have that courage?

Here is a great solution. The invasive complaints of Paulownia can be harnessed to benefit both man and beast. The regrowth feature of paulownia is one of the reasons some consider it a problem. In the plantation, regrowth is a virtue, for example the Paulownia can produce an equal amount of feed stock for the pellets mentioned above, on 4,000 acres that a pine forest will do on 150,000 acres. Thus more land can go to a natural state. The beast will have their home back.

But the “beast” will not have their homes back if invasive plants continue their rampant spread through all natural areas, suppressing the growth of native plants, and providing nothing of value for wildlife.

The quick growth of Paulownia is a double-edged sword. For you, the plantation manager, you get to turn a profit much more quickly on a smaller plot of land. But the return of land to any semblance of a natural state anywhere near your plantation is not at all likely, because of the prodigious amount of seed that Paulownias produce, which is then spread far and wide by the wind, water, and animals.

To me, the seed from your crop is every bit as dangerous to the environment as Monsantos GM corn is to organic farmers. You cannot control the spread of the seed and therefore all natural areas are in danger.

There are many eco benefits that the Paulownia offers. It isn’t the demon that some think it to be. It is mans responsibility to find the value in all without waste. I for one seek all to join me in this quest. Rather than complain, let’s seek solutions.

Yours truly
Sam Sewell

I would love to see each and every one of us seeking solutions and taking responsibility for our own actions. Paulownia may indeed offer some benefits, but does that short-term gain outweigh in any measure the long-term destruction of the environment, the simplification of ecosystems, the reduction of biodiversity? I tend not to agree.

But the important thing is, what do you think? Is short-term gain worth long-term harm? I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

© 2010, Carole Brown. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: habitat destruction, paulownia plantation, Paulownia Tree