The Hidden Life of Trees is a book from the forester Peter Wohlleben exploring the life of trees – do they communicate with their kind like sentient beings? Do they share resources? Do they protect their young and come together to manage a crisis? Or are they just objects performing life processes only for themselves? These are some of the questions that Peter Wohlleben answers based on his research and observation during his own profession.
‘In Feminism and Ecological Communities:
An Ethic of Flourishing, Chris J. Cuomo critiques the animal rights stance that
proceeds solely from the logic that some animals are sentient and can feel pain,
because it privileges sentience in an ecology that relies on both sentient and
non-sentient beings. This privileging, she writes, “comes out of the assumption
that human beings are paradigmatic ethical objects, and that other life-forms
are valuable only in so far as they are seen as similar to humans.”’
-
How to do Nothing by Jenny Odell (click for reading the review) – chapter 5: Ecology of Strangers
I have quoted this passage from a
book that I previously read; I am not here to discuss the merits of the quote
or ethics of animal rights activists – many may not even believe that life-forms
are valuable so long as they resemble human characteristics. However, it is
true that ethical treatment of members of the ‘plant kingdom’ has not been a
topic of discussion. Thus, in this book – the author brings in the features of
trees that resemble sentient beings – their experience of pain, how they provide
for resources to each other, their defence mechanisms and sense of a community.
The author observed trees primarily
in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany – and analysed the
behaviours and the community spirit of the beech trees. Even though most of the
book was focused on Central Europe – most people who are familiar with forests
can relate to the author’s anecdotes – as expressed by different people
knowledgeable on the topic in the foreword to the book.
The author started very well in
the book – trying to ‘humanise’ trees in every way – talking about the networks
they create for communication, the defence mechanisms they develop for protecting
themselves, etc. The book was structured well wherein the author made it clear
on what he was going to establish in each chapter heading. To keep the reader
engaged, he often made some very strong simplistic conclusion which are totally
against a common perception and then went on to elaborate how it is not simple
as that. One such example is how he made an observation as to how high carbon
emissions helped trees to grow faster but with the flipside that trees that trees
have evolved in a manner where they are meant to take time to mature.
The book also provided a whole
new perspective on the kind of trees we plant in gardens or public parks for ‘beauty’,
their life is not much different from the life of cattle in a cruel dairy farm.
It was interesting to know that the beech tree with red leaves which we find
beautiful is a consequence of a negative ‘health condition’ of the tree.
With that said, the author
assumes a lot about the reader – first that most of us have some knowledge of
forests / trees in general. If I am asked shown a picture of ten different
commonly found trees – I would be surprised if I can identify more than even two.
Moreover, I am someone who has never taken a keen interest in forests or nature
tourism at large – and the author often makes statements like ‘as we all love
being in forests’; in fact, I have visited the Rhineland-Palatinate region
myself but more so to visit Karl Marx's house than forests.
That is at least a problem with
me and not the book as such (except for his assumptions), but many of the
conclusions made were mere conjectures with statements like, ‘the tree is still
obtaining resources which means there must be some kind of communication’ (paraphrased).
The author could have merely stated it as his belief and cited that further research
is ongoing.
A minor issue I felt was that the
book was translated a little too much – having all measures in gallons, Fahrenheit,
miles, inches, etc. that it was a mathematical exercise for me to visualise
most of the measures he had cited.
To conclude, this book could be
of great interest to those with a green thumb and a love for forests. In my
case, this could well be another case of a right book in the wrong hands. It
was informative to begin with, but I lost him in the middle of the book when he
went too deep into forests and forest behaviour. If the author had some images
in the book to illustrate his observations, the book could have helped a reader
like myself better. To the extent that he gave me a new perspective when it
comes to looking at trees, forests, the fungi around them – I would consider
that the author has successfully communicated his message.
Owing to these mixed feeling I
have had on the book, I would sit on the fence regarding this book and award it
a rating of five on ten.
Rating – 5/10
Andy
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