The Power of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

 The Power of Trees by Peter Wohlleben

The Hidden Life of Trees

The Power of Trees : How Ancient Forests Can Save Us If We Let Them by Peter Wohlleben was published on 20 April 2023 by Greystone Books and is translated by Jane Billinghurst. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour.

Synopsis

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

For me this is a fascinating book which gives an insight into the lives of trees and how they survive, at times against all the odds. Page by page I learnt something different which , in many instances, I hadn't even thought about before, and as a huge tree loving person I was surprised how much I learnt from Peter's writing.

I found myself taking this book on different occasions to either read in our local forest, sit under the trees in my garden or when I went to a local RHS Garden as it was so inspiring reading about trees whilst sitting amongst them. There is a definite connection about being with trees when you are reading about them and the power and life force they have and willingly give to you.

The Power of Trees, for me was not a book to be devoured in one sitting, but one to take my time over and one that I will come back to time and time again over the years.

Even though Peter's research and writing is based in GErmany the translation of the text makes for excellent reading and you just have to accept that some of what he talks about focusses on where he lives compared to our "Island". However, the vast majority of the book applies wherever you live.

I guarantee that once you have read the book you will never look at trees in the same light ever again and will realise even more the importance they play in our world and why we should care for and respect them and not take them for granted.

About the Author

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