Ecological awarness among Númenóreans

[Maedhros]

One element that I have often associated with JRRT works of ME, is that the "Good guys" mostly have a sense of ecological awarness (exception of dwarves), you have the Hobbits, Elves, Ents and in a sense Men.
When Númenor was created, they had a very great influence by the Eldar, and it seemed to me that they had a certain harmony with their environment. Of course, it changed over time because of the desire of the Númenóreans to sail, they had to fell trees to make their ships.
This passage from Unfinished Tales: The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, Appendix D

But in the earlier days, at the time of the first explorations of the Númenóreans, the situation was quite different. Minbiriath and Enedwaith were occupied by vast and almost continuous forests, except in the central region of the Great Fens. The changes that followed were largely due to the operations of Tar-Aldarion, the Mariner-king, who formed a friendship and alliance with Gil-galad. Aldarion had a great hunger for timber desiring to make Númenor into a great naval power; his felling of trees in Númenor had caused great dissensions. In voyages down the coasts he saw with wonder the great forests, and he chose the estuary of the Gwathló for the site of a new haven entirely under Númenórean control (Gondor of course did not yet exist). There he began great works, that continued to be extended after his days. This entry into Eriador later proved of great importance in the war against Sauron (Second Age 1693-1701); but it was in origin a timber-port and ship-building harbour. The native people were fairly numerous and warlike, but they were forest-dwellers, scattered communities without central leadership. They were in awe of the Númenóreans, but they did not become hostile until the tree-felling became devastating. Then they attacked and ambushed the Númenóreans when they could, and the Númenóreans treated them as enemies, and became ruthless in their fellings, giving no thought to husbandry or replanting.

I wonder if this too a sign of the degeneration of the Númenóreans as a whole? The beginning of the end, or just what is what meant to happen.