Joaquín Araújo (Madrid, 72 years old) talks about his latest book The Trees Teach You to See the Forest (Critic, 2020) while, on the other side of the phone, you can hear his goats shaking and the wind slightly disturbing communication. "I am treading on soils that are 500 million years old and I have views of a nature of about 580 million years and more than 60 kilometers long", describes the ecologist and the first Spanish recipient of the United Nations Global 500 Prize. twice with the National Prize for the Environment.
Each of the leaves in his latest work makes you want to hug a tree. In her story, Araújo describes the life and complexity of nature as if it were a poem of more than 300 pages and shows a close connection with it. The writer bears the title of "founder of forests", even if he calls himself a "peasant" or "ambush", because, ultimately, he has planted a forest; about 25,000 trees corresponding to the days it has lived.
Civilization was wrong in believing that it had nothing to do with the world
The country lover has decided to live outside of time, without clocks, to be in harmony with the trees. "They exist outside the calendar boxes," he assures from the shade of a cork oak that he himself planted in the region of Villuercas (Cáceres), where he has lived for 42 years. When reading his new work and listening to his words, three characteristics of the trees stand out that could help people to be "more human".
One, take your time
The author dedicates several pages to the fall of a leaf and tells it as if it were a spectacle. The space it offers to such an event that lasts just over two seconds forces the reader to spend time and read each word calmly, at the rhythm of nature. “She is in no rush. That is a unique conception of humans and it is devastating. Haste is the greatest stupidity ”, he says before running after a mischievous goat.
A tree can grow to be 9,950 years old as is the case with the solitary Norway spruce or, at least and more often, to four millennia of life like redwoods. The human being, however, can cut it in a matter of minutes. Araújo insists that the energy that has been accumulating over millions of years is used up in just two centuries. “A tree disappears at the speed of light compared to the slowness of its growth. Civilization was wrong in believing that it had nothing to do with the world, ”says the ecologist.
For this and many other reasons, Araújo's new work once again provides an opportunity to contemplate what is burned, cut down or crushed. The reader establishes a link with the vegetation, because the writer does not miss anything, no details, no definition. The ambush takes the time to describe, from the birth of the root to the highest branch, all the life that passes in a single plant and to highlight its importance. "90% of what lives on earth is a plant," he says.
Two, communicate
Some forests have only one species of tree. "It is about the same and unique living being," writes Araújo. For example, in the United States, 47,000 aspens occupy 430,000 square meters. Previously, the author makes a curious comparison: “Through their roots, trees come to build a web of frames that makes the Internet pale with envy. Among other reasons because nothing circulates of trivial or liar through the conduits that the jungle uses to be ”. Although there is still no scientific evidence, the ecologist points out that all trees could be in contact with each other through the roots.
Trees have their language. Araújo heard a lament escape from a log due to the drought it suffered. As he relates in his work, he stuck his ear to the wood and was amazed. "Years later I read, in more than one scientific report, that water stress compresses the vessels through which the sap circulates in such a way that they produce a sound," he says. According to his point of view, trees communicate with each other, but also with us.
Three, create community
The roots can be synonymous with origin. "I wanted to make a reminder," explains the author who dedicates a chapter to this element from which life starts and at the same time anchors it at a point on the map. “We come from the forest and there is a clear need to create a new humanity, as well as a new normal. We should be able to take advantage of the pandemic because it is a clairvoyant warning that we are doing things wrong in a massive and generalized way, "he says. Araújo is very clear that civilization, to change, has to learn from the forest. For him, it is a model of fraternity, communication, economy, and above all, solidarity behavior, something that he remembers throughout his book. "The forest knows what it means to be a community," he adds.
When he was barely five years old, Joaquín Araújo wanted to play at being a gardener and asked for farm tools. His dream came true: he spends six hours a day tending to his garden and its 5,000 plants. Despite being born in the capital, surrounded by cars, pollution, noise and, of course, haste, he had always had an interest and love for nature. “I have a naughty gene and I was that typical rambunctious student,” he confesses humorously. “I am also a great-great-grandson of the military. It doesn't seem like they were in the field watching the grass grow, right? ”He adds. Without direct contact with the rural world, around the age of 18, Araújo began to write poems. "It's hard not to write when you contemplate," he asserts. For him, contemplation is a principle of understanding and insists that all people need to resort to it: “It is the most peaceful way to enjoy life and, as living beings, even if we hide it or slaughter it, we are in love with the lifetime".
Alarming data
There are some two million cataloged species which, according to Araújo, correspond to 20% of the living beings that exist. As for trees, about 75 billion cover the earth, and about 60,000 species have been described. So far, so good. However, according to the ecologist, the planet could be left without trees within three centuries since “over the last two hundred years, a third of the forests that existed have been lost.” In addition, at the moment, it is planted half of what is lost, according to the expert. To alleviate this problem and fill the gap, the United Nations Organization estimated that each human being had to plant 120 trees. Araújo is not entirely convinced: "It is a very good initiative , but not enough. That's where the quality issue comes in. A 400-year-old holm oak is not the same as a two-year-old sapling that you have grown. Being old is an attribute of quality. The solution I see is to issue a decree that prevents one more tree from being cut down and also to ensure that they do not get sick. "
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