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The Treeline

The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth

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The Treeline

By: Ben Rawlence
Narrated by: Jamie Parker
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The Treeline is a spellbinding blend of nature, travel and science writing, deeply researched and beautifully written, underpinned by an urgent environmental message.

The Arctic Treeline - the northern limit of the boreal forest that encircles the globe in an almost unbroken green ring - is the second largest biome on our planet. At this little-known frontline of climate change, the trees have been creeping towards the pole for fifty years already.

Six of the tree species that populate these forests (Larch, Spruce, Mountain Ash, Downy Birch, Balsam Poplar and Scots Pine) form the central protagonists of Ben Rawlence's story. In Scotland, northern Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland, he discovers what these trees and the people who live and work alongside them have to tell us about the past, present and future of our planet. Scientists are only just beginning to understand the astonishing significance of these forests for all life on Earth. At the Treeline, Rawlence witnesses the accelerating impact of climate change and the devastating legacies of colonialism and capitalism. But he also finds reasons for hope. Humans are creatures of the forest; we have always evolved with trees. The Treeline asks us where our co-evolution might take us next.

© Ben Rawlence 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

 Biological Sciences Botany & Plants Earth Sciences Ecosystems & Habitats Environment Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Polar Region Alaska

Critic Reviews

This original and readable book takes readers to a part of the world undergoing radical but little-understood change.
An urgent and insightful tour of some of the world's strangest, most bewitching and most endangered environments... This is an important book, and one I will be pressing into other people's hands. (Cal Flyn, author of ISLANDS OF ABANDONMENT)
[A] sweeping account of the Arctic forest that circles the world in an almost unbroken ring.
[A] lyrical and passionate book... The Treeline is a sobering, powerful account of how trees might just save the world. (Kathryn Hughes)
[An] urgent investigation into the Arctic treeline... a meticulously researched and compellingly presented read. (Hannah Beckerman)
Twill rightly provoke fear, but also a sense of wonder ... A beautiful and evocative portrait of the natural world. It is essential reading for those hoping to better understand our changing planet. (Tom Lathan)
Rawlence is a fine ecologist and an excellent writer... The Treeline is timely, salutary and eminently readable. Excellent. (Colin Tudge)
Ben Rawlence... writes with accuracy, beauty and urgency. (Andrew Robinson)
[A] moving, thoughtful, deeply reported elegy for our vanishing world and a map of the one to come. (Nathaniel Rich, author of LOSING EARTH)
A fascinating book drawing on a brilliant, original line of thinking... A perfect combination of lyrical writing and rigorous reporting. Utterly illuminating. (Sophy Roberts, author of THE LOST PIANOS OF SIBERIA)
All stars
Most relevant
This book is a masterpiece - a travelogue of a journey around the northern forests; an investigation into the impacts of climate change, deforestation, and industrial capitalism more generally; an insight into the complex lives not only of trees, but of their symbiotic relationship with the rest of the forest; an exploration of how many indigenous societies have evolved to live with the Arctic tundra and how this ecosystem is now disappearing; and a consideration of some of the principles we will need to follow in order to adapt to a world that is already changing dramatically.

The descriptions of the landscapes, the trees, animals and people are full of wonder and memorable detail. There are a few scientific ideas and terms used but this is always done carefully and with respect to a lay reader like myself. The author shows respect to the views of all people interviewed regardless of their politics, and although his own perspective is clear, this is never a polemic.

I’ve been fortunate enough to discover some outstanding books recently, particularly The Nutmeg’s Curse, Born in Blackness and Stolen Focus, but this is the pick of the bunch and I would love for it to reach the widest possible audience.

Thank you Ben Rawlence, and wonderfully read by Jamie Parker.

Beautiful, challenging, essential.

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This was a beautifully written book, however, if it hadn't of been for the epilogue it would have left me quiet depressed.

fascinating

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Scary but so important, this book should be on the school curriculum if we want to save ourselves and the planet.

A reminder of the fragility of our planet

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In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.