In the follow up to his Sunday Times bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben compares tree planting to battery farming
‘In clear, vivid prose with impeccable reasoning, Peter Wohlleben makes a compelling case that almost everything we do in modern forestry management may be dead wrong. What should we do instead? Let the wisdom of the trees quell our human arrogance, heal the forest and restore our sweet, green world’
Sy Montgomery, author of How to be a Good Creature and The Soul of an Octopus
TREES CAN SURVIVE without humans, but we can’t live without trees. Even if human-caused climate change devastates our planet, trees will return—as they do, always and everywhere, even after ice ages, catastrophic fires, destructive storms, and deforestation. It would just be nice if we were around to see them flourish.
The Power of Trees is forester Peter Wohlleben’s follow-up to The Hidden Life of Trees, a Sunday Times bestseller that sold millions of copies worldwide. In his latest book, he is dismissive of token gestures in terms of tree planting. Just as he compared forest trees to ‘families’ and urban trees to ‘street urchins’ in his first book, in The Power of Trees he uses equally powerful metaphors to compare tree planting to battery farming (‘Switching to fast-growing species and breeding trees for desired traits brought results like those achieved by factory farming: individuals ready for harvest at a young age, all with a relatively uniform carcass weight.’). However, he also joyfully describes trees determination to survive, describing seedlings breaking through the earth where you least expect them, as ‘stalwart tree children’.
This latest work is as fascinating and eye-opening as it is trenchant in its critique: on the one hand, Wohlleben describes astonishing discoveries about how trees pass knowledge down to succeeding generations and their ability to survive climate change; on the other, he is unsparing in his criticism of those who wield economic and political power—who plant trees exclusively for the sake of logging and virtue signaling—even as they ruthlessly exploit nature. The Power of Trees is a love letter to the forest and a passionate argument for protecting nature’s boundless diversity, not only for the sake of trees, but also for us.
My Review
Thanks to Anne, of Random Things Tours, and the publisher, for my ARC of this book.
Wohlleben is a veteran forester who cares for an ancient beech wood in Germany. He is opposed to modern forestry practices, including pine and spruce plantations, clearing dead trees from deciduous forests, the way forestry is taught in German forests, and the influence commercial forestry has on politicians and regulatory bodies.
He has some interesting things to say in this book, although much of the science was already known to me, such as the relationship between bacteria, fungi and trees. I knew from experience that woodlands are cooler than the surrounding areas, but I didn’t quite understand why. It was interesting to read the explanation. He is very good at communicating complex science to non-specialists.
I was uncomfortable with some of the anthropomorphism of trees and woodlands, but I can see how the emotive language works to convince people on the fence. I would have preferred him to use the correct scientific language for plant anatomy, such as stomata (the holes on leaves that allow them to respire), and osmosis, the means by which water is pulled through xylem and phloem from roots to leaves. That’s a personal preference and not a reflection on the writing.
The writing is very fluid and engaging. I read it quickly and enjoyed the experience. An interesting addition to the library.
If you want to hear more from the author about the book, New Scientist Weekly podcast has recently done an episode with him.
PETER WOHLLEBEN is one of the world’s most notable foresters and a passionate advocate for tree conservation. Wohlleben lives in Germany, where he manages an ecologically conscious forest and runs an academy for education and advocacy. His books are bestsellers around the world. He speaks fluent English and will be In the UK 22-24 April 2023 to launch the book at the Cambridge Literary Festival and at The Linnean Society in London and available for further Interviews.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 