The forest scientist discusses his lifelong love of trees and the inspiration behind his latest book
MEET THE AUTHOR
Gabriel Hemery is a silvologist (forest scientist), photographer and author, and co-founder of the Sylva Foundation, which promotes good stewardship of our woodlands. His new book, The Tree Almanac 2024 (Robinson/Little Brown Book Group, £14.99) is the first tree yearbook for Britain and Ireland.
“I developed a love of forests as a young boy – I loved climbing and falling out of trees. I’ve also always enjoyed making things out of wood. Trees transcend time with a fortitude and grace that humans can only reach in our dreams or describe in works of fiction. They are time sentinels – there are trees alive today that were adolescents when human society was in its mere infancy.
I wrote this book because I want to reconnect people with the natural world. I hope it will rekindle connections between our busy lives and the passing of time marked by trees and their changing seasons. But I am equally inspired by a tree’s utility to humans, and I want to share that curiosity.
One interesting scientific thing you might learn from this book is the idea of ‘tree tides’, where the moon influences the content of water in a tree’s stem. This means that, when it comes to felling a tree, some times of the month and year are better than others. Meanwhile,
