in the absence of sufficient replanting, it was realized that clearance of forest and woodland must be controlled, and forests had to be managed and conserved for the natural resources they provided as demand grew. In England for example, this is evident from early laws that were passed in 1457 to encourage tree planting. However, despite these laws, persistent destruction of woodlands since the Anglo-Saxon period had by the seventeenth century led to a so-called “timber famine”. Because of this shortfall, timber was at a premium and thus became very expensive, which was especially problematic for ship-building and naval enterprises. Following an appeal by the Navy Board to the Royal Society for a solution, one member of the Society, John Evelyn, wrote and published his seminal 1664 work Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber. This conveyed a successful plea for reafforestation by persuading landowners to plant millions of trees on their private estates to make good the severe shortage of timber and repair the “wooden walls” of England. In the tropics, there is a long history of planting teak for timber, dating back to the 15th century in Java. The demand for sustainable teak for general construction and shipbuilding purposes intensified with the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century and the Dutch in the 17th century. The teak growing industry thereafter became controlled and monopolized by the Dutch East India Company. In North America, tree planting on the western prairies was practiced by immigrants from the east during the 19th century. This was to satisfy the demand for wood and other tree products as well as to establish shelterbelts for agriculture, since naturally growing trees were very scarce on the Great Plains. See also Arbor Day Billion Tree Campaign Ecosia Farmer-managed natural regeneration Hoedad (tool) Hoedads Reforestation Cooperative Johnny Appleseed Mattock Planet Ark Plant-for-the-Planet Pottiputki Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation Tree planting bar Tu Bishvat Tubestock Urban reforestation Propagation of Christmas trees Further reading References External links Forestry occupations Forest management Reforestation Habitat management equipment and methods Trees