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A landmark publication that captures the beautiful richness of every aspect of trees and their importance for science, culture and the future of humankind.
Trees feed us, shelter us, inspire us and heal us. In a world facing the destruction of the Amazon rainforest and a pressing climate emergency, the importance of these primaeval beings in shaping our future is hard to understate.
Generously illustrated and organized according to tree lifecycle – from seeds, leaves and form to wood, flowers and fruit – Trees celebrates the great diversity and beauty of the 60,000 tree species that inhabit our planet. Exquisite details are rendered by surprising photography and infographics: intricate bark and leaf patterns, intertwined ecosystems, colourful flower displays, archaic wooden wheels and timber houses. Integral to science, art and culture, fundamental and fragile, dependent and depended on, the vitality of trees is revealed like never before.
Paul Smith has worked in conservation for over twenty-five years and joined Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) as its Secretary-General in March 2015. He recently co-authored the State of the World’s Trees report, published on 1 September 2021 as part of the IUCN World Conservation Congress, an event driving action on nature-based recovery, biodiversity and climate change. He was previously Head of Kew Garden’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), London, where he oversaw its conservation of seeds from more than 25,000 species.
