The beech tree

I love beech trees, and not just because they grow naturally almost everywhere in Europe and would form primeval forests. No, beech trees are the “family people” among the trees. They support each other through root connections and send each other sugar when one member is weak and sick, and they warn each other through chemical and electrical communication when an enemy is approaching (such as bark beetles or deer).

Alexander von Humboldt already knew about another amazing property of this treesociety that is currently gaining importance for us humans: Intact old forests cool down strongly in summer by evaporation of water, just how strongly is shown by current satellite research. Compared to agricultural land, this cooling can be as much as 10°C, and even as much as 15°C compared to cities. And as if that were not enough, forests create clouds. Over old deciduous forests, it rains significantly more than over pine plantations or treeless land. Nevertheless, even in such forests, climate change is making them drier. But the beech trees are obviously learning. In the last dry summer of 2020, for example, a number of beech trees lost their green foliage in a shocking manner at the beginning of August, but this year, which was even drier, at least in Germany, the trees remained predominantly green. They had learned to be more sparing with the water reserves that were still stored in the soil from the winter, and were thus able to survive the summer.

A social attitude, mutual support, a positive influence on the local climate, lifelong learning - I would like to see all this in human society as well. Until that time comes (and I am optimistic about that) we should take the help of the trees by letting them grow in wild forests.

In this sense, I am very happy about the 100th birthday of the International Tree Foundation as a friend of the trees - may at least another hundred years follow!

Peter Wohlleben is the author of several books about the natural world, including The Hidden Life of Trees. A long time former forester, Wohlleben runs a Forest Academy in Germany that supports sustainable forest management and teaches adults and children about the many wonders of the forest.