#11 : The Networked Beauty of Trees-A Conversation with Suzanne Simard

Forests and trees play a critical role for our planet and the people who inhabit it.  In this conversation we explore Forests as a complex networked adaptive system where relationships are the defining factor in the continuing health of the ecosystem.  Suzanne Simard discusses the importance of these relationships and how our current forestry practices put healthy carbon sequestering forests at risk.  She also discusses her ongoing collaboration with indigenous First Nation people who are interested in the preservation and regeneration of healthy forest ecosystems.

Suzanne was raised in the old growth forests of British Columbia where the forest was both her teacher and her friend.  Her family were early settlers who made their home and their living in these forests.  She describes herself as “lucky to become one of the first in the new generation of women in the logging industry, but what I found was not what I had grown up to understand”.

In her search to understand the truth, Suzanne became a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and author of the the ground breaking book book “FINDING THE MOTHER TREE Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest”.  She has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, inspired the Tree of Souls in James Cameron’s Avatar and has had her Ted Talk “How trees talk to one another” viewed by 10 million people worldwide.

We would like to thank our sponsor Elders Action Network “Building a movement of elders to address the environmental, governance and social issues of our time”.

You can reach us at the email address thewayforwardrc@gmail.com