Explain the sentence "Forests precede mankind deserts follow."Are the words of the author prophetic in any way?

The writer wants to tell us that even before man came on this earth, there were forests and many animals inhabited the forests. But man is very greedy and wants to cut down trees and hunt animals. As a result there won't be any forests and the earth will be a desert. The writer's words are prophetic because man goes on cutting down trees and destroying the nature and soon nature will cease to be there for man.