Do Trees Speak Esperanto?





Throughout the Chronicles of Madarre series, there are many references to forests and a special magic associated with them. As I point out in the back matter of these books, it's not a coincidence that I grew up "in the forest." The house where I grew up sat adjacent to several acres of forest that my friends and siblings and I played in, and my family's property where we went camping every summer was also in the woods. Much of the area near where I grew up has been logged off and turned into housing developments and golf courses, but when I was young there were large, thick stands of trees, some of which are still there.

Yet, around the world, whether it's from clearing for development or wildfires or other problems, many forests are struggling or are already gone. This has a direct impact on the planet and our ability to live on it, something I've understood since I was young but somehow continues to be "argued" in political discussions. Whether it's storing carbon, shading streams for fish health, stabilizing hillsides to control erosion, providing wildlife habitat, cleaning the air, or something else, healthy forests are tremendously beneficial for us.

Even if the environmental benefit doesn't move you to support healthier forests, there are many other ways that trees are beneficial, including recreation, construction, food production, medicines, providing shade and windbreaks to reduce energy costs, and more.

Whether you plant one tree yourself and watch it grow, or you arrange to have an organization plant them for you in bulk, or otherwise enable tree planting, I hope you will join me—and the characters in this new series—in supporting forest health.

Kreski arbaron!

Photo by Morguefile contributor GaborfromHungary, used under license.

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