木の代わりに森を見て
Look at the wood instead of the trees— JAPANESE SAYING
Little forest in the Belgian Ardennes
Maybe, at first glance, you like this view of a forest in the Belgian Ardennes. However, when you look carefully, it becomes clear that this is not a natural forest. It’s a plantation. A monoculture. A wood factory. What is the impact of such an approach on the broader environment? What proportion of the total forest area does this type of forest represent? The more similar that trees are – same type, same size, same age, etc. – the more problematic this is for the forest as a living system.
I read about the aforementioned Japanese saying, of which there is a variant in Dutch as well. Virologist Hitoshi Oshitani explained the approach to the corona crisis in Japan, resulting in only a fraction of human losses in comparison to Western countries. According to him, Japan’s way of dealing with the virus is that of the forest. The natural forest. It’s a systemic approach. Or better yet, the approach itself isn’t so much systemic, rather it reflects the understanding of how a pandemic behaves as a complex system.
Natural forest, bursting with diversity, along the river Ourthe
In the same newspaper and on a different page there was an article about how children in Japan are usually treated in sports education. Not a nice story at all. A way that rather resembles that of the trees in the first picture: symptomatic and extremely behavioristic.
Whilst this Japanese saying refers to tackling certain situations as a whole, the Dutch variant means the opposite. It points to a situation where one no longer sees the trees through the forest. Because one is overwhelmed, maybe even steerless as a result of a radical experience. In the latter situation we might forget about the elements – e.g. individual people – that make up the whole. I think both sayings may be equally right. Especially when understanding them as interrelated perspectives. Instead of truths per se, where the first excludes the relevance of the other and vice versa.
The normal proces of growth and decay in a natural forest along the river Ourthe (Belgian Ardennes)
Let’s tackle this pandemic by looking at the forest and at the same time staying aware of the trees. I mean, let’s do what is absolutely necessary for our societies as a whole, and take care of the individuals who really suffer from their specific situation during the pandemic.
These are ideas I immerse myself in on my regular walks into the woods. Indeed, corona has made clear that walking is the real overlanding. Nevertheless, from the tree’s point of view, I’m ready and eager to drive a substantial distance off the beaten track in order to make beautiful hikes in uncharted terrain. As this isn’t possible yet, nor desirable from the forest’s point of view, I’ll keep walking here and now.