However, Wohlleben also hopes that management can be linked to preservation of undisturbed forests where trees are able to fulfill their “social needs,” pass their knowledge on to the next generation, and grow “old with dignity.”

Plantation monocultures and the use of heavy machinery are the villains, and higher ecological standards for forest management are the goals. This sense of the hidden life of trees in turn forms the basis for what might be called a forest ethic, or the idea that trees be allowed to develop completely undisturbed by humans, so that they can live a full life in a way appropriate to their species. Wohlleben's experiences opened his mind to the trees’ “daily dramas and moving love stories,” which he seeks to convey in this book. Eventually, his community, the village of Hümmel in the Eifel mountains, hired him to manage their forest according to these ecological principles, which emphasize leaving the forest as undisturbed as possible, promoting diversity of species, and removing trees using animals rather than heavy machinery. He abandoned this line of work two decades ago to organize survival training and log-cabin tours for tourists, and his interactions with his visitors altered his views of the forest, making him aware of the need to adopt a more ecologically sophisticated approach to forest management. Wohlleben began his career as a professional forester whose job was to assess the suitability of trees for harvesting. In 2015, Peter Wohlleben, a German forester, published a popular book on the “hidden life of trees.” The English version, titled The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate-Discoveries from a Secret World, was published in 2016 and became a best-seller, but not without generating considerable controversy. Greystone Books, Vancouver and Berkeley, 2016. A review of Peter Wohlleben, The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How they Communicate-Discoveries from a Secret World, trans.

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