It wasn’t until Peter Wohlleben began organizing survival training tours in the German forest he managed that he learned to start seeing trees as part of a social network and more human-like than we think. His deep dive into the wonders of the forest and the scientific discoveries he unearthed led to his international bestselling book, The Hidden Life Of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate. He speaks at Innis Hall on October 12, on tree friendships, the “wood wide web” and how replacing forests tree plantations may be dooming the planet.
What characteristics most surprised you about trees?
Trees don’t just care for themselves they support unconditionally other trees. We used to learn in school that evolution is survival of the fittest. But with trees it’s just the opposite. When one tree is weak, it will be supported by its neighbours, though you’d think they’re fighting against each other. As a forester, I always thought trees had to be supported by removing their neighbours by chainsaw. Now I know that I was destroying their families.
You say tress communicate through a “wood wide web.” What information are they exchanging?
When they’re in danger, for example, when an insect or deer bites the tip of the tree, the tree may bring a poison into the leaf and warn its neighbours via the roots and via fungal networks.
Can we consider trees to be sentient beings?
That’s the main question people ask who’ve never heard about tree feelings: “You mean trees feel pain like we feel pain?” Trees have memories from happenings that caused them pain, the same way humans do. We know when a tree has suffered heavy drought the wood cracks inside. We measure those signals and [know] a tree keeps it in its memory and, next spring, will save more water in the soil to guard against a mainly dry summer.
Speaking of drought, burning fossil fuels from trees that died 300 million years ago, as you point out in your book, is now altering the climate in ways that are imperiling today’s trees. What are you most concerned about for forests?
The great concern is the impact of the forest industry. Managed forests are the reason why infestations like the pine beetle and forest fires are so much bigger and more dangerous than if we left woodlands on their own. In Germany, when we have forest fires, it’s always in plantations, never in natural woodlands. The more you disturb the ecosystem, the more easily it can be damaged by climate change. When we do research on why those fires happen and why those forests are so unstable, one of many reasons is the heavy machinery [compacting the soil, making it difficult to absorb rainfall]. Trees in natural forests are so old it’s in their nature to be able to withstand climate change.
Canada is famous for treating our forests like wood factories. Is it possible for a logging nation to log differently and still spare trees “unnecessary suffering?”
We have changed our methods [in Germany]. We don’t plant any more – we leave that up to nature. We don’t clear-cut. We don’t use insecticides. The forests are becoming healthier and have a higher biomass per acre that produces much more wood per year. When you are a little more careful with the forests, they provide much more money and wood.
You say planted trees are not able to communicate with each other like those in nature.
The problem is, when you plant a tree you lose the root tips. A 2-foot-high tree should have a root system that’s 5 feet in diameter. [But the roots are] cut to fit into containers. They grow in a circle and never recover from this. When you cut the roots, you cut away the brain-like structures in the roots, which are essentially for communication and connecting with each other.
You say trees are good parents. Are there any lessons you think humans could learn from trees?
To be more patient [and] slow it down. In our times we are working too fast. Trees are the [opposite]: the slower the better. They withstand storms and fungi better. The second thing we learn from trees is that society works [best] when everyone works together. We see it on our [forest reserves] when an old beech tree becomes lonely because a storm has blown down four or five of its neighbours and becomes weak. We all know it’s not working when every single person is just thinking of him or herself. Trees work together. When one has more sugar to give it will give it to its neighbours.
You suggest walking through forests looking for hidden dramas and love stories. Do you have any tips?
People should look at trees like they do elephants. When we look at elephants, we don’t ask how much oxygen or raw materials they produce, we just look at them and say, “Wow, what a wonderful being.” My wish would be that when people look at trees they see them as wonderful beings worthwhile in and of themselves, like they are looking at a plant elephant. The advantages of a plant elephant is that you don’t have to fly to Africa and do a safari, you can just step out of your house, even in the middle of Toronto.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
ecoholic@nowtoronto.com | @ecoholicnation
