The Social Lives of Forests

The Social Lives of Forests PDF Author: Susanna B. Hecht
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022602413X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 508

Get Book Here

Book Description
Forests are in decline, and the threats these outposts of nature face—including deforestation, degradation, and fragmentation—are the result of human culture. Or are they? This volume calls these assumptions into question, revealing forests’ past, present, and future conditions to be the joint products of a host of natural and cultural forces. Moreover, in many cases the coalescence of these forces—from local ecologies to competing knowledge systems—has masked a significant contemporary trend of woodland resurgence, even in the forests of the tropics. Focusing on the history and current use of woodlands from India to the Amazon, The Social Lives of Forests attempts to build a coherent view of forests sited at the nexus of nature, culture, and development. With chapters covering the effects of human activities on succession patterns in now-protected Costa Rican forests; the intersection of gender and knowledge in African shea nut tree markets; and even the unexpectedly rich urban woodlands of Chicago, this book explores forests as places of significant human action, with complex institutions, ecologies, and economies that have transformed these landscapes in the past and continue to shape them today. From rain forests to timber farms, the face of forests—how we define, understand, and maintain them—is changing.

The Social Lives of Forests

The Social Lives of Forests PDF Author: Susanna B. Hecht
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022602413X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 508

Get Book Here

Book Description
Forests are in decline, and the threats these outposts of nature face—including deforestation, degradation, and fragmentation—are the result of human culture. Or are they? This volume calls these assumptions into question, revealing forests’ past, present, and future conditions to be the joint products of a host of natural and cultural forces. Moreover, in many cases the coalescence of these forces—from local ecologies to competing knowledge systems—has masked a significant contemporary trend of woodland resurgence, even in the forests of the tropics. Focusing on the history and current use of woodlands from India to the Amazon, The Social Lives of Forests attempts to build a coherent view of forests sited at the nexus of nature, culture, and development. With chapters covering the effects of human activities on succession patterns in now-protected Costa Rican forests; the intersection of gender and knowledge in African shea nut tree markets; and even the unexpectedly rich urban woodlands of Chicago, this book explores forests as places of significant human action, with complex institutions, ecologies, and economies that have transformed these landscapes in the past and continue to shape them today. From rain forests to timber farms, the face of forests—how we define, understand, and maintain them—is changing.

The Social Life of Trees

The Social Life of Trees PDF Author: Laura Rival
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000324184
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Get Book Here

Book Description
The passionate response of the British public to the Newbury Bypass is a revealing measure of how strongly people feel about trees and the environment. Similarly, in the United States, the giant sequoia of California is an enduring national symbol that inspires intense feelings. As rainforests are sacrificed to the interests of multi-national corporations and traditional ways of life disappear, the status of forests, the cultural significance of trees, and the impact of conservation policies are subjects that have inspired intense engagement. Why do people feel so strongly about trees? With this explosion of interest in environmental issues, a serious study of what trees mean to people has long been overdue. This interdisciplinary book responds to this need by providing the first cross-cultural analysis of tree symbolism. Drawing on rich case studies, contributors explore the processes through which trees are used as metaphors of identity and continuity. Political struggles over forest resources feature prominently, and the perceptions of trees in various cultures provide telling insights into the ways in which human societies conceptualize nature.As well as being a major contribution to the field of symbolic anthropology, this comprehensive study will be essential reading for students in a wide range of courses and for anyone with a keen interest in the politics of ecology, the occult and neo-paganism, and the history and sociology of environmentalism in its widest sense.

The Forest and the Trees

The Forest and the Trees PDF Author: Allan Johnson
Publisher: Temple University Press
ISBN: 1439911878
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 200

Get Book Here

Book Description
"If sociology could teach everyone just one thing, what would it be? 'The Forest and the Trees' is one sociologist's response to the hypothetical-the core insight with the greatest potential to change how people see the world and themselves in relation to it"--Amazon.com.

Forests and Society

Forests and Society PDF Author: Kristiina A. Vogt
Publisher: CABI
ISBN: 1845931114
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 357

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book provides a broad-ranging textbook on the relationships between forests and society. It discusses the ways in which society can interact with forest landscapes without adversely affecting their sustainability. Topics covered include attitudes to, and uses of forests, the creation of today's forest landscapes, the impact of humans on forests, and forest sustainability and human health. The book also examines emerging issues in forestry such as possible solutions to balancing societies' needs with forest sustainability, managing forests in the urban-wildland interface, and the impact of illegal logging. It is packed with real-world case studies from the USA, Australia, Bolivia, Botswana, Canada, China, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Thailand.

Social Learning in Community Forests

Social Learning in Community Forests PDF Author: Eva Wollenberg
Publisher: CIFOR
ISBN: 9798764773
Category : Community forests
Languages : en
Pages : 222

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate PDF Author: Peter Wohlleben
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0008218447
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
Sunday Times Bestseller ‘A paradigm-smashing chronicle of joyous entanglement’ Charles Foster Waterstones Non-Fiction Book of the Month (September) Are trees social beings? How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings?

Finding the Mother Tree

Finding the Mother Tree PDF Author: Suzanne Simard
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 0525656103
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

Get Book Here

Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the world's leading forest ecologist who forever changed how people view trees and their connections to one another and to other living things in the forest—a moving, deeply personal journey of discovery Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence; her TED talks have been viewed by more than 10 million people worldwide. In this, her first book, now available in paperback, Simard brings us into her world, the intimate world of the trees, in which she brilliantly illuminates the fascinating and vital truths--that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own. Simard writes--in inspiring, illuminating, and accessible ways—how trees, living side by side for hundreds of years, have evolved, how they learn and adapt their behaviors, recognize neighbors, compete and cooperate with one another with sophistication, characteristics ascribed to human intelligence, traits that are the essence of civil societies--and at the center of it all, the Mother Trees: the mysterious, powerful forces that connect and sustain the others that surround them. And Simard writes of her own life, born and raised into a logging world in the rainforests of British Columbia, of her days as a child spent cataloging the trees from the forest and how she came to love and respect them. And as she writes of her scientific quest, she writes of her own journey, making us understand how deeply human scientific inquiry exists beyond data and technology, that it is about understanding who we are and our place in the world.

The Power of Trees

The Power of Trees PDF Author: Peter Wohlleben
Publisher: Greystone Books Ltd
ISBN: 1771647752
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 188

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Another love letter from Wohlleben to the green world... makes the case for how we should allow forests throughout the world to regrow and in the process help heal not only the climate but us, as well."—Lydia Millet, Oprah Daily An illuminating manifesto on ancient forests: how they adapt to climate change by passing their wisdom through generations, and why our future lies in protecting them. In his beloved book The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben revealed astonishing discoveries about the social networks of trees and how they communicate. Now, in The Power of Trees, he turns to their future, with a searing critique of forestry management, tree planting, and the exploitation of old growth forests. As human-caused climate change devastates the planet, forests play a critical role in keeping it habitable. While politicians and business leaders would have us believe that cutting down forests can be offset by mass tree planting, Wohlleben offers a warning: many tree planting campaigns lead to ecological disaster. Not only are these trees more susceptible to disease, flooding, fires, and landslides, we need to understand that forests are more than simply a collection of trees. Instead, they are ecosystems that consist of thousands of species, from animals to fungi and bacteria. The way to save trees, and ourselves? Step aside and let forests—which are naturally better equipped to face environmental challenges—heal themselves. With the warmth and wonder familiar to readers from his previous books, Wohlleben also shares emerging scientific research about how forests shape climates both locally and across continents; that trees adapt to changing environmental conditions through passing knowledge down to their offspring; and how old growth may in fact have the most survival strategies for climate change. At the heart of The Power of Trees lies Wohlleben's passionate plea: that our survival is dependent on trusting ancient forests, and allowing them to thrive. Published in Partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.

New Perspectives on People and Forests

New Perspectives on People and Forests PDF Author: Eva Ritter
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9400711506
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 255

Get Book Here

Book Description
The aim of this book is to elucidate the role of forests as part of a landscape in the life of people. Most landscapes today are cultural landscapes that are influenced by human activity and that in turn have a profound effect on our understanding of and identification with a place. The book proposes that a better understanding of the bond between people and forests as integrated part of a landscape may be helpful in landscape planning, and may contribute to the discussion of changes in forest cover which has been motivated by land use changes, rural development and the global climate debate. To this end, people’s perception of forest landscapes, the reasons for different perceptions, and future perspectives are discussed. Given the wide range of forest landscapes, and cultural perspectives which exist across the world, the book focuses on Europe as a test case to explore the various relationships between society, culture, forests and landscapes. It looks at historical evidence of the impacts of people on forests and vice versa, explores the current factors affecting people’s physical and emotional comfort in forest landscapes, and looks ahead to how changes in forest cover may alter the present relationships of people to forests. Drawing together a diverse literature and combining the expertise of natural and social scientists, this book will form a valuable reference for students and researchers working in the fields of landscape ecology and landscape architecture, geography, social science, environmental psychology or environmental history. It will also be of interest to researchers, government agencies and practitioners with an interest in issues such as sustainable forest management, sustainable tourism, reserve management, urban planning and environmental interpretation.

Trees of Life

Trees of Life PDF Author: Kenton Miller
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 9780807085059
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Get Book Here

Book Description
Staggering statistics and dramatic headlines about the destruction of rain forests, the world's richest ecosystems, are only a small part of the devastating story of global deforestation. This volume provides comprehensive coverage of this complex scientific and political catastrophe-in-the-making and examines the costs and the consequences, in human, economic, and ecological terms. Also, a survey of both contemporary and historical assaults on the world's forests, along with their impact on the dependency of native peoples and cultures, is chronicled. Specifically, within developing nations, the relationships among poverty, population growth, and short-sighted government policies are calculated to be fundamental elements in the acceleration of tropical deforestation. With a special section on North America's old-growth forests, a glossary of special terms, an account of both the importance and relevance of arboreal genetic diversity, an extended list of suggested readings, and appendices listing international and federal organizations which offer educational materials for both individual and classroom use, this book offers important practical resources, and makes clear the social, economic, and biological costs of continued global deforestation. (JJK)