Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

Simard describes her childhood as characterized by a reverent co-existence with the forests of British Columbia. Her family had a long history of mindful hand-falling that didn’t disrupt the forest’s ecosystem, and she was raised to respect the forest as a place of connection and healing. When she began her career first at the logging company and then as a scientific researcher, Simard maintained this belief in the forest as a living, interdependent entity and sought to prove it scientifically.

The scientific, academic, and political discourse on the nature of the forests was grounded in competitive Darwinian thought when Simard began her career. Though she and her family clearly perceived the interconnected nature of the plants of the forest, policymakers and loggers adhered to the belief that trees do not need a diverse ecosystem to survive. Simard implies that this apparent disagreement over scientific evidence actually masks a deeper conflict of worldviews. The era’s policymakers held a short-term view of the forest that was molded by capitalism and market fluctuations. In part, this was a matter of pragmatism. By ignoring the necessary interdependency of the forest’s plants and disregarding Simard’s early research into

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