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Living with Trees book review

‘Grow, protect and celebrate the trees and woods in your community’ is the subtitle for this recent book by Robin Walter, published by Little Toller Books. It captures the author’s belief that now is a particular moment in time for society to redefine its relationship with trees and forests.

Living with Trees is a rather unusual book, combining practical information with inspiring case studies, all with a view to helping people and communities reconnect with trees. Following a foreword by self-confessed tree-lover Dame Judi Dench, a 19-point Manifesto for Trees provided by Common Ground is given early prominence. This covers a lot of the bases although an aspect I thought missing was a call to celebrate the roles of those who care for our forests, whether the private woodland owners who own 73% of Britain’s forests, or our professional foresters and arborists. This is a shame as the topic is well-covered in the main text with a whole section dedicated to ‘Working with Trees’.

The book is split into five main sections covering the origins of our trees, how trees feature in our modern lives, the myriad ways in which we engage with trees (e.g. art, playtime, health and wellbeing etc.), the utility of trees, and a final section looking forward. A huge amount of ground is covered in the book, from the wildwood of old, to the latest thinking about our ‘dash for carbon’, the science of the wood wide web, rewilding in our uplands, agroforestry, nature’s health service, and more. A useful glossary and further reading section is provided.

“We need to restore the web of life — the plants, trees and animals and our place among them”

Living with Trees, Robin Walter

I was unsure quite how to approach this cornucopia of silvan meanderings, sometimes gifting us with knowledge, sometimes challenging us to take action. It seemed to equally satisfy a casual lucky-dip as much as a concerted index-led search. Eventually I settled down to the traditional approach of reading the book from beginning to end. While the range of issues and topics covered is enormous, the author’s passion and knowledge for the subject provides a steady compass for anyone even remotely interested in trees.

The author’s passion and knowledge for the subject provides a steady compass for anyone even remotely interested in trees.

Living with Trees is another quality book produced by Little Toller, full of excellent images, both photographs and artwork. Personally I was not a fan of the small and untidy font used in captions for the interesting thumbnail snippets that are peppered throughout the book, as I found it difficult to read. This is an unfortunate if minor niggle, as these provide fascinating vignettes into art, history and science topics, alongside the main text.

Living Woods deserves a place on the bookshelves of anyone with an existing passion for trees, or indeed for anyone who cares about the future of the natural world and sustainable society.

All proceeds of sales from this book are being donated to the environmental charity Common Ground.

Publisher: Little Toller Books
Publish Date: 2 November 2020
Language: English
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781908213730

Where to buy Living with Trees

Buy direct from the publisher Little Toller Books

The post Living with Trees book review appeared first on Gabriel Hemery.

Christmas Sale

There are some great savings to be enjoyed in my online shop this Christmas.

Save up to 25% on signed paperback copies of my books, enjoy discounts on ebooks, and take advantage of great deal on a pack of attractive cards suitable for Christmas and beyond. Free postage within the UK.

Caledonian Pinewood Cards, pack of 6


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Book Reviewers Wanted

My second collection of short stories will be published on 1st March 2021, titled Tall Trees Short Stories: Volume 21.

I am looking for independent book reviewers, who in return for a free advance review copy (ARC), would be willing to post a review to help guide future readers in whether or not to purchase a copy.

[image error]Tall Trees Short Stories Vol21 paperback

Reviewers should be prepared to write a fair and balanced review, and to post this on a book platform such as Amazon, Goodreads, Google Books etc. If you also have your own website where you regularly post book reviews, that would also be highly suitable.

I request that every reviewer clearly states that their review was undertaken in exchange for a free advance review copy provided by the author.

I’ve created a simple form where you can get in touch and express interest in receiving a review copy.

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You can also view the form here

Thanks for your interest.

Night of the Woodcock Moon

There is a full moon today, starting at 09.29, 30th November 2020. Did you know that in Britain the first full moon in November is known as the Woodcock Moon?

Crepuscular

Sometimes it is known as the Beaver Moon, but in Britain it has traditionally been called the Woodcock Moon. It is named after one of my favourite birds the European Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola), whose amazing 360-degree vision and cryptic camouflage make this an endearing bird. It is active at dusk and dawn, and I admit that the term used to describe this unusual habit is perhaps my favourite word in the English language: crepuscular.

Fall

Woodcocks are native to Britain, and many birds choose to live in our woods and forests all year round. However, we also receive a massive influx of hundreds of thousands of birds each winter. Some estimates put a number of between 700,000 and 1,200,000 arriving during November, December, and January. They migrate from the frozen steppes of northern Europe, including the Baltic States, Russia, and Siberia. Traditionally, among the shooting community — the woodcock is a prized quarry because of the difficulty of shooting one given its rapid zig-zag flight — the mass arrival of birds is called the ‘Fall’. The Game & Wildlife Trust have launched an appeal to learn more about these elusive birds via a satellite tagging programme.

Woodcock Moon

Traditional tales also tell of our smallest bird, the goldcrest, hitching a ride on the backs of woodcocks. As usual, nature inspired my creativity, and I’ve written a new short story which be published in my next collection of environmental tales. The short story is a little bawdy which I won’t explain here, but it ends with this poem:

Woodcock Moon

A mere five thousand miles to fly;
Rising from the Russian steppe,
And guided by a crest of gold,
To fall upon the English cold,
On the night of the Woodcock Moon.

Gabriel Hemery
From Woodcock Moon, Tall Trees Short Stories Vol21, coming spring 2021.

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Favourite Tree Podcasts

In a programme aired from today on the BBC’s Podcast Radio Hour, presenters Verity Sharp and Moy McGowan recommend their favourite tree podcasts.

The podcast has been put together by the BBC to celebrate UK’s National Tree Week which takes places from 28 November – 6th December 2020. Around the country, volunteer Tree Wardens and other champions of local trees will be holding tree planting events to celebrate National Tree Week: The UK’s largest annual tree celebration!

Congratulations to Sharon Durdant-Hollamby for The Tree Lady podcast in being selected. Exciting for me too as my recent interview with Sharon is included in the BBC’s selection. I talked to Sharon about my collection of environmental tales in my latest book Tall Trees Short Stories Vol.20.

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Listen to the BBC Podcast Radio Hour

Talking with the Tree Lady

Read more about my conversation with The Tree Lady from my post on 30th October 2020

One Million Reads

I realise this won’t mean much to others, but it means a lot to me … the number of reads of my blog has now passed one million reads.

It’s interesting looking back to my first post in May 2010, when I explained what motivated me to start writing a blog.

Thanks so much to all my loyal followers! Your questions, comments, and encouragement make it all worthwhile.

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Help Your Local Bookshop

Local bookshops are a vital part of our society and culture, yet we are in danger of losing more and more of them. There’s a new kid on the block that might just help: Bookstore.org.

UK bookshops were already under constant threat by large multi-national online companies, and now Covid-19 is having a fearsome impact. Before the global pandemic, things were looking rosy, with sales of printed books rising year on year, and the number of independent bookshops rallying from a fall to less than one thousand in 2014.

Regular readers will know that I’ve been promoting Hive as a way of supporting your local bookshop while buying online. Earlier this week a new platform was launched in the UK: Bookshop.org.

Since launching as a B Corporation in the US in April 2020 by founder Andy Hunter, Bookshop has raised more than $1M for bricks and mortar stores. The company has been explicit in its attempt to provide an alternative to huge companies such as Amazon that dominate the online bookselling industry. Read more

Since its launch in the UK on Monday 2nd November, it has rapidly made a positive impact. By the end of the first day it had raised more than £12,500 via its ‘profit pool’. As we near the end of the first week since its launch, the total raised will easily exceed £60,000.

Bookshop.org says it gives away 75% of its profits. You can choose the local bookshop that you would like to support, and it will receive the full profit (typically 30%) of your order. Otherwise a proportion of your purchase goes into the profit pool that will be shared between all independent bookshops.

The company also runs an affiliate scheme which pays 10% to an affiliate and matches that with a 10% payment to the profit pool. I’m pleased to say that I’ve been accepted as an affiliate and I’ve launched my own virtual store. So, if you visit my virtual store, you’ll not only be supporting me, but your local bookshop at the same time. What’s not to love about that?

Visit uk.bookshop.org/shop/gabrielhemery to purchase any of my books or browse through some of my favourite tree books.

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This page contains affiliate links. Read more

Celebrating the 400th anniversary of John Evelyn’s birth

[image error]An article by Gabriel Hemery about John Evelyn features in the Autumn 2020 issue of Living Woods Magazine (click to download free pdf)

The father of British forestry, John Evelyn, was born 400 years ago today, on 31st October 1620 at Wotton in Surrey. Among those of us with a passion for trees and forestry, Evelyn is known to us as the author of Sylva: or, a Discourse of Forest-trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties dominions.

Evelyn was a tireless public servant and a true polymath. He was also a fastidious diarist, and although overshadowed by Samuel Pepys, he documented life more comprehensively than Pepys and for a longer period. He commented in one entry recounting his early childhood in 1625:

‘This was the year in which the pestilence was so epidemical, that there died in London five thousand a week, and I well remember the strict watchers and examinations upon the ways as we passed; and I was shortly after so dangerously sick a fever, that (as I have head) the physicians despaired of me.’

John Evelyn

All of us reading this in 2020 may appreciate such sentiments so much more than we would have done less than a year ago.

The Future Sylva

I have contributed a paper to a special online publication co-ordinated by the Australian and New Zealand Environmental History Network (ANZEHN). Edited by John Dargavel and Ben Wilkie the freely available publication Restoring Forests in Times of Contagion features 12 papers saluting John Evelyn on his 400th Birthday.

Abstract

In 1664 London, even while copies of John Evelyn’s magisterial book Sylva were rolling off the presses under the auspices of the Royal Society, news of another major plague outbreak on mainland Europe reached the city. Evelyn’s mission for King Charles II was to inspire a revival of interest in silviculture, including more afforestation in Britain. His work was driven by a strategic need for timber to aid recovery from the civil war and to support Britain’s growing ambitions on the world stage. Fast forward 356 years, the world is facing a new pandemic in the form of Covid-19. Britain remains one of the least-wooded countries in Europe and has one of the lowest tree counts per citizen anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, our knowledge of forest ecosystems and understanding of the complexity of the natural world, such as the microbiome, is helping us care for our forests with increasing competence. Advances in bioengineering are bringing ever more efficient applications for woody biomass and cellulose that might help us mitigate and adapt; to live more sustainably. Yet, the world teeters on the threshold of a climate emergency while globally an area of natural forest seven times larger than Britain is deliberately deforested every year and millions more hectares degraded by wildfires. This paper explores the notion that is not silvicultural knowledge that impedes sustainable development but human culture. As the saying goes, forestry is more about people than trees.

Restoring Forests in Times of Contagion

Papers in the publication are:

John Dargavel – A Salute to John EvelynGabriel Hemery – The Future SylvaMichael Roche – John Evelyn’s Sylva in New ZealandSybil Jack – Evelyn’s Garden of ParadiseAndré Brett – ‘Some of the Choicest Specimens of Plant Life’: Tree-Planting by Government Railways in Australasia pre-WWIAlison Miller – Death of a Tree, Life of a TreeBen Wilkie – The Deforestation and Reforestation of Victorian VolcanoesDavid Freudenberger and Ian Rayner – Replanting Woodlands in Australia – A Volunteer Rich ProcessLibby Robin – On the Verge of IsolationFiona Firth – Trees on Farms: Tree-planters in the Bega ValleyJohn Taylor and Jane Lennon – Sylva Anew: A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in the Bottle Creek EstateAnton Sveding – ‘Plant trees and grow money’: Promoting Farm Forestry in New Zealand in the 1920sJohn Dargavel – Are Plantations the Answer?



The New Sylva



[image error]The New Sylva by Gabriel Hemery & Sarah Simblet

I celebrated the life and sylvan writings of John Evelyn in my 2014 book The New Sylva: A Discourse of Forest and Orchard Trees for the Twenty-First Century by Gabriel Hemery and Sarah Simblet. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN978-1408835449

Books are available from all good bookshops, while signed copies are available with all proceeds to the charity from: www.sylva.org.uk/shop

Talking with the Tree Lady

I recently enjoyed the privilege of being interviewed by The Tree Lady Sharon Durdant-Hollamby for her brilliant regular podcast series Tree lady Talks.

The Tree Lady, Sharon Durdant-Hollamby, talks about all things trees, nature, and well-being to fascinating people from all walks of life. Sharon invited me onto her show to talk about my writing in a special episode focussing on art and literature.

Sharon is such a brilliant interviewer, before I knew it, I had even broken into song. I’m not sure I’ll ever make it as a recording artist, but I really enjoyed our wide-ranging discussion about trees, nature, and environmental sustainability, with a focus on the power of art and literature to transform human culture.

Also featuring on this episode is Dr James Canton, author of The Oak Papers, and artist Stephen Taylor, author of Oak.

You can listen to the episode by clicking the link below. If you don’t already subscribe to Tree Lady Talks I highly recommend that you do.

[image error] Click to visit the Tree Lady Talks website

My thanks to Sharon, and to Noel for the impromptu piano accompaniment!

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Tree Lady Talks

Forest Cover in Europe

The latest forest statistics (2020) released by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations provides some fascinating insights into the state of health of European forests and forest cover across its countries.

Across the 50 territories of Europe there are 1,017,000,000ha of forests; an increase of 23 million hectares since 1990. Overall, forests cover 46.0% of Europe, storing 55 gigatonnes of carbon in its biomass and 172 gigatonnes overall (forest soils make up this difference). In case you wondered what a gigatonne looked like, it is 1,000,000,000 tonnes or equivalent to 200 million elephants.

Finland is currently top of the league of European countries for forest cover with 74% of its 30,391,000ha forested, followed in second place by Sweden at 69%, and Montenegro and Slovenia in joint third at 61% each. Sadly for me as a British forester, the UK languishes near the bottom with just 13% of its 24,193,000ha covered with forest.

The map and graph below are both interactive. Move your mouse over areas of both and click to reveal further facts and figures.

Map of European Forest Cover in 2020 (source FAO)







European Forest Cover by Country in 2020 (source FAO)







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European Forest Cover 2015European Forest Cover 2010



Source

FAO and UNEP. 2020. The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people. Rome. https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8642en