EASTER ISLAND IS one of the most isolated spots on earth, lying 2,100 miles to the west of Chile and 4,000 miles to the southeast of Hawaii. The island is renowned for its massive stone faces that stoically gaze over the Pacific, the moai statues, carved by the native Rapanui half a millennium ago during the zenith of an ancient and mysterious civilization. This same thriving island civilization of perhaps 10,000–15,000 inhabitants once survived on cultivation of sweet potatoes, yams, bananas, domesticated chickens, and, of course, fishing. But by the arrival of Dutch explorers in 1722, the Rapanui had dwindled to a few thousand; by 1877, the entire population of Easter Island had plummeted to just 111 half-starved natives.

In his book Collapse (2005), UCLA geographer Jared Diamond explains the principal blunder of the Rapanui civilization: deforestation. Trees and timber had been vital to the ancient Rapanui. Trees prevented crop erosion and provided a native habitat for birds and animals important for supplementing the local diet. Wood provided raw materials for hand tools, logs used in the erection of the moai statues, fuel for warmth during cool and rainy nights, and most importantly, for constructing fishing canoes. Since Easter Island receives only 50 inches of rainfall per year (scanty by tropical standards), trees grow slowly, leaving the island's inhabitants more vulnerable to the “tragedy of the commons”.