International day of forests, a reading path

March 21 is the

, an event established by the United Nations with the aim of raising awareness of the importance of this

and inviting local communities to organize activities focused on its

. 

As happens with many days dedicated to specific topics, there is no lack of need to make the topic central to public debate.

: according to estimates, the globe has already lost a third of its forests, and approximately 12 million hectares continue to be destroyed annually. 

And if on the one hand

is mainly due to the increase in the demand for land needed to cultivate crops, raise animals and build homes for a constantly growing world population, indirect causes also contribute to deforestation, such as the intensification of extreme atmospheric phenomena that see the

. 

The problem is complex and ramified: forests in fact host an enormous variety of

and

, but they are also indispensable for the

, in the sequestration of carbon dioxide, and for many other factors ranging from economic sectors to social, environmental and health. 

For those wishing to delve deeper into the matter, here is

focused on some of the many essays and guides that have dedicated themselves to this topic in recent years with specific cuts, which allow for a better understanding of the many facets of an environmental issue that also has important effects on human life. 

To approach the world of forests, a good starting point are the writings of

, a forest ranger with decades of experience, who in his books reveals all the "secrets" discovered over the years spent in the woods.

In

(to be published by Garzanti, with a translation by Paola Rumi) the author is dedicated to recounting the incredible capacity for regeneration of these systems even after extreme events.

But there is a limit to everything, and the dangers that multiply limit the reconstructive capacity of these systems. 

Among the most important popularizers of the plant world we also find the botanist

, who in the essay

(due out for Giunti in May in a new edition), helps to reformulate the way we think about plants.

The way we relate to them makes us ascribe them to a sphere closer to that of inanimate beings than to living beings, but if we analyze them in detail, we discover that plants are actually complex and sophisticated organisms, and in studying their constitutive structures and their systems of adaptation we could even find the answers to some needs of the near future. 

But in addition to giving us useful inspiration for the future, trees can also tell us a lot about the past.

For example, dendrochronology (that is, the science that deals with studying the rings inside tree trunks) is capable of recovering very useful information, such as the climatic seasons that the plant has gone through.

tells it

in the book

(Bollati Boringhieri, translation by Bianca Bertola), in which we understand how trees, also thanks to their longevity, can act as a large natural archive of the history of the climate and the relationships between man and environment. 

However, saying wood or forest does not actually mean indicating a precise ecosystem, because the place in which they develop changes their shape, the intrinsic characteristics and the plant and animal forms that inhabit it.

Anyone interested in those that populate the Italian territory could be guided by

(Altraeconomia), by Diego Florian, Alberto Pauletto and Marianna Usuelli, which is a real invitation to discover Italian woods through itineraries, paths and trails.

However, these are not exclusively naturalistic itineraries, but explorations through which we can also understand the social, economic and environmental value of the environments that characterize the Italian territory. 

On this journey we can also be accompanied by the

(Laterza) by

, professor of landscape history and forest planning, which guides us in the discovery of the great biodiversity of the Italian woodland landscape.

Thus we learn to know the peculiarities of the 58 types of local woods, from fir to pine forests, from oak forests to Mediterranean scrub, deepening the way in which history and human activities have influenced their formation and development. 

Like any path of discovery and learning, this too takes on even greater value if shared with the little ones.

There is no shortage of popular texts for children and teenagers dedicated to the theme: an example is

(Aboca kids, translation by Anita Taroni), written and illustrated by

and

, both forest science graduates, who in this book they wanted to distill their knowledge so as to pass it on to the new generations, who could find a passion for the future in this discipline. 

The relationship of humans with the plant world, also for the purpose of safeguarding forests, needs to be revolutionized.

Anthropologist

addresses the question starting from his studies on the interactions of Amazonian populations with the most famous of forests.

In

(nottetempo, translation by Alessandro Lucera and Alessandro Palmieri) shows how the Western attitude that sees man and the environment as separate is no longer applicable, but rather that it is now indispensable, also in anthropological terms, to reason in terms of interconnections. 

An approach, the latter, perhaps even more evident if the question is approached from a

.

After all, woods and forests have never been lacking in stories of invention, starting with the tales of the

which continue to characterize the childhood imagination of children all over the world.

The forest is the place of mystery, of creatures on the borderline between the human and animal worlds, of the possible mixing with the impossible: this is the case in classics such as A Midsummer Night's

by

, and in the imagination of cornerstones of fantasy, starting with the famous saga of

by

. 

And if in everyday life it seems difficult to be able to reinvent the relationship with plants and vegetation, one can be inspired by writers who have never lacked the imagination to do so: think of novels with a suggestive atmosphere such as The Rampant Baron 

Italo

and 

by

, but also to literary texts that are based on the pragmatic vein of their authors, such as

, who lived his philosophy of rapprochement with nature by recounting it in

, or like

, who in texts like

entrusted his poetic philosophy of the garden.