Recommended reading, viewing and listening for our time in confinement!

• Firstly, the 'Forest Retreat' Playlist on Spotify! And if you have suggestions of songs for future playlists, contact us at info@fern.org or on social media.
   
• Two Kinds of Wilderness, by Jeremy Miller. I love this atmospheric piece on the idea of ‘wilderness’, explored through a waterlogged sojourn through Ireland’s peat bogs, which accompany forests in being important carbon sinks. The piece highlights the importance of protecting such areas, even if they may not immediately seem precious or beautiful to everyone. Katja
   
• Forest Farewell, by Robert Sullivan, with paintings by Lowell Hayes. This piece in Orion Magazine leads us through the great hemlock forests of the Eastern US, which have been so entwined with human history, and are now suffering a slow decline under attack from the woolly adelgid, an invasive insect. Katja
   
• In 2030, we ended the climate emergency. Here’s how, by Eric Holthaus. This article explores the actions that we could and should take in order to end the climate emergency by 2030, laying out the pathway for each year. As well as examining options for energy, technology and taking back public spaces, it states, “While we’ll continue to plant new trees, we’ll focus our efforts on saving intact forests, which suck a greater amount of carbon dioxide out of the air, and minimise the risk of using much-needed arable land in ways that do not support the local ecosystem.” Katja
   
• Vivant: De la bactérie à Homo ethicus, by Aymeric Caron, launches a debate about the animals we casually eat. It looks at the history of life on Earth, from the first bacteria that appeared almost 4 billion years ago to the fabrication of artificial intelligence. The book prophesises the birth of a new human species: Homo ethicus, the moral man who protects nature and the living. A bestseller in France, the book advocates against specism, named by analogy with racism and sexism, which “designates any attitude of discrimination towards an animal”. This philosophy implies that we no longer kill or cause suffering to animals, which share the same characteristics as humans (being capable of sensitivity, intelligence or empathy), and whose lives are as important as ours. Marie-Ange
   
• Bury the Chains, by Adam Hochschild, is a book about the campaign to abolish slavery in Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries: perhaps history’s first international human rights campaign. It tells the story of the people who brought about this change – revolutionary Haitian slaves, radical Quakers and cautious MPs – against the combined forces of the state and big business. It's inspiring and instructive to all campaigners of today. Available at Openlibrary.org. Julia
   
• The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unravelling the Mysteries of Our Favourite Crustacean, by Trevor Corson. This funny, detailed and sometimes suspenseful work delves into the day-to-day reality of both fishermen and scientists, and the strides that can be made in conservation when groups with different interests actually listen to each other. Available at openlibrary.org. Nicole G
   
• Evaluation of the impact of the CAP on habitats, landscapes, biodiversity, by Alliance Environnement. This evaluation report on the Common Agricultural Policy, was withheld for several months during the finalisation of CAP plans. Now published, the report says the decline in Europe’s biodiversity over recent decades has been driven by intensive agricultural and forest management practices. Kelsey
   
• The World Economic Forum comes out every year with a Global Risks Report 2020. The last few years biodiversity loss/natural disasters/climate change have topped the charts:  always an insightful (but perhaps not a cheerful) read. Kelsey
   
• And finally, the exhibition La Lutte Yanomami, by Claudia Andujar. A wonderful exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris by the Brazilian photographer/activist Claudia Andujar; as the museum is now closed a special website has been made – you can have a look at her work and see some great films – historical visual material of fighting for the protection of forests and inspiring anyone to undertake action to protect forests and people’s rights. Indra

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Categoria: News