If you have an interest in trees, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Peter Wohlleben’s work by now. The German forester has a couple of bestselling collections of tree related essays out, The Hidden Life of Trees being the best known. This new book is similar – short chapters looking at different aspects of tree life, science and culture.
As before, Wohlleben follows his curiosity, drawing on his own experiences and observations, or expounding some new scientific finding. This time there is a loose theme of climate change, how trees adapt, how they affect the weather, and how we can steward forests better.
We start with trees themselves, and a series of chapters that look at how they cope with drought and stress. What is a tree actually doing when it drops its leaves early? Or when it flowers for a second time in a year? The conventional wisdom is that plants are confused by unpredictable seasons, but Wohlleben explains how these are deliberate strategies and there is a logic to them. Trees “are not life-forms that stand there and suffer as human activity changes the global climate,” he concludes. “Rather, they are creatures rooted in their environments that react when conditions threaten to get out of control.”
It shouldn’t surprise us that trees are capable of strategic action, the book argues. After all, a mature tree has hundreds of years of experience to draw on. It’s also in communication with its neighbours, sharing information and nutrients.
The book goes on to investigate the role that trees play in moderating local and global temperatures. It explains how trees air condition the air around them through transpiration, which is why being in the woods is cooler than simply standing in the shade. It explains how this transpiration plays a role in large scale weather patterns. “If we were to give full credit to the trees for the climate services they provide, it would become clear that protecting forests is more important than using wood as a raw material, and that we need to cut back drastically on our consumption of planks and paper.”
Here is where the book gets more political, critiquing German forestry for its mis-management of forests and its inability to adapt in a changing climate. Since German forestry is respected around the world, lots of countries copy German techniques and that is ultimately spreading unsustainable practice and creating monocultures of trees that vulnerable to changing conditions. It’s a short-sighted approach for the industry as well as for the climate.
Wohlleben also invites us to reconsider our use of wood, and ask more questions about our use of it. Somewhat strangely, he singles out using wood as a material in buildings and furniture. I’d have thought burning wood for fuel, or wasting it in single use packaging would be a bigger priority.
His views on tree planting will also raise eyebrows, though on this I think he’s correct: a lot of tree planting is creating plantations rather than forests. We can only accelerate the process up to a point, and trees in naturally regenerated forests are far more connected and resilient. This makes it all the more important to protect the woodlands we have.
How Trees can Save the World makes a good case for basically leaving trees alone, for rewilding land through natural reforestation. It’s engaging, full of wonder and curiosity, and grounded in a lifetime spent in the woods. It will enrich your view of the world. I recommend picking up a copy and reading it under a tree.
- You can buy How Trees can Save the World from my online bookshop Earthbound Books, though of course Peter and the trees will thank you if you save paper and get it from the library.
The Earthbound Report 