Peter Wohlleben

After graduation from forestry school in Rottenburg am Neckar, Germany, he took up a job as a government wood ranger in the Rhineland-Palatinate in 1987. As he grew more familiar with the woodlands he was overseeing, he became disenchanted due to the damage caused by the techniques and technologies he was expected to employ, including the felling of mature trees and the use of insecticides.{{cite news|first=Mark |last=Brown |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/31/trees-talk-have-sex-look-after-young-peter-wohlleben-hay-festival |title=Trees talk to each other, have sex and look after their young, says author | Environment |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2017-05-27 |access-date=2017-05-31}}

Professionally, Wohlleben manages a beech forest on behalf of the municipality of Hümmel, Germany.

{{cite news|last1=Leslie|first1=André|last2=Taube|first2=Friedel|title=Protecting Germany's old forests|url=http://www.dw.com/en/protecting-germanys-old-forests/av-17240409|access-date=17 April 2016|publisher=Deutsche Welle|date=November 19, 2013}} He offers regular forest tours at his forest academy.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/|title = Do Trees Talk to Each Other?}}

While Wohlleben advocates for animal welfare and has raised awareness about the treatment of animals,[https://www.dw.com/en/authors-debate-the-suffering-and-dreams-of-animals/a-38056360 "Authors debate the suffering and dreams of animals"]. dw.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023.[https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/animal-emotions/201801/the-inner-life-animals-love-grief-and-compassion "The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion"]. psychologytoday.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023. and has stated that "It's okay to eat plants. It's okay to eat meat, although I'm a vegetarian, because meat is the main forest killer. But if plants are conscious about what they are doing, it's okay to eat them. Because otherwise we will die. And it's our right to survive.”,[https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/life-examined/trees-forests-communication-healing-conservation/peter-wohlleben-the-hidden-life-of-trees "Do trees have a social network?"]. kcrw.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023. he has also controversially argued that plants feel pain.[https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/life-examined/trees-forests-communication-healing-conservation/peter-wohlleben-the-hidden-life-of-trees "Do trees have a social network?"]. kcrw.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023.

Wohlleben began publishing books popularizing scientific research about ecology and forest management in 2007. The appearance of his Das geheime Leben der Bäume through Random House's Ludwig imprint led to profiles{{cite news |last1=Weinl |first1=Volker |title=Können Bäume wirklich miteinander reden? |trans-title=Can Trees really converse with each other? |url=http://www.bild.de/lifestyle/2015/natur/spinnt-der-typ-oder-koennen-baeume-wirklich-miteinander-reden-41945976.bild.html |access-date=17 April 2016 |publisher=Bild GmbH & Co. KG |date=July 25, 2015 |language=de}}{{cite news| last1=Heidtmann |first1=Jan |title=Der Baumflüsterer |trans-title=The Tree Whisperer |url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/historie-der-baumfluesterer-1.2742510|access-date=17 April 2016|work=Sueddeutsche Zeitung |date=November 20, 2015|language=de}} and reviews{{cite news |last1=Freund |first1=Wielland |title=Aus dem Bäumischen von Peter Wohlleben |url=https://www.welt.de/print/die_welt/literatur/article143524235/Aus-dem-Baeumischen-von-Peter-Wohlleben.html |access-date=17 April 2016 |publisher=WeltN24 GmbH |date=July 4, 2015|language=de}} in all the major German newspapers, including skeptical pieces in the business press.{{cite news |last1=zu Guttenberg |first1=Philipp |title=Sehnsuchtsort Wald |trans-title=The Woods: a place of yearning |url=https://www.handelsblatt.com/my/technik/energie-umwelt/gastkommentar-zur-forstwirtschaft-sehnsuchtsort-wald/12759088.html |access-date=17 April 2016 |work=Handelsblatt |date=December 23, 2015 |language=de}}{{cite news |last1=Mühl |first1=Stephanie |title=Bäume sind so tolle Lebewesen |language=de |trans-title=Trees are such fantastic creatures |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/im-wald-mit-bestsellerautor-peter-wohlleben-13936077.html |access-date=17 April 2016|publisher=Frankfurter Allgemeine|date=November 29, 2015}} The book was featured in a cover story in Der Spiegel and appeared on the Spiegel bestseller list.{{cite news |last1=Maus|first1=Stephan |title=Dieser Rebell mischt den deutschen Wald auf |trans-title=This rebel presents a new view of the German forest |url=http://www.stern.de/reise/deutschland/peter-wohlleben--der-foerster-und-bestsellerautor-aus-der-eifel-6502142.html |access-date=15 April 2016|publisher=stern.de GmbH |date=17 October 2015|language=de}}

His 2012 book Kranichflug und Blumenuhr, was translated as The Weather Detective: Rediscovering Nature's Secret Signs in 2018. The Secret Wisdom of Nature: Trees, Animals, and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things – Stories from Science and Observation was released in 2019. Wohlleben's first book for children available in English was published in October 2019. Called Can You Hear the Trees Talking?: Discovering The Hidden Life of Forests, it is a young readers' edition of The Hidden Life of Trees.{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.sciencemag.org/books/2020/12/01/can-you-hear-the-trees-talking/|title = Can You Hear the Trees Talking?, reviewed | Books, et al|date = December 2020}}

His 2015 book about natural forests, Das geheime Leben der Bäume:Was sie fühlen, wie sie kommunizieren – die Entdeckung einer verborgenen Welt,{{cite book|last1=Wohlleben|first1=Peter|title=Das geheime Leben der Bäume| date=2015| publisher=Ludwig| location=Munich |isbn=978-3-453-28067-0|language=de}} (The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How they Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World) introduces readers to the world of trees, including Wood-Wide Web, through which nutrition and signals are exchanged among trees.Anon, [https://www.dw.com/en/trees-have-sex-feel-pain-says-german-forester/a-39096605 "Trees have sex, feel pain, says German forester"], Deutsche Welle, June 6, 2017. An English translation was published in September 2016 under the title The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How they Communicate with a foreword by Australian environmentalist Tim Flannery, published by Greystone Books in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute.{{cite book |last1=Wohlleben |first1=Peter |title=The Hidden Life of Trees |date=September 2016 |publisher=Greystone |location=Vancouver, Canada |isbn=978-1-771-64248-4 |language=en |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/hiddenlifeoftree0000wohl }} It cites the research of Suzanne Simard.[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mother-trees-are-intelligent-they-learn-and-remember/ "‘Mother Trees’ Are Intelligent: They Learn and Remember"]. scientificamerican.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023. The book was widely criticized by biologists and forest scientists for using strong anthropomorphic and teleological language such as describing trees as having friendships and registering fear, love and pain. It has been described as containing a "conglomeration of half-truths, biased judgements, and wishful thinking".

A documentary film Intelligent Trees{{cite book | url=https://www.intelligent-trees.com/ | title=Intelligent Trees – The Documentary | access-date=February 9, 2017}} features several of Wohlleben's observations. He appears alongside Suzanne Simard, a professor of forest ecology at the University of British Columbia, who has been doing research on interactions among trees through micorrhizal networks since 1997.{{cite web |last1=Simard |first1=Suzanne |title=Faculty Profile - Publications |url=https://forestry.ubc.ca/faculty-profile/suzanne-simard/ |website=UBC Faculty of Forestry |access-date=July 18, 2021}}{{Cite web|last=Simard|first=Suzanne|date=|title=The networked beauty of forests|url=https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-networked-beauty-of-forests-suzanne-simard |access-date=2020-12-31|website=TED-Ed|language=en}}

A second documentary film was released under the title {{ill|The Hidden Life of Trees|de|Das geheime Leben der Bäume}} in theaters in the United States.{{cite news |author1=Girish, Devika |title='The Hidden Life of Trees' Review: Magic Kingdom |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/15/movies/the-hidden-life-of-trees-review.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 15, 2021}}{{cite web |title=The Hidden Life of Trees |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11276298/ |website=IMDB}} It had its UK premiere at the 2021 Wales One World Film Festival, which was presented online owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite web | title=Gŵyl Ffilm WOW “Cymru a’r Byd yn Un” / WOW "Wales One World" Film Festival | website= Aberystwyth Arts Centre | url=https://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/g%C5%B5yl-ffilm-wow-%E2%80%9Ccymru-%E2%80%99r-byd-yn-un%E2%80%9D-wow-wales-one-world-film-festival | access-date=8 October 2022}}

In 2016, Wohlleben authored Das Seelenleben der Tiere, which was translated into English and published under the title The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion—Surprising Observations of a Hidden World in 2017.{{cite book |last= Wohlleben |first= Peter |author-link= Peter Wohlleben |translator=Jane Billinghurst |date= 2017-11-07 |title= The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion — Surprising Observations of a Hidden World |publisher= Greystone Books |isbn= 9781771643023 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=i_sjDwAAQBAJ}} Foreword by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. First published in 2016 in German, under the title Das Seelenleben der Tiere. *{{cite news |title=Sensitivity of pigs and the thieving of squirrels — all part of animals' inner lives |newspaper=The Washington Post |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/sensitivity-of-pigs-and-the-thieving-of-squirrels--all-part-of-animals-inner-lives/2017/12/08/028c9a42-ca3b-11e7-8321-481fd63f174d_story.html |url-access=subscription |date= 2017-12-08}} The book argues for animal sentience.[https://www.kosmosjournal.org/news/review-the-inner-life-of-animals-love-grief-and-compassion/ "Review: The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief and Compassion"]. kosmosjournal.org. Retrieved 14 February 2023. It contains 41 short chapters with examples of animals exhibiting emotions such as courage, desire, grief, love and regret.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/29/the-inner-life-of-animals-peter-wohlleben-book-review-katharine-norbury |title=The Inner Life of Animals by Peter Wohlleben – review|newspaper=The Observer|first=Katharine|last=Norbury|access-date=14 February 2023}}[https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781771643016 "The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion; Surprising Observations of a Hidden World"]. Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 14 February 2023.

Wohlleben's 2023 book explores the role of ancient forests in combating climate change, and how forest management practices have impaired forests' natural functions. "The future of forests and the future of humanity are inextricably entwined," he writes in the introduction, crediting trees for their ability to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, cool the local climate and increase rainfall.{{Cite book |last=Wohlleben |first=Peter |title=The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us if We Let Them |date=2023 |publisher=Greystone Books |others=Jane Billinghurst |isbn=978-1-77164-774-8 |series=From the Author of The Hidden Life of Trees |location=Vancouver}}

• The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World (Greystone Books, 2015)
• The Inner Life of Animals: Love, Grief, and Compassion: Surprising Observations of a Hidden World (Greystone Books, 2016)
• The Secret Wisdom of Nature: Trees, Animals, and the Extraordinary Balance of All Living Things ― Stories from Science and Observation (Greystone Books, 2017)
• Can You Hear the Trees Talking?: Discovering The Hidden Life of the Forest (Greystone Kids, 2019)
• Peter and the Tree Children (Greystone Kids, 2020)
• The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond with Forests and Nature (Greystone Books, 2021)
• The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us if We Let Them (Greystone Books, 2023)

{{Reflist}}

• [https://vimeo.com/181082721 Official Trailer "Intelligent Trees" ] featuring Peter Wohlleben and Suzanne Simard
• [https://goodbooksummary.com/the-hidden-life-of-trees-by-peter-wohlleben-book-summary/ The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben Book] by goodbooksummary.com

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Category:1964 births

Category:Animal cognition writers

Category:German animal welfare scholars

Category:German foresters

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Category:Non-fiction environmental writers

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Category:Writers from Bonn