​

Research: 

​

​

​

References and Links to Further Reading: 

​

• Wohlleben, P. (2016). The hidden life of trees: What they feel, how they communicate: discoveries from a secret world. Vancouver: Greystone Books.

• https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_hessburg_why_wildfires_have_gotten_worse_and_what_we_can_do_about_it Megafires, individual fires that burn more than 100,000 acres, are on the rise in the western United States -- the direct result of unintentional yet massive changes we've brought to the forests through a century of misguided management. What steps can we take to avoid further destruction? Forest ecologist Paul Hessburg confronts some tough truths about wildfires and details how we can help restore the natural balance of the landscape.

 

• https://www.ted.com/talks/shubhendu_sharma_how_to_grow_a_forest_in_your_backyard Forests don't have to be far-flung nature reserves, isolated from human life. Instead, we can grow them right where we are -- even in cities. Eco-entrepreneur and TED Fellow Shubhendu Sharma grow ultra-dense, biodiverse mini-forests of native species in urban areas by engineering soil, microbes and biomass to kickstart natural growth processes. Follow along as he describes how to grow a 100-year-old forest in just 10 years, and learn how you can get in on this tiny jungle party.

 

• https://www.ted.com/talks/jean_francois_bastin_what_if_there_were_1_trillion_more_trees

       Today humanity produces more than 1,400 tons of carbon every minute. To combat climate change, we need to reduce fossil fuel emissions and draw down excess CO2 to restore the balance of greenhouse gases. Like all plants, trees consume atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis. So what can trees do to help in this fight? Jean-François Bastin digs into the efforts to restore depleted ecosystems. [Directed by Lobster Studio, narrated by Addison           Anderson, music by Fabrizio Martini]

 

 

• https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other "A forest is much more than what you see," says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery -- trees talk, often and over vast distances. Learn more about the harmonious yet complicated social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new eyes.

 

• https://www.ted.com/talks/camille_defrenne_and_suzanne_simard_the_secret_language_of_trees#t-2445 Most of the forest lives in the shadow of the giants that make up the highest canopy. These are the oldest trees, with hundreds of children and grandchildren. They check in with their neighbours, share food, supplies and wisdom gained over their lives, all while rooted in place. How do they do this? Camille Defrenne and Suzanne Simard explore the vast root system and intricate communication of trees. [Directed by Avi Ofer, narrated by Bethany Cutmore-Scott, music by WORKPLAYWORK and Cem Misirlioglu].

 

• https://www.ted.com/talks/richard_preston_the_mysterious_lives_of_giant_trees Science writer Richard Preston talks about some of the most enormous living beings on the planet, the giant trees of the US Pacific Northwest. Growing from a tiny seed, they support vast ecosystems -- and are still, largely, a mystery.

 

• https://www.ted.com/talks/shubhendu_sharma_an_engineer_s_vision_for_tiny_forests_everywhere A forest planted by humans, then left to nature's own devices, typically takes at least 100 years to mature. But what if we could make the process happen ten times faster? In this short talk, eco-entrepreneur (and TED Fellow) Shubhendu Sharma explains how to create a mini-forest ecosystem anywhere.

• https://www.afforestt.com/  Afforestt is a service provider for creating natural, wild, maintenance-free, native forests. At Afforestt, we work passionately on and off-site to provide the best solutions at the lowest possible cost. Started in January 2011, Afforestt is a for-profit social enterprise on a mission to bring back our native forests. Our mission is to bring back our lost forests, we do it by creating the

       Video Tutorials to make your own Forest https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shubzsharma/video-tutorials-to-make-your-own-forest

 

• https://www.ted.com/talks/corneille_ewango_a_hero_of_the_congo_forest Botanist Corneille Ewango talks about his work at the Okapi Faunal Reserve in the Congo Basin -- and his heroic work protecting it from poachers, miners and raging civil wars.

• https://www.ted.com/talks/nalini_nadkarni_conserving_the_canopy A unique ecosystem of plants, birds and monkeys thrives in the treetops of the rainforest. Nalini Nadkarni explores these canopy worlds -- and shares her findings with the world below, through dance, art and bold partnerships.

       https://creative-capital.org/projects/sculpture-in-trees/  artist Bruce Chao  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/socially-relevant/201508/the-rise-              green-prison-programs

 

• article by Writer journalist based in Kenya, Tristan McConnell and   Kenyan photojournalist Kabir Dhanji   https://emergencemagazine.org/story/illuminating-kirinyaga/

 

• article Earth Lost Half Its Trees to Humans by Elizabeth Howell September 02, 2015 https://www.livescience.com/52070-global-tree-census-human-impacts.html

 

• Article Human Influences on Tree Diversity and Composition of a Coastal Forest Ecosystem: The Case of Ngumburuni Forest Reserve, Rufiji, Tanzania The main goal of this study was to determine the influence of uncontrolled anthropogenic activities on tree species diversity and composition within the forest ecosystem. It was revealed that economic activities including logging, charcoaling, and shifting cultivation were the most important disturbing activities affecting ecological functioning and biodiversity integrity of the forest

 

• https://www.naturesoundmap.com/ sounds of the forest and nature

 

• Grounding to Mother Gaia 🌍 Shaman Drum Journey, Gong & Nature ROOT Chakra Meditation Music

 

• Igniting the Sixth Sense: The Lost Human Sensory that Holds the Key to Spiritual Awakening and Unlocking the Power of the Universe https://www.amazon.com/Igniting-Sixth-Sense-Spiritual-Awakening/dp/1939410037  - Igniting the Sixth Sense deals with the magnetic sense that allows birds, whales, bees and many other animals to detect and use magnetic fields in ways that seem impossible for humans. Yet, we possess this same natural ability. Influence reality with the power of thought. Push into the universal mind, vastly increasing your intelligence? How to access a larger memory beyond your own; How to create a 'psychic buffer' so you aren't overwhelmed, harmed or influenced by the energy and thoughts of others. Learn the secret to programming your own energy field

 

•  Biophysics and Neurophysiology of the Sixth Sense, Editors: Rezaei, Nima, Saghazadeh, AmeneThis book will provide a scientific system for the human sixth sense using relevant biophysical and neurophysiological evidence.  https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030106195

 

• The Nature Instinct: Relearning Our Sixth Sense for the Inner Workings of the Natural World by Tristan Gooley

       Published: 2018-11-20 Most of us have lost our way in nature at one time or another. ... us back into nature with a series of books on how to “read water,” how to ... The Nature Instinct: Relearning Our Sixth Sense For The Inner Workings Of The Natural World ... when we can ask “smart speakers” any question that pops into mind?

 

• How can we create a SIXTH SENSE (which is Common sense ...Let's do "sixth sense" = "common sense" to make things easier. ... can even reinvent ourselves with all senses (in cognitive sciences one can talk about thousand senses and not ... This is probably because human reasoning is not algorithmic by nature. ... About this read the book "Everything is Obvious" of Duncan J. Watts.

• ​

 

• The Symbolism of Trees:  http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/treelore.htm The Herder Symbol Dictionary says, “Psychoanalysis sees in the tree a symbolic reference to the mother, to spiritual and intellectual development, or to death and rebirth.” It also notes that the fruit, shade, and protective nature of trees have caused them to be seen as feminine or maternal symbols; yet, at the same time, the erect trunk is a phallic symbol. Perhaps this is why, for Carl Jung, the tree symbolized the Self, androgyny (integration and equality between the masculine and feminine principles), and individuation.'...A tree is one of the best examples of a motif that often appears in dreams (and elsewhere) and that can have an incredible variety of meanings. It might symbolise evolution, physical growth, or psychological maturation; death (Christ’s crucifixion on the tree); it might be a phallic symbol; it might be a great deal more. And such other common dream motifs as the cross or the lingam can also have a vast array of symbolic meanings...' – Man and his Symbols by Carl Jung

 

• https://eu.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2015/01/10/humans-trees-vital-relationship/21551347/ Humans, trees have a vital relationship

• respiratory tree or tracheobronchial tree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathing

• https://www.fs.usda.gov/features/power-one-tree-%E2%80%93-very-air-we-breathe#block-menu-service-footer-four-id

      The Power of One Tree – The Very Air We Breathe

• Article The Moral Importance of Reflective Empathy by Ingmar Persson & Julian Savulescu

• Does Past Experience Increase Empathy? By Adam Gerace Ph.D. Similar past experiences can both help and hinder our understanding of others.

• The guardians of biodiversity Ulrike Prinz | 7th May 2020 for Ecologist The indigenous people of the Amazon rainforest see themselves as the guardians of the forest. They succeeded where most others failed: increasing their environment’s natural diversity. So what can we learn from them? https://theecologist.org/2020/may/07/guardians-biodiversity

 

• https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/documents/treebook/parts.htm What are the Parts of a Tree?

•  

 

• https://www.ted.com/talks/suzanne_simard_how_trees_talk_to_each_other

 

•  https://rainforests.mongabay.com/ RAINFOREST INFORMATION By Rhett A. Butler  Last updated Aug 14, 2020, A Place Out of Time: Tropical Rainforests and the Perils They Face - information on tropical forests, deforestation, and biodiversity

 

• https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/murder-logging-and-land-theft-inside-a-crime-factory-in-the-amazon/ One of the Amazon’s most deforested regions, Lábrea is remote, poorly policed and suffering from a land tenure crisis. As a result, land grabbing, illegal logging and murder are routine. A criminal nexus of landholders laying claim to protected forests they intend to turn into cattle pasture compete over the former São Domingos rubber plantation, where reporters found settlers had left en masse following a spate of killings last year. Several of the high-profile landholders and local officials investigated and convicted by federal prosecutors since 2013 were found to have cloned or forged legal documents, and engaged in a conspiracy, fraud, environmental crimes and invasion of public land.

 

• https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/mycorrhizal-networks-wood-wide-web/  Can the wood-wide web really help trees talk to each other? Professor Suzanne Simard https://theplanetmagazine.net/web-of-the-woods-350f64b7f637

       The secret language of trees - Camille Defrenne and Suzanne Simard

​​

• What if there were 1 trillion more trees? - Jean-François Bastin, directed by Lobster Studio.

• How can trees help in the fight against climate change? Dig into the efforts to rebuild damaged ecosystems and reduce carbon emissions.

       Today humanity produces more than 1,400 tons of carbon every minute. To combat climate change, we need to reduce fossil fuel emissions and draw down excess CO2 to restore the balance of greenhouse gases. Like all plants, trees consume atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis. So what can trees do to help in this fight? Jean-François Bastin digs into the efforts to restore depleted ecosystems.

 

• https://www.brainpickings.org/2020/01/20/thoreau-trees/ Calculating the Incalculable: Thoreau on the True Value of a Tree

    “What would human life be without forests, those natural cities?”, Maria Popova

​

• C.G. Jung’s The Tree of Life: from Norse gods to eastern mysticism

      Included in the secret Red Book, the illustration marks Jung’s departure from science into the realms of myth, magic and soul                                   https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/may/29/cg-jungs-the-tree-of-life-1922

      Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 09 Part 1 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, 2nd

​

• https://themindcircle.com/bye-bye-coffins-these-organic-burial-pods-turn-your-loved-ones-into-trees/

       Bye-Bye Coffins! These Organic Burial Pods Will Turn You Into A Tree When You Die

 

• https://www.fastcompany.com/90504789/these-drones-can-plant-40000-trees-in-a-month-by-2028-theyll-have-planted-1-billion These drones will plant 40,000 trees in a month. By 2028, they’ll have planted 1 billion We need to massively reforest the planet, in a very short period of time. Flash Forest’s drones can plant trees a lot faster than humans.

 

• What if there were 1 trillion more trees? - Jean-François Bastin 

• ​

 

• Book Tree: A Life Story (or Tree: A Biography in Australia) is a Canadian non-fiction book written by David Suzuki and Wayne Grady, and illustrated by Robert Bateman. The book profiles the life of a Douglas-fir tree, from seed to maturity to death. The story provides ecological context by describing interactions with other lifeforms in the forest and historical context through parallels with world events that occur during the tree's 700 years of life. Digressions from the biographical narrative, scattered throughout the book, provide background into related topics, such as the history of botany

• Another consequence of climate change: dinky little trees by Kristin Toussaint

      As environmental conditions kill old trees and make it harder for new trees to survive, we may never see forests as we had before. And that, in turn,               creates a new set of environmental problems.

 

• 'Internet of Things technology is being used to help trees fight climate change

      Matthew Wilkinson from Forest Research set up the sensors which will use IoT technology to support researchers.-

      By Marthe de Ferrer

      Specialist technology is being trialled in the UK to monitor the role of trees in tackling climate change. Telecommunications giant Vodafone is teaming up with Defra (the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and Forest Research to study how forests can be used to tackle the climate crisis.  Sensors - specially designed to withstand harsh climates - will be attached to trees as part of a three-month trial, with data continually sent back to scientists for analysis.

• ​

• How Technology Can Help Us Reduce The Rate Of Deforestation; October 9, 2019, by John William; Over the last century, forests have been significantly compromised, resulting in the green cover being lowered to only around 30%. An estimated 18 million acres of forest have been lost every year as calculated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. Deforestation is leading to an imbalance in environmental and ecological lifecycles. Moreover, what makes the situation more alarming is if it continues at the same pace, the rainforests may be destroyed entirely..

• ​

 

 

• Deforestation: A Few Solutions That Can Change The Future

September 18, 2019, by John William. As we can see, the world is on an extreme urge to slow down the pace of climate change by saving water, preserving wildlife, and planting more and more trees. Undoubtedly, trees inevitably hold a significant part to slow the progression of global warming. If the mass destruction and deforestation continue, it will harm the planet by sacrificing the long-term benefits of trees for short-term gains.

• ​

 

• How Tech Can Help Curb Emissions by Planting 500 Billion New Trees

By Marc Prosser -Jul 16, 201911,93 https://singularityhub.com/2019/07/16/how-tech-can-help-curb-emissions-by-planting-500-billion-new-trees/ Trees are a low-tech, high-efficiency way to offset much of humankind’s negative impact on the climate. What’s even better, we have plenty of room for a lot more of them.A new study conducted by researchers at Switzerland’s ETH-Zürich, published in Science, details how Earth could support almost an additional billion hectares of trees without the new forests pushing into existing urban or agricultural areas. Once the trees grow to maturity, they could store more than 200 billion metric tons of carbon. Great news indeed, but it still leaves us with some huge unanswered questions. Where and how are we going to plant all the new trees? What kind of trees should we plant? How can we ensure that the new forests become a boon for people in those areas? Answers to all of the above likely involve technology.Math + Trees = Challenges

 

• AI for smarter forest management; Nearly 19 million acres of forests are destroyed annually, equal to 27 football pitches a minute. Forests serve as homes for thousands of animals, and for many people they're a source of food, water, clothing, medicine and shelter. The so-called lungs of the Earth also mitigate climate change by acting as a carbon sink. And as cities expand and competition for space increases, managing vital green spaces is becoming increasingly important.

To deepen our understanding of these complex ecosystems, 20tree.ai, a Portugal-based startup and member of the NVIDIA Inception program, is combining AI and satellite imagery. Their work allows for the monitoring of entire forests in a fraction of the time currently required… https://www.onartificialintelligence.com/articles/16319/ai-for-smarter-forest-management

 

• Wildfires on the Rise: Identifying High-risk Areas with AI

Battle of the Deep Learning frameworks — Part I: 2017, even more frameworks and interfaces

From Kaggle competition to start-up and tracking 2 million km² of forest

​​

 

• Tech in the Trees; Your National Forests Magazine By Michelle Z. Donahue Published in Winter/Spring 2017 Issue Like the proverbial needle, these bats were proving exceptionally hard to find, especially since they were nowhere near where Ford expected them: around the rocky, cliff-hanging forests near Pigeon Mountain, Georgia. But there he was, scouring 7,000 square miles of Georgia for a dark grey, fist-sized, nocturnal species. Working at the time for the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station, Ford was collaborating with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and West Virginia University to document grey bat habitat use and movements across northwest Georgia…

 

• Four ways technology can save endangered trees 01 Nov 2013 by Robin Bowman

Technologies offer huge scope within the sector of international wildlife trade and regulatory enforcement. For example, technology that tracks timber in trade is still relatively new, but the importance of its role is increasingly recognized, driven by growing consumer demand for the knowledge that the timber was legally harvested, sustainably sourced and managed… https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2013/11/four-ways-technology-can-save-endangered-trees/

 

• HOW MODERN TECHNOLOGY HELPS SAVE TREES

written by Dr Prem Community Writer Technology Helps Save TreesTechnology refers to the application of scientific knowledge to alter the human environment for the betterment of their lives. Technology can be applied to a variety of industrial sectors ranging from medical fields, and communication to the processes and products of the manufacturing industry. Since the 18th century, advancement in technology has been immense but it brought about increased damage on the natural environment mainly through deforestation. While it may be impossible to completely stop deforestation due to our reliance on wood products, it can still be reduced by using more eco-friendly office technologies. For instance, an office may consider going paperless by printing only when necessary along with digitizing all their documents. It could promote the use of natural light and limit the use of air conditioners by implementing smart insulation and natural ventilation. When you clearly analyse the impact of modern technology in saving trees, it may lack a direct connection since they seem to exist as separate entities or an antidote to each other. But an undebatable fact is that modern technology has a significant impact in saving trees. Here is how… https://greendiary.com/how-modern-technology-helps-save-trees.html

 

• Why trees are the best technology. How trees are saving our cities and lives by Nadia Sko https://blog.usejournal.com/why-trees-are-the-best-technology-15c7a1239cb6

 

• Technology to monitor how trees can mitigate climate change

29th July 2020 Pippa Neill Vodafone has announced new plans to attach specialist sensors to trees in order to measure tree growth and understand the role that they can play in mitigating climate change. The partnership with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Forest Research will pilot the use of Internet of Things (IoT) technology to monitor tree growth and the impacts that environmental change is having on the UK’s forests.Data will be collected and transmitted to Defra and Forest Research where advanced analytics will then assess the impact of temperature, humidity and soil moisture on tree growth and function…. https://environmentjournal.online/articles/technology-to-monitor-how-trees-can-mitigate-climate-change/

 

• Wood wide web: Trees' social networks are mapped By Claire Marshall BBC Environment Correspondent

•  

 

• International Journal of Forest, Soil and Erosion (IJFSE) GHB' Journal, Editor, Journal Publisher, Iran

• ​

 

• Is it too late (to stop dangerous climate change)? An editorial Mike Hulme, 2020, WIREs Climate Change

This editorial introduces a WIREs Climate Change Special Collection of nine Opinion Articles, each answering the question, "Is it too late (to stop dangerous climate change)?" Given the rising sense of urgency-and for some despair-to arrest climate change, the nine invited authors were asked to develop their own answer to this question, or indeed to challenge its framing. What might "too late" mean? Too late for what exactly, or for whom? What effect might the language of "too late" have on the public imagination, on political discourse, and on academic research? This collection of essays reveals a diversity of ways of thinking about the relationship between climate and humanity, different modes of analysis, and different prognoses for the future, ranging from qualified pessimism through pragmatic realism to qualified hope.

https://www.academia.edu/40725826/Is_it_too_late_to_stop_dangerous_climate_change_An_editorial?email_work_card=abstract-read-more

 

 

• http://www.troodos-geo.org/cgibin/hweb?-A=246&-V=amiantos Troodos Botanical Garden «Α.G. Leventis»

• ​

• Jakob Kudsk Steensen with Digital work Catharsis and video document about the work. Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen is an artist working with environmental storytelling through 3d animation, sound and immersive installations. He creates poetic interpretations about overlooked natural phenomena through collaborations with field biologists, composers and writers. info@erraticanimist.com

Video about the work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oFrpZAp00M&list=PLnSVx6KsAVaJyshwEysW5DIX5ytz5mTXR&index=11&t=23s&ab_channel=LouisianaChannel    https://jakobsteensen.squarespace.com/installations#/new-gallery-68/  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep_O4GQrOOU&ab_channel=SerpentineGalleries

​

- Stefano Mancuso & Thijs Biersteker video document about their work.  The (Italian botanist) Stefano Mancuso, pioneer of plant neurobiology and defender of the notion of plant intelligence, co-signs with (Dutch digital artist) Thijs Biersteker, an installation which “gives voice” to trees and which, thanks to a series of sensors, reveals their reaction to the environment or to pollution, the phenomenon of photosynthesis, root communication or the idea of a plant memory, making the invisible visible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AMH239bEG8&ab_channel=ThijsBiersteker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wur0jGVii_Y&ab_channel=ThijsBiersteker  

 https://magazine.salonemilano.it/en/people/thijs-biersteker 

https://thijsbiersteker.com/symbiosia 

https://nxtmuseum.com/artist/econtinuum/   

 

- Francis Hallé. video document about the work of botanist-traveller Francis Hallé, whose board notebooks combine the wonder of the designer in front of the trees and the precision of the intimate knowledge of plants, is witness to the meeting between science and the sensitive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63F1se_d9KE&list=PLnSVx6KsAVaJyshwEysW5DIX5ytz5mTXR&index=16&t=7s&ab_channel=FondationCartierpourl%27artcontemporain 

http://noemiethirion.com/francis-halle/    

​

-Katie Holten video document about the work. Irish artist Artist Katie Holten seeks to decolonize language and rewild the imagination by transforming letters into trees. Combining the ancient script Ogham with Irish and English, her Irish Tree Alphabet transforms words into an arboreal language of place and belonging. https://emergencemagazine.org/story/deciphering-words-in-the-woods/   katie holten work with poet Forrest Gander https://emergencemagazine.org/story/forest /

https://www.katieholten.com/irish-tree-alphabet-visual-carlow-ireland/   https://www.katieholten.com/books#/abouttrees/ 

 

​

- Peter Wohlleben Documentary film or/and talk Intelligent Trees A Documentary Film (45 min.) The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World. about how trees communicate with each other, featuring forester and bestselling author Peter Wohlleben ('The Hidden Life of Trees') and forest ecologist Professor Simard (The University of British Columbia)  https://theplanetmagazine.net/web-of-the-woods-350f64b7f637   Suzanne Simard, a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia

The forester and bestselling author PETER WOHLLEBEN tells fascinating stories about the extremely astonishing abilities of trees. For this he draws on scientific knowledge as well as his wealth of experience in dealing with the forest. It enables us to have a new encounter with trees that is urgently needed. Because what we call forest today has long been just a green backdrop of the timber industry and Wohlleben is fighting for the return of the primeval forest. A documentary journey of discovery to the last secrets on our doorstep with spectacular nature film sequences and unseen forest images.

Peter Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific mechanisms behind these wonders, of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group. Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCTCsogAs6U&ab_channel=ForTheWild

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1djibBPOfto&ab_channel=Skavlan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWj1tWZ2_tg&ab_channel=TheAgendawithStevePaikin

 

- Ernst Zürcher 25’ Les liens mystérieux qui unissent l’arbre et l’homme vus par un chercheur atypique (The mysterious links that unite the tree and the man seen by an atypical researcher) An atypical researcher, forest engineer Ernst Zürcher combines science and spirituality to pierce the mysterious links between trees and man. In his approach to the plant world he gives as much credit to ancestral beliefs as to the laws of physics. "A lot of traditional knowledge is now verified by science," he said. "The energetic dimension of trees, their belonging to astronomical and terrestrial cycles, everything can be explained".   FILM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh8VSQJaIOU&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0UxAT_SWmaI-a12__ugBdR6pBsBuUBY3ZghnXwmxSJkn-xADTw-hvqhN0&ab_channel=Passe-moilesjumelles    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlyZE7y0BY8&t=90s&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

 

3A.3 Hugh Wilson The incredible story of how degraded gorse-infested farmland has been regenerated back into beautiful New Zealand native forest over the course of 30 years.. Fools & Dreamers: Regenerating a Native Forest is a 30-minute documentary about Hinewai Nature Reserve, on New Zealand’s Banks Peninsula, and its kaitiaki/manager of 30 years, botanist Hugh Wilson. When, in 1987, Hugh let the local community know of his plans to allow the introduced ‘weed’ gorse to grow as a nurse canopy to regenerate farmland into native forest, people were not only sceptical but outright angry – the plan was the sort to be expected only of “fools and dreamers”. Now considered a hero locally and across the country, Hugh oversees 1500 hectares resplendent in native forest, where birds and other wildlife are abundant and 47 known waterfalls are in permanent flow. He has proven without doubt that nature knows best – and that he is no fool. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VZSJKbzyMc&t=204s&ab_channel=HappenFilms https://happenfilms.com/product/fools-and-dreamers-screening-license/

 

- Engineer Topher White ted talk, video or talk The sounds of the rainforest include: the chirps of birds, the buzz of cicadas, the banter of gibbons. But in the background is the almost-always present sound of a chainsaw, from illegal loggers. Engineer Topher White shares a simple, scalable way to stop this brutal deforestation — that starts with your old cell phone. coding plants is the absolute safeguard

https://medium.com/@TreechainNetwork.com/why-coding-plants-is-the-absolute-safeguard-434bb51fd214 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro4jAzMQ1Og&ab_channel=ideacity

https://www.ted.com/talks/topher_white_what_can_save_the_rainforest_your_used_cell_phone?language=en

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyR-IE82cNw&ab_channel=RE%E2%80%A2WORK

Topher’s background is primarily in Physics, software development and Communication, having received a degree in Physics at Kenyon College and going on to work for years at SLAC Natl Accelerator Lab (High Energy Physics) and the ITER Organization (Nuclear Fusion) in France. Along the way, he also served as CTO for two startups in San Francisco, where he obtained industry-level experience in software development — the foundation of the Rainforest Connection platform. Rainforest Connection (RFCx) is an innovative nonprofit startup at the forefront of conservation technology committed to applying the most effective and timely technology to protect our planet’s precious, ancient forests and wildlife from illegal logging and poaching. RFCx listens to the rainforest remotely, using commonplace mobile tech and existing telecommunications infrastructure, and transforms these audio streams into a profound and automatic understanding of the forest soundscape, rooting out any threats using AI/ML models. RFCx partners with local NGOs and indigenous tribes to deter incursions through real-time threat detection and provides forensic evidence to enable governments to take action to prevent further incursions. They make this data available to academic researchers and government agencies to assist the fields of field ecology and conservation. RFCx is able to cheaply and effectively protect rainforests around the world, with current projects in 11 countries on 5 continents monitoring over 3,000 sq km of rainforest. Conserving rainforests is one of the cheapest and fastest ways to slow climate change today. One acoustic monitoring device, protecting 3 sq km of forest, equates to 15k tons of CO2 sequestered or taking 3,000 cars off the road. RFCx will have expanded into 5 new regions by Spring of 2020. As they work toward a future of plug and play acoustic monitoring devices, they will be able to protect vast expanses of threatened ecosystems even more cheaply. This is needed as soon as possible, as the past solutions of on-ground patrols, camera traps, and satellite imagery are relatively ineffective to protect these large, dense reserves.

 

3A.5 Qing Li, associate professor at Tokyo’s Nippon Medical School and president of the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine INRA, Japan  laboratories that study plant sensitivity Science of "forest bathing" is fewer maladies, more well-being https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jPNll1Ccn0&ab_channel=KirstenDirksen  A belief that nature is good for you may sound like common sense, but in Japan researchers have taken the idea to the laboratory and produced evidence that a walk in the woods can help prevent cancer, fight obesity and reduce stress and depression.

The Japanese have coined the term “shinrin-yoku”, or forest bathing, to codify the practice of exposing yourself to nature (particularly trees). The government has invested millions in both research and “forest therapy trails” – there are now 60 of them in Japan- where the forests have the sufficient density and trails are of sufficient length to provide the benefits of foresting bathing.

The concept is to take a “bath” in the forest by letting nature enter all five sense. Qing Li, associate professor at Tokyo’s Nippon Medical School and president of the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine, argues that the sense of smell is most important.

“The effect of forest bathing is the total effect, but the biggest effect is from the olfactory, smell, we call them phytoncides. Also people call them essential oil, aroma.” Li’s research has shown that trees’ aromas, known as phytoncides, boost our body’s NK (natural killer) cells which help fight tumors and virus-infected cells. Phytoncides are the medical equivalent of essential oils; the most effective aroma is Japanese Cypress. https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/

 

- Envoyé spécial. Le secret des arbres - 26 October 2017 Correspondent. The Secret of Trees - October 26, 2017

They communicate, help each other, defend themselves, they even move! Trees are endowed with a real form of intelligence. And that is now a scientific certainty. Trees occupy nearly a third of our territory and the land surface of the planet. Indispensable to our survival, they are also our best allies in the face of global warming. Yet we hardly know anything about them. Far from being frozen in their plant world, trees actually have a much richer life than they seem. This is the thesis defended by a German forester whose book, The Secret Life of Trees (ed. Les Arènes) has become a global success, translated into 32 languages. From the thousand-year-old beech forests of Germany to forest therapy centers in Japan, to INRA laboratories that study plant sensitivity, travel to the heart of the secret and fascinating universe of trees.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh6rnaqSPto&ab_channel=RadioT%C3%A9l%C3%A9visionSuisse 

​

- David Milarch Moving the Giants: An Urgent Plan to Save the Planet (2015) story of arborist David Milarch, as he helps California coastal redwoods migrate northward to survive climate changes that threaten their current habitat. His is one path to promote "treequestration,"… David Milarch's near-death experience inspired a personal quest: to archive the genetics of the world's largest trees before they're gone. This short film from The Story Group documents his effort to save the redwood champions of Northern California from the effects of climate change One Man’s Mission to Revive the Last Redwood Forests | Short Film Showcase https://youtu.be/wW9w6eCQQkU  National Geographic

 

- Regreening the desert with John D. Liu | VPRO Documentary | 2012 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDgDWbQtlKI&t=97s&ab_channel=vprodocumentary

For more than 15 years, cameraman and ecologist John D. Liu has been working on his worldwide mission to green deserts and to restore biodiversity. It all started in 1995 when Liu filmed the Loess-plateau in China. He witnessed a local population who turned an area of almost the same size as The Netherlands from a dry, exhausted wasteland into one green oasis. This experience changed his life. From that moment on, Liu has been travelling all over the world to convince and inspire government leaders, policy-makers and farmers with his film material and knowledge. Liu diligently spreads the message that restoration of ecosystems is not only possible, but also economically very meaningful. Backlight accompanies Liu on his mission in Jordan and shows on the basis of Liu’s own film material that a green future is possible worldwide. Originally broadcasted by VPRO in 2012. © VPRO Backlight April 2012 On VPRO broadcast you will find nonfiction videos with English subtitles, French subtitles and Spanish subtitles, such as documentaries, short interviews and documentary series. VPRO Documentary publishes one new subtitled documentary about current affairs, finance, sustainability, climate change or politics every week. We research subjects like politics, world economy, society and science with experts and try to grasp the essence of prominent trends and developments.

 

- MON ARBRE Raymond Depardon, Claudine Nougaret 2019 - France - 26mn

At the heart of the thinking behind the exhibition Nous les arbres, the relationship between man and tree becomes the subject of Raymond Depardon and Claudine Nougaret's film, which paints, through the words of those who rub shoulders with them, the portrait of the plane trees or oaks that shade village squares and which are associated with so many memories, from the most personal to the most historical.

​

​

​

Artists and artworks related to the theme of interest:

2.2.1. Digital work Catharsis and video documentation about the work by Jakob Kudsk Steensen

 

 Catharsis is a large-scale, immersive installation that pulls audiences into a digital simulation of a re-imagined old-growth forest. This imaginary forest has existed undisturbed for hundreds of years, free from human intervention and suffused with birdsong. It was developed through fieldwork conducted by Jakob Kudsk Steensen and his primary collaborator Matt McCorkle, and its virtual ecosystem and synchronized spatial audio were built from 3D textures and sounds collected in a number of North American forests.

Set up as a continuous shot that moves from watery underground roots to the the forest’s canopy, Catharsis draws on Kudsk Steensen’s concept of ‘slow media’. As a philosophy and a practice, ‘slow media’ uses digital technologies to draw attention to the natural world and create new narratives on our ecological futures. Collapsing various ecological timelines, the work operates as a digital portal. It takes viewers on a meditative journey through a holistic new world, slowed down and up close.

Catharsis was exhibited at the Serpentine Galleries in January 2020 for Connect BTS 2020, the global public art project initiated by South Korean supergroup BTS. The original version of Catharsis was commissioned by the PinchukArtCentre (Kieve). The work continues Kudsk Steensen and his studio Erratic Animist’s focus on emerging ecological realities, and the ways that digital technologies can be used to engage with past and present natural environments. The hope is that Catharsis creates a temporal space that gives audiences an overwhelming sense of communion and harmony.

Work Catharsis link https://jakobsteensen.squarespace.com/#/new-page/

 

Jakob Kudsk Steensen (b. 1987, Denmark) is Danish artist working with environmental storytelling through 3d animation, sound and immersive installations. He creates poetic interpretations about overlooked natural phenomena through collaborations with field biologists, composers and writers. Projects are based on extensive fieldwork of several months’ duration. Key collaborators include Composer and Musical Director for the Philip Glass Ensemble Michael Riesman, Ornithologist and author Dr. Douglas H. Pratt, Architect Sir David Adjaye OBE RA, BTS, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and the Natural History Museum London, among others.

Kudsk Steensen has recently exhibited internationally at the Venice Biennale, the Serpentine Galleries, the PinchukArtCentre, MATADERO Madrid, Tranen Center for Contemporary Art, Pylon-Hub, SXSW, BRIC Brooklyn, the 5th Trondheim Biennale for Art and Technology, the Carnegie Museum of Art, MAXXI Rome, FRIEZE London, and Ok Corral, among other institutions and festivals.

The artist was the inaugural recipient of the Serpentine Galleries’ Augmented Architecture Commission, which was established with Google Arts & Culture and architect Sir David Adjaye, OBE in 2019. The Deep Listener was the first project of its kind to use Augmented Reality to take the public on an audio-visual ecological expedition through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, London.

Kudsk Steensen was shortlisted for the Future Generation Art Prize 2019. As part of the awards program, he was invited to create and exhibit new installations of RE-ANIMATED (2017-18) in Kieve and Venice. He has received awards from the Danish Arts Foundation, The Augustinus Foundation, the Lumen Arts Prize, The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, Games for Change, the Lumiere Foundation, The Telly Awards, and Cinequest Festival.

Kudsk Steensen is currently an Artist-in-Residence at Luma Arles in France, where he is documenting algae and crystallization processes across the Camargue wetland. https://jakobsteensen.squarespace.com/about

 

Documentation videos about the artist work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oFrpZAp00M&list=PLnSVx6KsAVaJyshwEysW5DIX5ytz5mTXR&index=11&t=23s&ab_channel=LouisianaChannel    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ep_O4GQrOOU&ab_channel=SerpentineGalleries

 

2.2.2. Stefano Mancuso & Thijs Biersteker video documentation about their work.

The (Italian botanist) Stefano Mancuso, pioneer of plant neurobiology and defender of the notion of plant intelligence, co-signs with (Dutch digital artist) Thijs Biersteker, an installation which “gives voice” to trees and which, thanks to a series of sensors, reveals their reaction to the environment or to pollution, the phenomenon of photosynthesis, root communication or the idea of a plant memory, making the invisible visible.

Works https://thijsbiersteker.com/

 

The work showcases the power of a symbiotic relationship in nature and shares the biggest lesson to be learned from a forest ecosystem: together we are stronger.  These giant transparent root networks can measure the air quality, the humidity, C02 levels and volatile organic compounds in the room. It uses this data to generate a conversation as if they were right there under the ground.  The two trees communicate about the biometric and air composition changes in the room, sending electric warning signals and sharing nutrients to keep each other in balance (find out everything about tree communication here  and here). And as a small artistic twist you are invited to join, as you come closer to the piece.  In the two giant transparent root structures a basic eco-a.i. uses the sensors in the room to mimic the intelligent symbiotic relationship taking place underneath the forest floor. The work uncovers how the two trees warn each other, learn from each other and share nutrients. Working together in a symbiotic system moving from tree to tree.  The sensors in the work absorb the visitors behavior into the electro and chemical tree to tree conversation, enabling the work to gain lessons from its visitors. With the aim to let the visitors learn the beauty of a possible continuum into a symbiotic future with nature.The sculpture is made of recycled plastics and is created by using giant 3D printers. The communication between the trees is controlled by a basic eco- a.i that generates the communication in real time and is based on the scientific parameters coming from years of research in the field of plant communication . For the makers the beauty of the work is in it’s evolution. As days and weeks go by, the work and it’s a.i driven soundscape evolve in a way that we can’t foresee yet. This keeps it interesting to come back, even for the team that has built it for months.

 

In Thijs Biersteker work seamlessly combines scientific research and new technologies to deliver an empowering experience that is accessible both intellectually and technologically.  His highly awarded immersive art installations-often described as eco- or awareness art, turn the impact of topics like climate change, air pollution, ocean plastic and the anthropocene  into a tangible experiences that travel the world to create awareness around these topics. His collaborations with the top scientists and universities around te world lead to a fluid mixture of data, sensors, living tree’s, kinetic motion, big data visualisations and recycled plastics that make people feel the facts again .  Currently Biersteker holds a teaching position at the Delft University of Technology (NL) and a Fellowship at the VU university in Amsterdam. He has won awards like the prestigious Lumen Prize for digital art, got nominated for the Stars Prize from Ars Electronica, and the New Technology Art Award. He is a TED speaker and has exhibited at Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain Paris (FR), Today. Art Museum (CN), Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (NL),Science Gallery Dublin (IE), SXSW (USA), Science Centre Kuwait (KW), Mu Gallery (NL) and has been featured in Wired, New Scientist, Financial Times and Discovery Channel. Thijs Biersteker is the founder of Woven Studio,  that works together with universities, scientists, research groups, museums and architects to communicate their scientific facts in an immersive way. https://thijsbiersteker.com/about

 

Video documentation about the artist’s work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AMH239bEG8&ab_channel=ThijsBiersteker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wur0jGVii_Y&ab_channel=ThijsBiersteker  

 https://magazine.salonemilano.it/en/people/thijs-biersteker 

https://nxtmuseum.com/artist/econtinuum/  

 

 

2.2.3. artwork and video documentation of the work by Katie Holten

 

Irish Tree Alphabet, A project exploring language ecosystems, 2020

Katie Holten has created a new Irish Tree Alphabet, drawing trees from a list of existing natives as well as non-natives that are now calling Ireland home due to the changing climate. The work is rooted in the medieval Ogham alphabet which was used to write the early Irish language. The characters or letters were called feda "trees", or nin "forking branches" due to their shape.

Each letter of the Latin alphabet is given a corresponding tree: A = Ailm (Scots Pine), B = Beith (Birch), B = Coll (Hazel), etc. Holten’s tree drawings have been turned into a font called Irish Trees. www.treealphabet.ie.

Katie Holten video document about the work. Irish artist Artist Katie Holten seeks to decolonize language and rewild the imagination by transforming letters into trees. Combining the ancient script Ogham with Irish and English, her Irish Tree Alphabet transforms words into an arboreal language of place and belonging.

https://www.katieholten.com/irish-tree-alphabet-visual-carlow-ireland/   

 https://www.katieholten.com/books#/abouttrees/   

https://emergencemagazine.org/story/deciphering-words-in-the-woods/    katie holten work with poet Forrest Gander https://emergencemagazine.org/story/forest /

 

Katie Holten is a visual artist and environmental activist based in New York City and Ardee. Holten grew up in Ireland and studied Fine Art & History of Art at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin, the Hochschule der Kunst in Berlin, and Cornell University in New York. She also studied Complex Systems Science at the Santa Fe Institute in New Mexico.For over twenty years Katie Holten has made unconventional works, pushing the boundaries of ecological art. At the root of her practice is a commitment to study the inextricable relationship between Humans and Nature. Drawing is her primary research tool.

Several years ago, recognizing a looming crisis of representation as our species adapts to life in the Anthropocene, Holten created a Tree Alphabet and published the book ABOUT TREES, offering readers a language beyond the Human.Since 2014 Holten has hosted monthly Sunday Salons in her home for a community of artists, scientists, writers, philosophers and engaged citizens to explore the possibilities for Art and Activism in the Anthropocene. She recently created a New York City Tree Alphabet.In 2003, Holten represented Ireland at the 50th Venice Biennale with a solo pavilion presentation entitled Laboratorio della Vigna. Other important solo museum exhibitions include the New Orleans Museum of Art in New Orleans (2012), Dublin City Gallery, The Hugh Lane in Dublin (2010), The Bronx Museum of the Arts in New York (2009); Villa Merkel in Esslingen (2008), Nevada Museum of Art in Reno (2008) and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2007). She has conceived major public commissions including TREE MUSEUM (2009-2010) for New York City’s Grand Concourse  commissioned by the NYC Parks Department, the Bronx Museum and Wave Hill.The recipient of numerous Grants and Fellowships, including a Fulbright Scholarship, Pollock Krasner Award, and multiple Bursaries from the Arts Council of Ireland, Holten is a recent MacDowell Fellow and Fellow of the Arts & Humanities Residency at the NYC Urban Field Station awarded by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and the US Forest Service.

Katie Holten is currently creating a new Irish Tree Alphabet, a project exploring language ecosystems and the importance of our words and the stories that we tell.

 

 

 

2.2.4.  audio video Grounding to Mother Gaia Shaman Drum Journey, Gong & Nature ROOT Chakra Meditation Music by Calm Whale Grounding Mother Gaia Ceremony. Enter to the magical forest and feel the moisture and divine Gaia healing vibes. This is shaman drum journey grounding ceremony immersed in sounds of shaman drum, gong, rattles, nature sounds and more.

On this channel I'm focusing on creating natural sounding meditation music using traditional archaic instruments like shaman drums, didgeridoo, rattles, Tibetan bowls, crystal bowls. I'm interested in extraction of their nature so the listener can meditate and deeply relax. To create my soundscapes, I also use instruments kalimbas, tongue drums, hand pans and rav drum.

I'm recording all my video footage myself to give You unique meditative experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfoieUypTKU&list=PLnSVx6KsAVaIjhjIA3fwgupJ2EN1SA2RE&index=104&ab_channel=GreenredProductions-RelaxingMusic

https://whaleloryb.bandcamp.com/

​

​

​

​

​