Summary (Amazon): In The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group.
Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.
Reviews:
NY Times: "German Forest Ranger Finds that Trees have Social Networks" https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/world/europe/german-forest-ranger-finds-that-trees-have-social-networks-too.html
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/12/peter-wohlleben-man-who-believes-trees-talk-to-each-other
The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/12/peter-wohlleben-man-who-believes-trees-talk-to-each-other
Author, Peter Wohlleben's, Site: http://www.peter-wohlleben.de/english/
Wohlleben's Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/PeterWohlleben
https://soundcloud.com/uncommonsense-rrr/interview-with-peter-wohlleben-the-hidden-life-of-trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1djibBPOfto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku21HGFT7x8
Quotes:
“But we shouldn't be concerned about trees purely for material reasons, we should also care about them because of the little puzzles and wonders they present us with. Under the canopy of the trees, daily dramas and moving love stories are played out. Here is the last remaining piece of Nature, right on our doorstep, where adventures are to be experienced and secrets discovered. And who knows, perhaps one day the language of trees will eventually be deciphered, giving us the raw material for further amazing stories. Until then, when you take your next walk in the forest, give free rein to your imagination-in many cases, what you imagine is not so far removed from reality, after all!”
“If we want to use forests as a weapon in the fight against climate change, then we must allow them to grow old, which is exactly what large conservation groups are asking us to do.”
“There are more life forms in a handful of forest soil than there are people on the planet. A mere teaspoonful contains many miles of fungal filaments. All these work the soil, transform it, and make it so valuable for the trees.”
Possible trip: The Hidden Forest: May 13, 2018
starting at 249 Euros with a 6 hour walk through the forest, including drinks and meals. Overnight stay is available. See site for more information:
http://shop.waldakademie-huemmel.de/epages/32674.sf/en_US/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2F32674%2FProducts%2F118
Wohllebens Waldakademie, include many seminars, shorter walks, etc. : http://shop.waldakademie-huemmel.de/epages/32674.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/32674/Categories
Wohlleben's Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/PeterWohlleben
(http://upliftconnect.com)
Interviews:https://soundcloud.com/uncommonsense-rrr/interview-with-peter-wohlleben-the-hidden-life-of-trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1djibBPOfto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku21HGFT7x8
Quotes:
“But we shouldn't be concerned about trees purely for material reasons, we should also care about them because of the little puzzles and wonders they present us with. Under the canopy of the trees, daily dramas and moving love stories are played out. Here is the last remaining piece of Nature, right on our doorstep, where adventures are to be experienced and secrets discovered. And who knows, perhaps one day the language of trees will eventually be deciphered, giving us the raw material for further amazing stories. Until then, when you take your next walk in the forest, give free rein to your imagination-in many cases, what you imagine is not so far removed from reality, after all!”
“If we want to use forests as a weapon in the fight against climate change, then we must allow them to grow old, which is exactly what large conservation groups are asking us to do.”
“There are more life forms in a handful of forest soil than there are people on the planet. A mere teaspoonful contains many miles of fungal filaments. All these work the soil, transform it, and make it so valuable for the trees.”
Possible trip: The Hidden Forest: May 13, 2018
starting at 249 Euros with a 6 hour walk through the forest, including drinks and meals. Overnight stay is available. See site for more information:
http://shop.waldakademie-huemmel.de/epages/32674.sf/en_US/?ViewObjectPath=%2FShops%2F32674%2FProducts%2F118
Wohllebens Waldakademie, include many seminars, shorter walks, etc. : http://shop.waldakademie-huemmel.de/epages/32674.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/32674/Categories
Hümmel Germany, located southwest of Bonn:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/53520+H%C3%BCmmel,+Germany/@50.4718633,6.7295522,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x47bfa819caf677d3:0x422d4d510dae1f0!8m2!3d50.4614898!4d6.777934
(https://si.wsj.net)
Discussion Questions by Donna, who will be leading the discussion:
1. What are the most surprising, or fascinating facts, statistics or stories you learned from The Hidden Life of Trees?
2. Let’s talk about the “wood wide web” and the reasons and ways trees communicate with each other.
3. Discuss relationships between trees and wildlife, from beavers to bark beetles, giraffes, woodpeckers, etc.
4. Wohlleben’s style of anthropomorphizing adaptations of trees is criticized by many. How did you feel about his use of language like: ‘behaviors’ of trees, ‘mother’ trees, ‘happy’ trees, ’screaming’ trees?
5. This book has been translated into 18 languages and has been a New York Times and international best seller for some time now. What do you make of its popularity?
6. What are some ways particular trees or forests have affected your life over the years?
7. How does Wohlleben challenge us to think in more long range, tree life-span time frames? (thinking about ages of trees, mosses; contribution of nurse logs, dead habitat trees, and ultimately becoming humus).
8. He also teaches us about some very interesting biochemicals, such as; ethylene, betulin, terpenes, salicylic acid, tannins, phytoncides, anthocyanin, et. al. What do you remember about these?
9. How does the author address effects of climate change on forests, and vice versa? Do you think he talked about this enough?
10. Was this book too similar to “The Forest Unseen” to include it so soon on our reading list? Which one did you like best? Who would you gift this to?
