Simard’s experiments and reports gained some attention, though the entrenched patriarchy gave her little credence. But she found unexpected allies, and the further she explored, the deeper her conviction grew that a forest is a network: cooperating, nurturing, protecting its members. And the Mother Trees are the great matriarchs of the forest, their mycorrhizal networks ranging furthest, their seeds scattered by birds and animals, by wind and water, nourished where they fall.
In the face of climate change, with increasing stresses on plant communities, it is more important than ever to let the Mother Trees flourish, to retain old growth areas, to recognize their wisdom and awareness, their equality with humans. We assume we are superior to nature, which gives us the hubris to “manage” it – in many cases, to death – without needing to comprehend its capacities and vulnerabilities. Those days must end. Simard documents how forests heal, but that process cannot begin until we acknowledge the harm we are doing.
She founded https://mothertreeproject.org/ to encourage broader understanding of these remarkable trees and the communities they anchor. It’s high time we fit ourselves into the web of life, rather than viewing it as something to be conquered. With a little humility, we just might learn from beings that have been around for centuries, and in preserving them, give ourselves a better shot at survival.
