Serena Dandini (photo by Gianmarco Chieregato).
Nooè he brought every animal species to the Ark to save it from the flood but he didn’t even load a jar of basil.
Evidently he knew very well that the plants would have managed by themselves, or perhaps God had suggested it to him, who had not by chance given life to the plants on the third day of Creation while he had created the human being only on the sixth and last day, after who took a break, perhaps mulling over this last project, which didn’t turn out very well.
In fact, there is no species more stupid than homo sapiens, capable of systematically destroying the environment to which it owes its survival.
Our life on earth depends primarily on plants, and yet we humans manage to cut down an area of Amazon forest five times the size of a metropolis like London in the space of a single year.
If at this instant every plant species were to become extinct on earth, there would be no future for the human race while, if we were the ones to become extinct, the plants would continue to develop peacefully without any disturbance.
“The Tree Tribe” by Stefano Mancuso (Einaudi).
These secrets were suggested to me by trees, which are not obtuse as we often judge them but possess intelligence, sensitivity and character, especially when an expert like Stefano Mancuso, in his fascinating new book for Einaudi, The tree tribe.
The author, a well-known botanist, has given us over time a series of important essays on the plant world but with this latest work he decided to let his imagination run free and tell us in a real novel what is hidden behind the foliage, branches and roots of these protagonists that too often we consider passive and expendable in the name of a progress that is leading us adrift.
AND, as in any self-respecting narration there is a hero, in this case the Laurin treewho has a mission to fulfill for his community, which is rich, diverse and populated by many different clans.
Thus we discover that there are taciturn trees that know how to sing, trees that study and catalog sunsets, and other scientific treeswith the task of collecting and exchanging information.
A fantastic world that does not exclude diversity and indeed teaches us humans – who have forgotten it for too long – that the true force of nature is inclusion.
After reading it, I assure you that you will look at every shade of green that populates our planet with new eyes, and you will do everything to keep it as your friend.
All articles by Serena Dandini.
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