Finding the Mother Tree

 

After a life time of work in the forests of British Columbia, scientist Suzanne Simard has just released her life’s story in Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.  Her love of trees began as a child in a family that logged in a sustainable way in BC. Working in the forestry industry as an adult led Simard to follow her hunches and explore new ways that science could look at the interconnectedness of the forest.

Simard and other scientists found that mycorrhizal fungi connected the roots of trees and other plants, forming what was dubbed the wood-wide-web.  She found that trees not only cooperated but that the huge ancient mother trees favoured their own offspring in sharing resources.  Even trees that were dying, sent all of their nutrients flooding to the saplings. 

Finding the Mother Tree details this journey of hunches, intuitions and exacting scientific protocol to describe the interactive community of the forest.  When foresters clear cut an area, this web is destroyed and the seedlings that are replanted have no access to a sharing elder or other species to protect them.  Birches, for example, protect other trees from root disease.  Saplings that grow just outside of the dripline of a mother tree grow well.  Trees that are planted on a clear cut that has had the other trees and stumps removed along with the fungal rich soil, are left to fend from sun, wind, snow and disease alone.  Many and in some cases most, fail to thrive.

Simard weaves her own life’s story throughout the book, much like Robin Wall Kimmerer does in Braiding Sweetgrass.  As she sees parallels between her own family and the forest, she paints a picture that is new for science and she realizes that she is approaching the same conclusions that are held in Indigenous wisdom, but from a completely different starting point.  Simard writes:  

“I don’t presume to grasp Aboriginal knowledge fully.  It comes from a way of knowing the earth – an epistemology – different from that of my own culture.  It speaks of being attuned to the blooming of the bitterroot, the running of the salmon, the cycles of the moon.  Of knowing that we are tied to the land – the trees and animals and soil and water – and to one another, and that we have a responsibility to care for these connections and resources, ensuring the sustainability of these ecosystems for future generations and to honor those who came before.  Of treading lightly, taking only what gifts we need, and giving back.  Of showing humility toward and tolerance for all we are connected to in this circle of life. “( p. 294)

Simard chronicles how the decisions made by forestry companies and government policy makers which are based on making the maximum profit are damaging to the forests, the rivers, animals and humans.  Recent wild fires are only just one result of this misguided management. 

But she has solutions.  “We must heed the answers we’re being given,” she writes.  “I believe this kind of transformative thinking is what will save us.  It is a philosophy of treating the world’s creatures, its gifts, as of equal importance to us.  This begins by recognizing that trees and plants have agency.  They perceive, relate, and communicate; they exercise various behaviors.  They cooperate, make decisions, learn, and remember – qualities we normally ascribe to sentience, wisdom, intelligence.  By noting how trees, animals, and even fungi – any and all nonhuman species – have this agency, we can acknowledge that they deserve as much regard as we accord ourselves.  We can continue pushing our earth out of balance, with greenhouse gases accelerating each year, or we can regain balance by acknowledging that if we harm one species, one forest, one lake, this ripples through the entire complex web.” (p. 295)

Suzanne Simard

Simard advises, “expanding our modern ways, our epistemology and scientific methodologies, so that they complement, build on, and align with Aboriginal roots.” (p. 295)   Suzanne Simard is one of the growing number of scientists who are coming to this conclusion.  What they seem to have in common is a deep love of nature, the ability to tap into their intuition and follow its lead through the scientific model and the persistence to share their findings which can only come from deep love.  Using their hearts, both sides of their brains and their ability to communicate, these scientists are changing how we do business.  Our economic models need to reflect the truth of our interconnectedness as well if we are going to heal the damage that has already been done.  There are voices from within economics who are rethinking this already.  Hopefully, they are also powered by love as they get their message out, this new story.  And what can we do?  We can listen, pay attention and support them as they emerge.  We can be a part of this new story.  

Suzanne Simard (2021) Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. Penguin Canada.