“Arbor” is the Latin word for “tree”. “Arbor” sounds a bit like the French word for tree: “arbre”. On “Arbor Day” trees are planted, by groups of people, on well-chosen places. Of course one can plant a tree in one’s own garden, alone. How? There are important details to read about it. Arbor Day is celebrated on April 29. The first arbor day was organized in Spain, already in 1594. The first American arbor day was on April 10, 1872. Here you can find a list with known first arbor days in several countries.

A forest is more than a collection of trees
More and more information about trees, and their importance for all life on earth, for our human existence, is published and easy to be found, but what the Canadian professor Suzanne Simard explains about trees and forests, goes deeper. Her exceptional insight about for instance the communication of trees with each other and other life forms, how that happens, above and beneath the surface of the earth, is essential to realize the importance of a healthy forest, and the necessity of protecting the forests, not only for its inhabitants, but also for humans. Protecting even against humans, especially against those who are working in and for the so-called forestry.
Forestry
Forestry belongs to the governmental department of agriculture and food. Forests are considered to be an industry, not a very vulnerable, utterly complex and intelligent, ecological, unique biotope. On the Norwegian government website is written:
Forest industry is important to Norway. Active and profitable forestry and a competitive forest industry is of importance to settlement, employment and business development in large parts of the country. The potential for increased value creation is large.
During winter 21/22 massive deforestation has taken place in Norway, as I understand now, because it is a governmental industry, not seen as majestic nature that will need hundreds of years to recover from the damage the Norwegian forestry creates. Of course this narrow-minded view on forests is not limited to Norway. Therefore, this video, in which Suzanne Simard, professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia, Canada, speaks:
Conclusion
“The forest is more than a collection of trees. Trees exist in a web of interdependence, linked together by a system of underground channels. This network connects all trees and the system in a constellation of nodes and connections: young and old communicate and respond to each other by sending each other (biochemical) signals. Mother trees – majestic nodes, or hubs, that play a central role in the communication, protection and awareness of the forest – pass their wisdom on to their descendants, their seedlings, generation after generation, sharing their memories of what is helpful and what is harmful, who is a friend and who is an enemy, and how to adapt and survive in an ever-changing landscape.” – Suzanne Simard, professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia, Canada.
Additional information
- eco18
What is Arbor Day?
https://eco18.com/what-is-arbor-day/
Published: April 24, 2015 - eHow
Difference Between Earth Day & Arbor Day
https://www.ehow.com/facts_5782429_difference-earth-day-arbor-day.html
Published: April 29, 2021 - BBC – Future Planet
The ‘messy’ alternative to tree-planting
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210524-the-reason-wild-forests-beat-plantations
Published: May 25, 2021 - Almanac
Arbor Day 2022
https://www.almanac.com/content/arbor-day-history-facts-date
Published: March 2, 2022 - Utah State University – Forestry Extension
What is a tree?
https://forestry.usu.edu/tree-identification/what-is-a-tree - Knowable Magazine
What makes a tree a tree?
https://knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2018/what-makes-tree-tree - Wikipedia
List of oldest trees
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_trees - Wikiwand
List of oldest trees
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_oldest_trees - Wikiwand
Portal:Trees
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Portal:Trees - Flickr
Photo Gallery: Trees
https://www.flickr.com/photos/antoinettejanssen/galleries/72157715757783357/ - Government.no
Forestry
https://www.regjeringen.no/en/topics/food-fisheries-and-agriculture/skogbruk/id1292 - Wikipedia
Suzanne Simard
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Suzanne_Simard - Multerland blog – EMF links
Tree Damage
https://multerland.wordpress.com/emf-links/tree-damage/ - The World Foundation for Natural Science
The WWW of the Woods
https://www.naturalscience.org/news/2022/04/the-www-of-the-woods/
Update: NRK news, Norway
Forskere advarer: Mindre plantevekst og mer dødelighet vil prege norske skoger i fremtiden
[Researchers warn: Less plant growth and more mortality will affect Norwegian forests in the future]
https://www.nrk.no/norge/forskere-advarer_-mindre-plantevekst-og-mer-dodelighet-vil-prege-norske-skoger-i-fremtiden-1.15947177
Published: April 29, 2022
By: Anna Skifjeld

Photo: Anne Skifjeld / NRK