Seeing the Forest & the Trees

 

“We tried to make you be like us and in so doing we helped to destroy the vision that made you what you were.”

                                             from the 1986 United Church Apology to Indigenous Peoples 

When Canadian scientist Suzanne Simard published her book The Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest to considerable acclaim in 2021 I purchased it and deeply appreciated her insights. Simard concluded through her research that trees have ways of communicating in mutual support with networks of fungi aiding the process. She was also convinced that in areas that were being cut it was essential to leave what she termed mother trees, the larger trees that have a unique role in nurturing younger growth. Although she had worked for the forestry industry she realized that clear-cutting caused irreparable damage to the complexity of soil and plant interdependence even though replanting took place. 

I recently finished her new book When the Forest Breathes:  Renewal and Resilience in the Natural World. She continues on the themes of interdependence based on the rigorous research she undertook with a long-time scientific partner, her adult daughters, and committed graduate students. The outcome distressed me as she described the compacting and destruction of forest floors by massive machinery. Protests against clear-cutting old growth trees in British Columbia seemed futile.

After the mother tree was published Simard faced strong resistance from some members of the scientific community including persons she had mentored and supported through the decades. This was devastating for her.

She is forthright about her treatment for breast cancer and slow recovery on the way back to working in the field. Her vibrant mother developed dementia and other serious illnesses leading to her choice to leave this life by Medical Assistance in Dying. A brilliant grad student died in a ski accident leaving Simard and many others in profound grief. 

A key element in Simard's recovery was connecting with Indigenous communities in BC and in the Amazon region. She realized that these peoples had been practicing a sustainable and reverential form of harvesting the forest for centuries with a wisdom ignored by Western science and resource depredation.

I was moved by her acceptance and humility as she absorbed these insights while understanding the continuing importance of Western science. There is the realization that everything is connected to everything in ways that are both spiritual and measurable. David Suzuki has also benefited from Indigenous wisdom and he too has been criticized.

I ponder all this from the perspective of a Christ-follower who desires health for our planetary home. So often Christianity became entwined with colonialism in subjugating  Indigenous peoples around the planet. We did so out of arrogance and to our peril. Our Judeo/Christian scriptures and heritage honours Creator and Creation yet we chose to ignore this in service to imperialism. I am grateful that Simard has stayed true to her science and has also opened herself to a wisdom that honours all of Creation.