Trees will save our planet | VPRO Documentary

Lucky. I'm a useful. Man you got your camera, I love you shut that right up your ass what what, would you want to do that huh why, cuz I hate assholes, like I'm an asshole okay. Nervous. I. Used, to be - you, jerks -, yeah. We're. Out of step, the. Forest is suffering, because of the world are suffering because we don't fit anymore. The, best, carbon, capture and sequestration device. Around it's called a tree it's. Called nature we, don't need elaborate, technologies, to. Save the planet at this point in time we. Need to use our existing, wisdom. To keep what we know works. Trees. Were, at the very cradle, of human civilization. The, DNA, of humans, and of trees are related. There. Is a connection, between us, and this primeval, form, of life. Woodlands. And forests, make our planet and our climate livable, and stimulate. Biodiversity. And yet. Last year well over forty six thousand, square miles, of forests were cleared, only. 15% of our forests can still be called primeval. We. Visit the primary, forests, of North America, or what's left of them and consult. The trees there before. It's too late. Well. Believe it or not this. Tree that I'm sitting next to right here as, is, as, informative. As a birds are letting. Me know what, time of year it is the sounds, of the flow underneath, it the, fact that if I mic this tree and tapped on another tree I'd be able to hear it over here it's, a network here. Gordon. Hampton, is an acoustic, ecologist. He. Records the sounds, of the natural world, this. Is especially important. In an, age where the noise of human activity, is increasingly. Penetrating. Our Woodlands, an. Acoustic ecologist. Understands. That. It's not the loud sounds, that are important, that's common, information, it's, the faint, sounds. That has been pushing. Evolution. As, a Mersenne who said. Listen. To what the white pine, saith. And. Then. He stops. Because. We cannot say. What. The white pine can, say. And. That's every reason, to listen because. You and I we can talk all we want but. We. Will never replace. What. Nature, is telling us directly. And. What is that, what. Are they telling us directly. You. Have. To listen, you, have to listen I mean, your, are you asking, for my white. Pine imitation. Okay. White. Pine needle. Is. A longleaf, needle. Growing. In fascicles, three. To five. Little. Off-key there. That's. Pretty good imitation I think. You. Know magic. Okay. Go right. At. The end of the last century, when, Susan, symud started, her research into the communication. Between trees. She was the laughingstock of colleagues, in her scientific, field but, swimming, against, the tide she, did groundbreaking. Research that, brought about a scientific. Landslide. Her. Findings, were even published on the front page of the leading scientific, journal, at the time nature, under. The title would, wide web and she. Had only just begun, to unravel the, social, networks, that connect, tree communities. There. Isn't a day that goes by that. I don't. Sit. Down by a tree or, you, know walk through a forest or, you. Know and if I don't then I'm I feel funny so, I go find the trees and and just, be, with them I feel, like the trees are like my comrades. What. Is it about trees, that make us so alive why, are they so integral, to to. Our lives and the health of our our. Ecosystems. In our planet, and and. So I I was drawn to that Susan. Simmons life's work is based on the premise that we are distant, relatives of the trees and that as such we can learn a lot from primary, forests, this, is one of the oldest forests, in the mainland area, hasn't. Been burned for about five hundred years so. These. Trees these big ones that you're seeing are about five hundred years old. If, you think back to you. Know when North, America, was settled, by Europeans, that was well before. That time when it was mostly. Settled so. These. Trees are way older than most of our ancestors, they're actually, our ancestors, we. Think of our ancestors, as like our grandparents. And our great-grandparents. And then the, lineage of how humans, evolved. From you. Know hominids. And but. Actually our most, ancient ancestors. The. Trees preceded, us and, prior. To them were you know just the development of eukaryote, cells and. Bacteria. Them the, prokaryotic. Cells so our lineage, goes back, to the first, organisms, on.

Earth And. You. Know that's a really humbling thing that that actually you know that the the, trees are much more ancient than we are. So. When, most of us walk through the forest we're seeing you know these huge trunks, we're seeing leaves, we. Think that these trees are individuals. Like I'm an individual. That. That, they actually you, know really don't interact, much with each other but but, you know researchers, have been figure, out for. Decades that they, interact, in so many ways. And that that's what I study, is is, the, social, life of trees. Those. Are Mike arises. And. There's a big thick fungal, strand there that's. What that is right there. Amazing. You. Know there's, a white one and a yellow one when, we start actually putting our DNA, primers if we collected. This and took it back to the lab and we amplified. The DNA, and then sequenced it we would find actually in this patch trees probably a hundred species of fungi so. Not, just you know you can't see it with your eyes but, you can see, it with our DNA tools which. Is really cool. So. What's happened, is that over ever. Since plants evolved, and came out of the ocean they immediately. Started to partner, with fungi. And the. Fungi, do a lot of work for the trees and the trees pay them with photosynthate. With carbon that they fix in their crowns in their leaves. There's. So many threads, and so much shared, fungal. Species, between, trees that, they can actually link up it's, like a huge, Internet and the, forest, is packed, with these threads there are miles and miles and miles of interconnecting. Highways, that, link this tree even with its neighbors. We're. Just starting, to touch the surface of what's going on but, what we have figured out is that it's a way for trees, to communicate. With each other they. Can warn each other when there's an insect for example or a disease in the area and they can up regulate, their defense, chemistry. In order to you, know prepare themselves for what's coming. You. We're, starting to uncover, the language of trees. Through. These up below ground networks and it is just as nuanced, and complicated as, our own languages. But, I know the fundamental. Building blocks involve, carbon, and nitrogen water. Certain, chemicals that are like our own neurotransmitters. So, that douglas-fir has got a relationship with, this hemlock um, it has a relationship with you. Know that douglas-fir that's even 50 meters away and. Those. Relationships are really complex, just, just like our own right, we have friendships. And we also have enemies, and we, have acquaintances. We also have relatives, we. Interact, with our neighbors. But also like our doctors and bankers, we. Have complex societies, and so today they're, just as complex, it's just that we never really, as people look that hard or really seem, to care that much at. Least in, our recent, history about. These intricate. Dynamic. Special. Relationships, between trees. Pulitzer. Prize-winner, and he proves last, novel details. The European, colonization. Of North America. As delineated, by, the deforestation. Of the continent, trees. And the original, human population. Were decimated, because. Of an unbridled, craving. For timber, and money. It. Seemed to me that the best way to approach. Climate, change at the time I began, doing the research for the book which was almost. 15 years ago. The. Best way to handle, it was deforestation. Trees, were, the thing trees absorbed, co2. So. It was natural to focus, on deforestation, as. The. Major ill that. Was causing. The. Problems, with climate, change of. Course now we know that it is much much, much, more complex, than that yet. The forests, and deforestation, continue. To play an incredibly, important. Role. This. Is the endgame it's. It's. They're still a sensation. That this was once a tree each particular, piece, but it's. In. Another. Form, it's been transmuted, into. Something. Humans. Can use. It's. Like taking, some. Frowzy. Kitchen. Maid, giving. Her a good scrubbing, and, dining. And curling her hair and. Putting. Her in a new costume it's, a makeup and so forth and looking gorgeous and, beautiful huh. Even. Exquisite. This. Is probably not the trees idea, of what to do in life but that's. How it is. Annie. Lives, in the Far West of the United, States where. You can still find plots. Of primary, forests, the. Now 85, year old writer, isn't writing fiction anymore, she, now focuses, on the ecological, crisis, our planet, is in. The. Natural world is, other. Capital. Oh the. Other that you fear, when you live in your own little world and other comes into your village bringing. Bad. Things, with it so the natural world is now other two Americans sad.

To Say it's very depressing, that's. Why I can't write fiction that's. Why I'm interested in finding out as much as I can and the time I have left how. Things, are working what's. Really important, what. Makes the world. Stumble. And trip to, fall to its knees, which. Is where I think we are. Europeans. Had a penchant, for, taking. From, the natural, world the English, in particular were, very good at assuming. Command, over, everything, that, swam. Or flew, or grew. That. Permission. To. Go forth and chop and take and take and never give has. Sort of been a ruling, if, if. Subliminally. Absorbed. Mantra, for. Nations. People. Have done that the people who were in North America, before the settlers, came had. A much closer relationship with, the natural world. This. Is it. This. Is interesting. This. Is how if you don't have, sauce, you. Can get cedar planks, from a tree. Using. Pieces of wood stones. And. Labor. And. It's. Not easy but it can be done, what's. The big difference in between the way we nowadays. Work. With the wood and the. Way Native, Americans, or this specific, tribe worked, with the trees in the wood. The. Main thing I think is that we are divorced, from the trees in the wood store, and for. The the. Tribal, groups, this. Was part. Of their community, these trees had, personalities. And. The. Trees use was, a gift and they recognized, that as a gift, it was a lot of hard work but at the same time. The. Tree allowed it. So. I think the the personal, involvement. With. The tree itself, is, present. Here. And not in the wood store. We, visit Robin Kimura, a professor. Of forest biology. Whose, ancestors, of the Potawatomi tribe lived. In these fertile, woods before being relocated, to, the dry grasslands, of Oklahoma. The. Worldview that indigenous, people, held. Then and continue. To hold today of of. The world as in spirited, the world full, of other. Persons, of other people, who, don't happen to be humans, and the. Notion of commonly, held land. Was. A roadblock, to, colonization, that simply. Stalled. The notion of manifest. Destiny, right, that the land had to be converted, to property. From. There states, of comparative, savagery. And barbarism to one, of civilization. But. Today they, all speak English and. Some. Have. Taken business courses home, economics, another, higher training. So. Their next tool, that they used was, the power of assimilation, and, they. Decided that if we phrase. That they used native, people were were, dealt with under the Department, of War and the.

Notion Was that it's cheaper, to educate. Indians. Than it is to try to kill them and so. This was the great era a great, era of. Educational. Assimilation. Where, children, were taken, from their families as. My grandfather was he was only nine years old and he, was shipped off from, his, family, in Oklahoma all, the way back to the Carlisle, Indian School where. The motto, of that school was. Kill the Indian to, save the. Man. It. Always seemed. To me that if there could be a school, designed, to. Erase what you know there. Ought to be a school that could bring it back. We, are standing at the cranberry, lake Biological. Station which. May not look like a university, campus, but. It's our best, one it's. Here, in the middle of the Adirondack, wilderness. And what we're really trying. To do here is is to embed. Students. In their classroom, we, say that we bring our students here to learn. About the forest and about, the lake and about the bogs and, about. All of the amazing beings, with whom we share this place but. That wouldn't really be quite true because, the, real reason we bring our students, here is not, to learn about, the. Forest but to learn from, the forest and they. Do that, by, spending, weeks. Sitting. At the feet of trees sitting. On mosses, getting, eaten by black flies you, know the reality of being a field biologist the. Reality, of being a warm-blooded human, you know in a cold and buggy, place. How. Do you do that how do you, learn. From the. Forest, and not about, the forest, well. We don't teach from books here what we teach on the land really, the students are out on the trails all of the time, and doing. A lot of their own research, as well because. In a way you know we have I think forgotten. How to observe we've, forgotten how to learn from, the land and the only way you can do that is by being present, by, really paying attention and, I think that that that is one, of the most powerful. Aspects, of of. Science is it is a structured. Kind of focused. Paying attention, but. Here instead of paying attention to, digital. Devices or one species, out, of the 200, million, species that, are here we, pay attention to our other, kinfolk, we pay attention, to. That Tanager who's singing right now, pay attention to the snapping, turtles that come up and lay, their eggs on the volleyball court. So. Our teachers are all, around us. This. Tree in particular is, a amazing. Storyteller, because, it has five needles. All bound, as one. Are. There any teachings, in that. The. Haudenosaunee, or the Iroquois I thought so this. Is the tree of peace this is the tree that they. Adopted. As the. Icon, the emblem, of the. Haudenosaunee. Confederacy. Why. Did they choose the, white pine. How. Many nations are in the Haudenosaunee, confederacy, yes. Exactly. So. The teaching for, for, Hoda nashoni or Iroquois people was. That five can, be bound as one and make, something strong and beautiful. And so, that's why this is the tree of peace peace. Makes strength peace, makes power and, so there's an example of the way in which these. Trees can, be teachers for us to and, within. Most, indigenous storytelling. Traditions, every. One of these trees is associated. With a story, like that so. Understanding. The trees as storytellers is, a. Powerful. Way to live in a. Animate. Landscape. In. Combining. Western. Science. With. Indigenous. Philosophy. And the indigenous principles. Of respect. And reciprocity, what. We can learn from, the forest, is the. Forest being, a model, for. For. How we might, live as a society. Western. Science can tell us the mechanics, of nutrient. Cycling of tree growth of, cellulose. Excel, walls all good important. Things to know but. It doesn't tell us how we should live and an. Indigenous. Philosophy. Couples. That, knowledge, of how the world works with. How should. We live so. I think about some.

Of The things that we learn from the forest. Are about resilience, and, about. Healing. When. We can map the successional. Processes, let's say from the pioneer, species to the old-growth we. Can look at those things and say well what. Does that teach us about our, human, journey in relationship, to the land in a sense those those, pioneer, species are. I think sort of a metaphor, for, colonizing. People. There. Are species that come in and and and, lay claim to, to. Land and grow very quickly and, they, have a way of dominating. The landscape we. Look at that and say that it's a colonizing, model for, plants that, is also colonizing. Model of people. And culture. But, we see that that starts, to give way. To greater, and greater. Biodiversity. Those early, colonizers. Are replaced by a multiplicity. Of other. Forms, it grows richer, and richer that. Older, it is it, grows more pluralistic and. So. An old-growth, forest. Is to, me something. That we might aim, for and, imagine, for old-growth, societies. Old-growth. Societies. Modelled on the lessons of trees, that tell us that every. Little being, matters. That, yeah that the identity, of those beings, matter because, they are all bringing gifts, into. The forest into the community, that we don't want a homogeneous. World. Of the colonizer, we want a diverse, and, richly. Complex. Old-growth. Society. In the, way that we value, an old-growth, forest. As well. The, clearing, of the world's oldest, forests. Continues, to move only. Last year almost, 14,000. Square miles of primary, forests were logged. When. In. 2011. Canadian, logger Dennis Cronin, was exploring, a patch of primary, forests he, found the biggest Douglas, fir he had ever seen. He. Didn't have the heart to log this king of the forest and marked, it with a unique green, ribbon, to signify leave. Tree. The. Surrounding, woods were logged but, the tree was adapted, by activist, Ken Wu and his ancient, forest, alliance, they. Fight to stop the continued, logging, of the majestic, primary, forests, of British Columbia. Big. Lonely Doug. Second-biggest. Douglas, fir tree in the country as. Tall, as the skyscrapers. Of downtown Vancouver. Certainly. The feeling of awe and humility. To be beside, such an ancient living. Organism, like this but. At the same time if. There's also a great feeling of loss of sadness because the, entire forest. Would have been filled with giants similar to big lonely dog at one time. The. Old goat Douglas firs are almost all gone now so there's only about 1% of those left if you if you find it then, don't buy it. These. Are living creatures that have seen a lot in their time over a thousand, years our ancient, forests some of the trees can be 2,000, years old from. Around the time of Jesus Christ that's. That's how old these forests, are and European. Colonization. Is only about a hundred and 60 years in British Columbia these, are way older than from the time that the the English, came and settled here.

Take. A look at these rings here they're not even a millimeter. Wide they're like half a millimeter wide that's one year right, there is ten years twenty years is like that a century. Is about. That wide that's, 100 years that's, how slow ancient. Forests, and old-growth trees grow and if. You expand, that over the span of this this, is a twelve foot wide cedar, you're, looking at probably a thousand, years. When. I was ten years old my dad bought me a natural history book that had, a picture in black and white of four couples dancing, on a huge, stump, and that, totally captured my imagination I, wondered, is. It possible, that trees can actually, be that big and if so do they actually exist and turns, out they do in British Columbia and so, when I was 10 years old we made our first trip from Saskatchewan, to British Columbia and that's, when I started to see ancient forests, for the first time and it, totally moved me it was such a charismatic, ecosystem. That, made. Me really, determined, to help save them I followed, the news religiously. On. All the battles over ancient force and by, the time I went through the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in, 1991. That, was. That. Really the the height, the early 1990s, of the ancient forest movement so I was involved in organizing, the student protests, as well, as the big rallies in Vancouver. You. Guys gotta let us go to work this morning. We. Believe, that. The clock sound decision, was a good decision. And. We would ask you people to respect that decision and if you have a problem with it don't, put it in their faces go down to Victoria, with it. By. 1993, twelve, thousand people took part in the largest act. Of civil disobedience in, Canadian history in clackett sound near, Tofino a, thousand. People were arrested that summer cells basically hiking. In old-growth forests, and protesting. Disabled girl forests it's. A small underneath, this little girl force oh, no, no don't tell me animals, growing their. Are you angry in the hunter are you angry what are you angry that you assholes, are coming up here and telling us how to live on Vancouver, Island. Ken. Is working, to create broad, coalition's. Of people who want to save the forests, it's. Not only tree huggers, who mourn the trees loggers. Suffer - when areas are clear-cut. If. You follow natural systems you see that the, diversity in natural systems also helped to create, greater. Resilience. It's tends to dampen the fluctuations. In. That. Occur in nature, and, the same is true in human societies, if we diversify, our, economy, were. Not as prone to. The, crashes, that occur as a result of one industry disappearing. You, know Port Alberni on central, Vancouver, Island had the highest per capita income. Of any, town. In Canada in the 1970s. Based, on logging the ancient, Douglas firs and red cedars and Sitka, spruce, a, few, years ago I saw that it was listed as the second, worst place, in British Columbia to live as a result, of the decline, of the, forest, industry there's. A lot of social problems lots, of unemployment, and that's because when. You deplete the resources not, only does the ecosystem start to collapse your, jobs also disappear, so, it's, a lose-lose, scenario. Sure. It's lucky I'm a useful. Man you got your camera I love to just shove that right up your, ass why. Would you want to do that huh why, cuz I hate assholes, like I'm an asshole why. I. Used, to be - you, jerks take my job away job man yeah. Don't. You trust. Human. Resourcefulness. And, resilience. Enough. That, we might you. Know find ways to survive, differently. If the people in Silicon, Valley find. New technologies that can save, us, and. The. Planet you. Know the the best carbon, capture and sequestration device. Around it's called a tree it's, called nature and, we. Don't need elaborate, technologies. To. Save the planet at this point in time we. Need to. Use our existing, wisdom. To. Keep what we know works these, native, ecosystems, and, we. Can build a sustainable society with new technologies, but it's not that throw the baby out with the bathwater the, we, evolved, in this planet, with a diversity, of life forms. If. We, evolved, together, on earth we're. On the timeline, did intelligence. Develop, could. It be that we are less unique, than we think. Well. We think we're intelligent, right the only species on earth earth that's intelligent is the human species or, maybe some animals, like orcas, are intelligent, but, when we think of intelligence we're always thinking of mammals, or animals, but, they evolve from these trees you know we evolved from this forest so what hap you know you mean that it all stopped at some point that, that evolution, of what, we call intelligence is not there, and, I.

Don't Think so so. When I'm looking at the fungal Network below ground you know one of the things that we did is we mapped what this network looks, like and it comes down to intelligence. Comes out of that map right, it looks like a brain. And it's the franchise, connected. To each other and through those puns I aren't transmitting. Chemicals. That are the same as our own neurotransmitters. You, know there's there's, the the. Basic, chemicals, are the same, so. We've got the structure we've, got the chemistry, ok, what's the third thing well another, thing that happens in our brains is we have these things called synapses. A synapse. Is where. You have two neurons, that grow together and you have a chemical that, goes across that gap that's a synapse okay. That's part of the brain structure that's where the intelligence happens, that's. Where that, new idea comes in that synapse that's where the symphony, orchestra, plays, it's beautiful, you, know songs. It's. Where our intelligence, comes from in, a fungal network with area our synapses, - right, that where the the, fungus, and the root come together in that symbiosis. That's the synapse and there is chemicals, that are crossing over it where a fungus, and a fungus meet together and grow together that's a synapse and so now we've got three parts of what we think as the physical, structure, of intelligence. And. So then I'm thinking well you know like we're so reductionist. In our thinking why, wouldn't. You. Know we consider, that to be the basis of intelligence, so, what, stops, us from thinking. Their intelligence, well its Mooji it's our own hubris right that we think that we're the best and the greatest and of course we are but actually. When. You start looking at nature. And these patterns these. Have evolved, to be, they. Work and they. Repeat, and they, evolve and so you see these structures, that are the same as our own neural networks you see them in the forest because they worked and they these. They. Persisted. Through millennia. So. Yes. I think that the forest is an intelligent, place. I think, you want to go to the left of the rock there's a big flat one right ahead of us here, sorry, I, think. You want to go over here. It. Looks okay Sarge, and. You can noise come a little bit this way we could nose right into this flat, one here. Boom. We're about to hit, yep. Okay. Hop let me hop out and see if we can do this. This. Catherine's. Island, which is a remote from, the, rest of the mainland of course was.

Never Burned and so, by. Virtue of its isolation, this place escaped, cutting, it escaped the fire so, you get a sense of what the primeval, Adirondacks. Were. Like. Here. We are faced with. Adaptation. To climate change, and. These. Mosses. Came. Out on land three hundred and fifty million years ago and they're still here and i, like to think about why is that what did they get so right that. They outlive. Dinosaurs. And and 99%. Of all of the other species that have ever been and, i, think that in part it's, because they fit, their, habitats, they. Don't change the habitats they don't try to dominate the, habitats they. Live on what is provided, for. Them they, may. They fit, in and they're small, they're, simple, and elegant and they, give more than they take these, are not dominating. Plants, these are co-operators, these, are mutualists. And that. Is what has allowed them to endure. All of the changes that, that. Life on Earth really has seen and come, through unscathed and, it. Seems to me that that is a. Lesson four, for human people -. That's. What the bosses want to see. Be. Like us pay attention. Susan. Simmons, research into, trees and forests. Also focuses. On what we can learn from woodlands, to stay healthy both. As individuals. And as a society. These. This cutting, is from the Pacific, yew tree and this, tree has got a lot of relevance for me because I got breast cancer so it was very traumatic for all of us and I. Was treated with the chemistry, of the yew tree. Used, that grow right around my house in, in in the mountains and. So. You has, been used, by a long, long time by their Aboriginal people, of North America, they knew, for from, thousands. Of years of working. With this plant that it has certain. Chemical, properties, that help treat illnesses, and I, thought you know the balance of the forest, with these medicinal. Plants. In the understory, and the big old ancient trees above them and the deciduous, trees working. Together that, they probably, all together. Communicate. And affect the, the production, of this medicine, that, we now know is so important, to our own health and that, if we know more about the communication, between these plants, maybe we can grow and conserve, things, like you trees or, learn how to grow them in old forests, so that we enhance their medicinal properties, which, is going to be great for humans and it's also great for the trees. We've, gone through this long period. Since. You know basically, since, Darwin. Came up with survival. Of the fittest and we in and, that about. You know a natural selection and it's about how plants. And animals, compete with each other and they evolve I, mean, I'm not saying that that's not a good model it is a good model it's just that we took.

It Too and, applied, it to so many things that I don't think Darwin ever intended. I mean, you. Know we sort of said Oh competition. Is dominates. All things, in ecology, that you know collaboration. For example doesn't isn't very important, and Darwin. Studied, collaboration. Too and implants, and I'll you, know quite deeply. We. Don't really you. Know think about that but you, know in in the management of ours of our ecosystems. And forests, and agriculture, we took that competition, model and we started applying it to, how we cultivate. Things and we said only, competition, matters, and these, plants do not collaborate, they simply, compete, you know it's like every, person for themselves and, a, tree will only you know interact, with its neighbor by, robbing. It of light or robbing it of resources, and so we have to manage that resource. Base. For that tree but, to me that's wrongheaded. Thinking, that. That, the wood white web shows that trees are connected they share resources they also compete, there's no doubt about that but they also share in this very intricate. Sophisticated. Dance. There's. A community and, and, there, is keeping. That community, whole and healthy is important, to each individual. Just like in our own societies. And I. Think, that you know sometimes. We we get we go us get, astray right like, our economic. Models for example teach us to be competitive, and, that our companies are competitive, and that's how, we make money and. That's, true but you know there's also a lot of latitude and sharing, things and, being. Respectful, for each other and reciprocating. With each other I think, that we innately know that as human beings that, we we, have that benevolence. In us and, and. We sometimes, we get we lose sight, of that especially. When we've got you know these you. Know larger. Pressures, on us and we think you know we've got to we fit, into our society we kind of get on this track. That you know that there's seems like there's no other way but we we've, always got to come back to that root of that, we are sophisticated. Multi-disciplinary. Creatures, just like trees and for us. With, even, the noise pollution. You. Know that surrounds, us. There's. A train. Off. In the distance a plane. Overhead. All. This stuff but why. For. A moment, would. I want to have a pessimistic. Attitude, that. All of this can't change we, invented the plays what we can't tell them where. To go where not to go the, trains the cars we, designed, this. Situation. We're in and we can design the. Future the, question is what, do you want, right. And. Coming. Here to the forest is a perfect, place to ask that question, because I want, to spend more time forest. It, looks like we have an. Example. Of. A. Nurse. Log that's dissolved, into, the earth leaving behind its. Children. Once. These trees were. Tiny. Seedlings. Growing. On a nurse log, the. Nurse log has melted. Away into, the soil and, the. Children, have grown into Giants, themselves. Leaving. Hollow spaces, underneath, where the nurse log once rested. In. A, few years these will be down.

Serving. As nurse logs themselves for, new seedlings. We. Hope. It's. It's. An ancient place. Thank. God there are ancient, places and, it's. Rather wonderful to, see and in a thing, that can't be seen anymore but still leaves such shape. Behind. Absent. Presence. Do. You care as much about humans. As you do about trees. And forests, no. No. I don't care as much about humans, as I do about the trees on the forest. Why. Is that I. Don't. Know just the way I made, I guess, there. Are so many humans. But. The, trees, contribute. More to the, health of the earth than humans, do, so. If you want to put it on the scale of which is which. Is the more kindly. Toward, the, natural, world the trees, will win out every, single time. The. Earth has been through. Five. Extinctions. It's. Still here, the. Creatures who were lost in those extinctions. Are. Gone. We've. Been around for half, a million years, really. Stretching, it but, that's. Not a long time for the earth so. It, might wish, to shake, us off much, as a. Cat. Or dog will scratch behind its ear to dislodge some fleas. We. Know that the natural world is constantly, changing. Its constantly. Undergoing. New. Conditions. And reshaping, itself. Humans. Are not static, either until, recent. Centuries, in, the, past humans. Flowed as did. The natural world, as animals. Who migrated. To different, places. Where, there was better. Rain or, drier. Conditions. So. It's. It's. Important, for us to go to the folks who have, an understanding, of the, natural world not, to Silicon, Valley not. To mad ideas, about tossing, flakes, of aluminum, into the air or the sea but. To the, way the world has been, and see what it took, to get it right. Once. We start to understand, how something actually, works. We. Can get in tune with it we're, out of step, the. Forest is suffering, because of it the world is suffering because we don't fit anymore and. I. Think we have to learn how to how, to make ourselves. Into. Part, of the natural world. Start. Grilling loss. Imagine. You. Know you have a life that you're. You, live in you, know a concrete, jungle maybe. And, you've got your headphones, on maybe, you're even in a basement with you know building. Software or, something or or, and you. Can't go out. Into, the forest you can't go to the ocean you're kind of stuck and you don't even know that you're stuck, like for. Me that would be help right. And. And. We kind of, doing. That to ourselves and, I, think that the trees are and the other creatures are going would you know what kind of a life is that right. And we we, are chaining, ourselves to, this way of life that we, are not evolved, to have those kinds of lives and. So if we can break out of our chains and get out there and being, in the, in, the forest be at the, ocean, because, once we're away from it and stuck, in these places and it's cut, off from nature then, we stop caring about it and, we kind of stopped caring about who we are.

You. Belong in the forest - we all do we all belong, in nature, and we've got to reconnect, with it I think and then make. Decisions we, have to make collective, decisions, about you, know that. We care about that. They're gonna conserve, those places. Then. You, know that's, the emancipation, of us that. Is you, know and along. With it the forests and the environment will become healthier, - and oh and I guess you could say there it, will be emancipated as, well but I think it's already free and it's gonna do what it it's gonna do regardless, of what we do. But we will be healthier, as, a species, if we if. We break out of our own chains. We. Can as. Responsible. Creatures. Which human beings rarely, are but if we would. Think and use, our common sense we. Could, also have. Sections. Of the, property of our country, or of the world that. Were wild. Forever. Wild no humans, at all in them leave it alone, let, the forest do what it does. Without. Human interference and. I. Think we'd be happier the, world's would be happier and there'd. Be a lot less co2 in, the air. Thank. You for watching, for. More on this subject take a look at the playlist you, can also watch this recommended, video don't. Forget to subscribe to our Channel and we'll keep you updated on our documentaries.

2019-11-18 13:46

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