Early in May comes the recurrent miracle of the elvers’ migration from the sea. There is something deeply awe-inspiring about the sight of any living creatures in incomputable numbers; it stirs, perhaps, some atavistic chord whose note belongs more properly to the distant days when we were a true part of the animal ecology.’ ― Gavin Maxwell, 1960. Ring of Bright Water. For these reasons, sun bears cannot fail to have significant impact on the functioning of the ecosystem. At any scale, from grassland spiders upwards, ecosystems with predators absorb more carbon. It’s been shown, for instance, that rainforests without large mammals leak nutrients at a greater rate than they can be created. In other words, the entire function of a rainforest’s ecosystem depends on having animals like sun bears, not plants. According to Augeri [2], the greatest deforestation impacts are in Malaysia and Indonesia. In these two countries, as much as 85% of logging is primary rainforest. This core sun bear habitat could have densities varying from 0.0234 – 0.0416 bears/km 2. Even at the most conservative estimate, this should mean about 15,000 bears. But current population estimates are more like 1,000 bears. Some of this reduction can be explained by natural variation but a lot will be disturbance and habitat fragmentation. Dubbed as perhaps one of the most important books of our time, Wildlife In The Balance unearths the untold stories of wild animals, their immeasurable impact on the health of our planet and why they are essential to win the climate fight.

Scotson, Lorraine & Fredriksson, Gabriella & Ngoprasert, Dusit & Wong, Wai-Ming & Fieberg, John. (2017). Projecting range-wide sun bear population trends using tree cover and camera-trap bycatch data. PLOS ONE. 12. 10.1371/journal.pone.0185336. Intelligence is merely a life form’s ability to store information needed for survival. Wohlleben describes trees’ ability to both learn, store intelligence, communicate and even pass on knowledge to each other and future generations. This makes ancient trees similar to us. But it’s the differences that are more profound. These differences help to explain why ancient trees depend on wildlife for their survival. It’s this perspective – of animal impact – that I would like to bring to this review of The Power of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. Tree power is rooted in a stable climateThe need to relate to the landscape and to other forms of life … is in our genes. Sever that connection and we are floating in a world where our deepest sense of ourselves is lost.’ – Isabella Tree, 2020. Wilding.

there is too little recognition that large predatory marine animals can have marked effects on the structure of their communities, and hence on nutrient cycling.’ G. Carleton Ray, 1992. Biodiversity. Spider crab conservation will only come from building support from within communities. While it may seem like a good idea to restrict public access, this never works. We know this because the only successful conservation in the world comes from allowing communities to lead. This book is a rich primer and wondrous feast of information and conceptual clarity that will help people fall in love with nature".

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Wohlleben reminds us that trees, like animals, have their own culture and intelligence. There is one massive difference though … and this was a ‘wow’ moment I got from reading The Power of Trees. As a side-note, isn’t it wonderful to finally hear scientists discovering that the reality behind many of our childhood fantasies are true? This is what I loved most of all about reading The Power of Trees by Peter Wohlleben. Sun bears can cover 1.5 km each night [1] with that time spent foraging and feeding. If they have intact cultural connection to the forest, their feeding is expected to be optimal. That’s to say, they know where and when to find food. Or, they have the sensory adaptation to search more widely, during natural fluctuations in the environment. They cannot otherwise have survived for 6 million years. This is a level of precision beyond anything human technology can ever engineer. Like all animals, sun bear routines enable them to transfer, amplify and concentrate nutrients and in doing so, build the ecosystems they and many other animals (including humans) need to exist. Ecosystem engineers We have eroded these systems and failed to value them to our peril. We may have just a few generations left before the next mass extinction, and that gives us mere decades to do something about it.