Forestland

A father, who has dedicated his life to the woods, plants his final tree, in this moving exploration of forests and the people who care for them – from the author of Wainwright Prize-shortlisted Rural. Rebecca Smith's father was a forester, and her grandfather before him. Now he has dementia and is planting his last wood, laying down trees that will long outlive him and all of us reading this. As her Dad forgets the details of his life, he still remembers the forest.Starting out with her father on his last planting, Smith set out on a journey deep into forestland. She met the unsung men and women whose harvest sustains us all, from our homes to our factories: tree planters, storm scientists, sawmillers, ecologists, professors and many more. And she travelled far from the Cumbrian woods of her childhood to Scottish estates, German forest universities and small Swedish family farms, to find out how we can nurture and protect our trees in the years to come.Time passes differently in the forest. The trees we’re felling now were grown generations ago, when loggers still worked with horses, and the trees we’re planting now will shelter our grandchildren in an unrecognisable climate. In the face of these great changes, all we can do is learn from those who came before.