Glimpses of Eden

The hottest month on record … the wettest day in history ... wasps on the wing deep into December ... Cumbria, and India’s Cuddalore, underwater ... Hard to know how to even begin finding a way to change the status quo leading us to disaster. These troubles churning round in me, I literally walked into the tree.

It was the alder I planted over a decade ago. Now, a small, modest giant, it stood protectively over its human planter. Its seed cones dangled hopefully, waiting for the next wind. Of course, not all our problems can be solved by trees, but a few million alders planted judiciously countrywide would be a fantastic start. Flourishing in frequently inundated and marshy land, the alder’s job description is to mitigate flooding. It locks up excess water, acting as a storage tank, preventing run-off from running rampant: all this as well as healing toxic soils, absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and raising the human spirit.

Other trees would alleviate flooding too, if we let them: birches, willows and that mammoth sponge, the black poplar, now virtually extinct on our flood plains. Trees are where we must begin – one for every one of us, each a green candle lighting and lightening the way in darkening times.