caring for creation Tree of Life

by Dr Jennifer Jones, Scientist and nature writer

As a scientist and nature writer I love visiting woods and forests. They inspire me. Last year two encounters caused me to pause and think about trees. Of the incidents I mention, one left me in awe while the other saddened me.

To walk into a rainforest is to enter a world of wonder. That was my experience last summer. The impact was visceral: I gasped. I found myself in an arena of such richness it was difficult to assimilate. I was in a sea of green, with vegetation at every level. But this was not an Amazonian rainforest; it was just one of many wonderful temperate ancient rainforests we have here in Britain. This was Coed Felenrhyd, in North Wales, one of the Snowdonian temperate rainforests and what a treat it was.

The second incident occurred as I passed a man in Liverpool sweeping up small twigs dislodged by recent gales. It was clear he was very annoyed. ‘Trees only belong in forests’, he bemoaned angrily.

We seem to have lost our relationship with trees. Even worse, they are often seen as dispensable despite being essential for our survival. My encounter with the man who believed trees only belong in forests bore witness to that. To him, urban trees are a nuisance.

Through the amazing process of photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon and release oxygen, keeping us alive and mitigating climate change. Their leaves help to filter particulate pollution. They provide shade and shelter, something that will become even more significant as climate change takes effect.

Trees are also a habitat in their own right. Recent research has shown oak trees can harbour 2,300 species including 38 bird species, 108 fungi, and 1,178 invertebrates. The author, Peter Wohlleben, calls trees the ‘mother ships of biodiversity’. When trees die and rot, their nutrients return to the soil. Trees can help to regulate water, especially important in areas at risk of flooding. Of course, woodlands are also a crop in their own right, as we need wood for buildings and furniture.

Dr Suzanne Simard is a Canadian forest scientist who has shed light on an amazing