“While it is true that we no longer see the forest for the trees, we ourselves are usually the tree that obscures our own view of what is truly important. Nature is becoming a commodity and the future of generations to come is being seen as a luxury good.
In search of inner peace and balance – and perhaps aware that they only have limited time left to enjoy nature in its current diversity – hundreds of thousands of committed city dwellers escape to more natural surroundings in their free time, all decked out in their latest plastic outdoor outfits.
Even though few people here in Germany deny the effects of climate change and the fact that species and insects are being wiped out by monocultures and pesticides, the majority of the outdoorsy and well-heeled population continue to buy their food at dumping prices in discount supermarkets.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe… 165 square kilometres of vital rainforest from Brazil to Indonesia are being cleared every day in order to make way for gigantic monoculture soya and palm oil plantations for us – ably assisted by the WTO and agricultural multinationals – so that we can buy our products at ridiculously low prices.
Luckily for us, the direct consequences for animals and their natural environment are far enough removed that we don’t have to see them, no matter how high our mountain hikes take us. And if we have to hear once again in the media that children and young people around the world are taking to the streets to protest against the destruction of both nature and their futures, we get het up for a minute or two, then throw another 99-cent steak on the grill, crack open a beer and grumble about worthless politicians needing to get their act together. Because of all the trees blocking our view of the forest, we have forgotten that each of us – in our capacity as consumers – has the power to influence which policies are made and, above all, what kind of a future will be left to our descendants, good or bad as the case may be.
„It’s what you buy – not what they sell!“

The proverbial forest for this dilemma is presented by Spanish street art activist ESCIF with the title “We The Forest” – or does he mean “We Deforest”? – to tens of thousands of people in the form of his latest mural along the “Middle Ring”, the busy ring road that runs through Munich. But this time, there are no trees to obscure the message… ;)”

/ text by Sebastian Pohl

Thanks Positive Propaganda, Sebastian, Patricia, Vanessa and everyone involved on this project. On, two,… tree!